On the bulletin boards today is a discussion I thought was very interesting about trade publications:

Having spent much of my career working for trade magazines, I still don't quite get the stigma attached to them. From what I have observed in my experience, they pay a LOT better than the "glamorous" consumer magazines do (currently, I'm making about double what someone in my position would likely make at a consumer), and many of them are looking just as good as some of the glossies these days. And this isn't sour grapes, by the way--I have been offered some positions on consumer mags but could not take them b/c the pay was too low OR the magazine content just too fluffy for me to deal with (the business audience is often smarter than the broad consumer audience).

To me, moving from trade to consumer is a step DOWN in many ways--so why does the stigma continue?

Those of you with experience in trades might want to weigh in. Meanwhile, also stop by the mbtoolbox-sponsored topic of the week--when you're pitching articles, do you come up with an idea first and find a publication to match, or study a publication you want to write for and come up with ideas to fit it?