Magazines

So, you wanna be EIC, huh? Depending on the size of the publication and the stability of the market — which, let’s face it, has not been that kind to print publications lately — the magazine masthead is not the playground of overnight sensations. You can, however, climb the editorial ladder with a little strategy and lots of hard work. For example…

Sign up for the un-spectacular.

You know those grunt assignments that nobody else wants? Take ‘em. They’re like little learning boot camps, said Marie Claire features director Lea Goldman, who found unique value in a notoriously tedious task.

“When I started out, transcripts and fact checking were the most useful things I did because they taught me how to put together a story,” she remembered. “I often just copied the source with the head of an organization and add that name and number to my Rolodex like, ‘OK, that’s a source. Now, I know if I’m ever working on a story like this, I can call that person.’ So they’re very useful and they shouldn’t be dismissed as just scut work.”

To find out how other magazine veterans got promoted, read How To Become an Editor-in-Chief.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

 

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

The best way to position yourself for a full-time editorial job is to start freelancing for your dream publication first. And if your niche is parenting (specifically for teenagers and tweens), you might be able to earn a byline at Family Circle.

Just make sure your pitch outlines concrete tips for the health and well-being of readers’ families. ”We offer essential advice for tough parenting challenges, fun suggestions for family activities, healthy and delicious recipes, and DIY projects to create a comfortable home,” said senior associate editor Stephanie Emma Pfeffer.

If you’re bursting with ideas in any of those topics, you’re in luck. FC relies on freelancers for about 60 percent of its content.

Get more guidelines in How To Pitch: Family Circle.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Heart & Soul, which was purchased in January and given a big-name editor to run the magazine, is not giving off an impression of, shall we say, financial soundness.

Just before the purchase was finalized, the National Writer’s Union launched a campaign on behalf of 60 writers who were owed a collective $200,000. The contributors had been told last July that the payment process was delayed during the ownership change.

However, not only have those writers still not received payment, but the new owners are also allowing new debts to pile up.

According to Richard Prince’s Journal-Isms, the magazine has skipped its April issue. Tipsters told Prince that the issue was skipped because the magazine’s entirely freelance team (including editors) went on strike to protest lack of payment. Clarence Brown, president and CEO of the magazine’s acquiring group, responded that actually, no, the magazine is making adjustments in its publication schedule.

Among the angry writers include Sheree Crute, who wrote for the publication before the change of ownership but told Prince that the current difficulties are nothing like she’s experienced before. She’s not the only writer who is still upset. Freelance contributor Harriet Washington, who was not among the writers in the initial complaint, tells us that she is owed more than $5,000 for an article that was accepted more than three months ago (and assigned under the new regime). Since March 13, she’s received no correspondence from editor Sandra Guzman or EVP George Curry…and of course no payment.

Reached by phone this morning, Curry referred all questions to Clarence Brown, who did not respond to a request for comment as of the time of this posting.

In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” we hear from HollywoodLife.com editor Bonnie Fuller. Fuller gained international acclaim as the editor of magazines such as Marie Claire, US Weekly and Cosmopolitan, but did you know that she started out as a beat reporter writing about sports clothes? Or that a friendship with an upcoming fashion designer named Tommy Hilfiger led to a meeting that would change her professional career? Watch below, as Fuller explains how she went from a young cub reporter, to one of the most powerful women in publishing.

For more videos, check out our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

You’d think that a magazine full of half-naked ladies would be hard to kill, but Maxim’s layoffs yesterday say otherwise.

The lad mag laid off just under half of the staffs of the editorial, web and photo teams–there had been 13 staffers there, and six jobs were cut, TechCrunch reports.

Maxim’s format is actually more vulnerable than most, TechCrunch says. “Its format of short, punchy 1-page and half-page features is being cannibalized by humor websites like BuzzFeed and Cracked[...]” while porn is basically free online now. Its web presence, TechCrunch says, has little to differentiate itself from other men’s interest sites.

