Tag Archives: magazine editing

For everybody? Or nobody?

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I cringe when I hear the answer “everybody” in response to the question as to a magazine’s audience. Even worse was the response one novice editor gave: “Everybody in the whole world, saved and unsaved.”

Really? How do you produce a magazine that everyone in every country throughout the world will want to read, regardless of their attitude toward the Christian faith?

In fact, a magazine that is for everyone is actually for no one. Why? An editor producing a magazine for a specific audience will use the language best understood by that audience, as well as the examples and metaphors to which they can relate.

She will pick topics about which that audience cares and wants to read. For Christians, those topics may include daily devotions, how to pray more effectively, or how to share their faith with non-Christian relatives and friends. Non-Christians would not appreciate those topics, but might like to read stories that incorporate elements of the Christian faith or demonstrate the power of God in daily life.

Age makes a difference, too. I was asked to review a new children’s magazine produced by budding young theology students in Romania. I was surprised to see text-heavy theological articles sporting words like “incarnation” and “justification.” While I appreciated their enthusiasm and their desire to communicate the pure Gospel to these middle school children, I had to point out that they might want to use language and concepts easily understood by children. Less text and more illustrations would be more appealing to children than column after column of dense copy.

The editor who doesn’t want to go to the trouble to research the audience in order to determine how best to communicate with the reader is writing only for himself and his magazine will not last long.

On the other hand, the editor who really wishes to communicate will want to know his audience intimately and will make sure his writers understand how best to reach the readers. The magazine’s appearance will attract that specific audience with colors, fonts, illustrations, and page layouts designed to draw in the reader and to communicate the magazine’s message. Then a member of that specific audience who picks up the magazine will look it over and say, “This is my magazine, just for me.”

The art of the interview–10 guidelines for a successful interview

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Unless all your magazine and newspaper articles are written in the first person, at some point you will need to interview someone. Can you guarantee that every interview you attempt will be be successful? Probably not. But, there are some guidelines you can follow that will make it far more likely your interview will yield exactly the information you need for a successful article.

1. Be prepared. Define your purpose; know exactly what you hope to gain from the interview. Research the person to be interviewed and the topic. If you don’t prepare well, how will you know what questions to ask in order to elicit the information you need?

2. Prepare your key questions in advance and write them down. You will want to explore new directions and interesting possibilities during the interview, but prepared questions ensure that you will not forget the important things you want to ask.

3. Make an appointment if possible and establish a time limit. Don’t just try to catch your interviewee in a free moment. You will have a better, more relaxed interview if your interviewee has set aside the time to talk with you.

4. Select the right interview location. Be aware that interviews in the interviewee’s office may be interrupted by the telephone and interviews of mothers in their homes may be interrupted by the demands of children. Try to find a private place where you won’t be interrupted.

5. Set the tone of the interview. Break the ice right at the beginning; set a friendly, non-threatening tone and explain what you want to accomplish with your interview.

6. Even if you must ask some tough, sensitive questions during the interview, start with the easy, non-threatening questions to get the interviewee comfortable with the interview and used to talking.

7. Ask the right questions. Don’t assume anything; even ask questions with an “obvious” answer. You may be surprised by a response you could never have predicted. Don’t ask “leading” questions that assume a certain answer and don’t ask a question every time the interviewee pauses for breath. Ask concrete questions to elicit details that will make your article more interesting.

8. Guide the interview. Don’t interrupt a helpful train of thought; write down questions to follow up. But, don’t let the interviewee take off on an unhelpful tangent.

9. Avoid debating with the interviewee. Your interviewee may express opinions with which you don’t agree. Avoid the temptation to turn the interview into either a conversation or a debate. You’re there to get the information you need, not to have a discussion. Set aside your own opinions until the end of the interview and then if you wish to get into it with the interviewee, feel free to wade in.

10. Ask for final thoughts. You may discover important information you hadn’t thought to ask about.

For more information on the Art of the Interview, you may download a free ebook from Magazine Training International.

Five checkpoints for a stronger magazine

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Sure, most magazines fail within the first 10 years of operation. But there are things you can do to help make sure  your magazine won’t be one of the casualties. Here are five checkpoints to consider as you look at the future of your magazine.

1. Checkpoint One: Your magazine’s mission and editorial, marketing, and design philosophy. How long has it been since you’ve reviewed your magazine’s mission? Does everyone on the staff know why your magazine exists and what purpose it was designed to serve? A clearly and tightly focused mission will help you to stay on track as you make day to day decisions, selecting  articles, designing pages, and marketing your magazine.

2. Checkpoint Two: Know your audience. Do you know who your audience is and who you want it to be? One American magazine for college students was alarmed to find some 15 years after it was founded that the declining audience was composed mainly of people in their late 20s and early 30s. What happened? As the editorial and design staff aged, they failed to keep up with the tastes and issues faced by their supposed audience, and little by little the magazine grew older with the staff. Do you really know the audience you’re trying to reach? The more you know about your audience, the better equipped you will be to produce a magazine they will want to read.

3. Checkpoint Three: Your marketing plan. Are you continuing to look for new ways to get your magazine to your prospective readers? Have you explored new options as they’ve become available? Especially with a small staff, it’s easy to focus on producing the magazine and to forget to budget time to consider how you will get your wonderful product into the hands of readers.

4. Checkpoint Four: Your financial situation. Do you have a budget and are you keeping track of expenses? Do you have a fairly good idea of how much it will cost to produce your magazine next year and how many subscribers, advertisers, or donors you will need in order to continue to produce the kind of publication you now have or would like to have? A carefully-prepared budget and financial plan will make it possible to gauge your progress throughout the year and will alert you to potential problems or the need for an infusion of cash or a course correction.

5. Checkpoint Five: Are you continuing to learn your craft? Magazine publishing is changing rapidly. Are you keeping up with trends in magazine publishing and those that affect your audience? Design styles are changing and the expectations of consumers are changing, as well. It’s easy just to continue doing what you’ve always done and the way you’ve done it. However, those who continue to learn, whether through formal training or keen observation will be better equipped to produce a quality publication that continues to appeal to its market..