Senior editor Seth Porges is one of the staffers confirmed to have gotten pink-slipped

This pretty much never happens, but after a six-month contract with Hanley Wood, consulting firm Innovation recommended that the trade publisher focus more on editorial.

As a result, Hanley Wood hired its first-ever senior-level executive to focus entirely on editorial: Bob Benz, president of content.

“The editors felt they didn’t have a voice in a lot of important decision-making that affected editorial and that they were represented in a proxy way,” CEO Frank Anton said of what Innovation found. Benz is also charged with transitioning Hanley Wood to a digital-first operation.

Meanwhile, the company is consolidating its editorial offices to its D.C. headquarters, with employees working from remote offices being asked to relocate to HQ.

Hanley Wood is the publisher of more than 30 magazines related to the construction industry.

(Via Minonline)

This powerhouse editor has five successful mag stints under her belt, and The Hollywood Reporter marks a successful number six. So what does Janice Min believe is the key to success?

“A lot of it is making yourself indispensable to somebody or the organization. Honestly, it has nothing to do with titles or where you are. Everyone should try to find ways to be distinctive and valuable in an office and without being annoying,” she said in our So, What Do You Do? interview.

And she’s got some advice for those ambitious Millennials who often think a top executive position is their birthright.

“When [interviewees] say ‘I want to be an editor-in-chief one day,’ it’s such a turn-off. Immediately in your mind you’re like, ‘OK, this is someone who feels entitled who is not goig to want to work very hard.’”

Read more in So What Do You Do, Janice Min, Editorial Director of The Hollywood Reporter?

Mikki Taylor spent over 30 years at Essence, first in the mag’s fashion and sewing department in the early 80s and most recently as its cover and style director. You’d think leaving such a prestigious job for the uncertainty of entrepreneurship would come with some trepidation, but Taylor says stepping down to an editor-at-large position just felt right.

“I think for about 60 seconds I had the fear that ‘what if Mikki Taylor doesn’t make it with Mikki Taylor Enterprises?’” the style and beauty expert explained in our Media Beat interview. “Well, what if this doesn’t work? Then, I’ll do something else, because I’m always going to find myself in the place of empowering women. And I know too much to stop now.”

Watch the full video for more of Taylor’s tips on climbing a magazine masthead.

Part 1: Mikki Taylor on Her 30 Years at Essence
Part 2: Essence‘s Mikki Taylor Takes on Casual Fridays

In her new book Commander in Chic, Essence editor-at-large Mikki Taylor doles out fashion and beauty tips for the everyday woman based on examples from Michelle Obama.

“I love her clear cut assurance, the way she owns her style from within,” she explained in our Media Beat interview.

And one thing FLOTUS has done, according to Taylor, is inject a much needed sophistication into America’s dress code. Casual Fridays? No, thank you, she says.

“I think that we’re a little too relaxed. I think a relaxed nation creates other kinds of flexibilities that shouldn’t exist. Let’s treat each other with the respect and the honor that we are due, and so the subliminal things play into that. If we’re coming to work in sneakers, if we’re coming to work in ripped jeans and plaid shirts, who are we representing?”

Part 1:Mikki Taylor on Her 30 Years at Essence
Part 3: Mikki Taylor Reveals Why She Left Essence

Quinstreet’s purchase of Ziff Davis Enterprise, announced yesterday, will result in up to 100 layoffs, Folio reports.

Yesterday 30 people were let go immediately and 70 will be cut in the coming weeks, sources told Folio. That leaves just 20 ZDE staffers who will keep their jobs with their company’s new owners.

The people who haven’t yet been laid off are being retained to “help transition the ZDE assets and ongoing business operations to QuinStreet,” Folio says. But “given the size of the cuts, it’s hard to see what QuinStreet has in mind for ZDE’s brands, because content-based operations require content creators.”

The people being retained are a mix of editorial, sales and marketing.