The Art of Making Magazines

by Navasky, Victor S.; Cornog, Evan

• ISBN13: 9780231131377
• ISBN10: 0231131372
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-09
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

From finding and cultivating authors to effectively incorporating art and design, from the importance of fact checking and copyediting to the critical relationship between advertising dollars and content, this anthology provides a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the making of a successful and influential magazine. It also engages with the industry's most pressing issues, such as the future of magazines in a digital environment and the increasing pressure of business interests on editorial decisions, acting as both a how-to and a how-to-be guide for a variety of readers. Top editors, writers, art directors, and publishers from such magazines as Gourmet, The New Yorker, The New Republic, Elle, and Harper's speak on developing great talent; obtaining an entry level position that can be parlayed into a masthead title; managing the interests (and potential conflicts) of various departments; and handling the requests of advertisers. They explore the creative strategies and practical mechanics of writing for magazines and the role of opinion in shaping or enhancing editorial content. One essay directly confronts the inherent strengths and weaknesses of women's magazines, while Felix Dennis recounts creating Maxim. In other essays, Barbara Wallraff speaks about the famed copyediting department at The Atlantic while Ruth Reichl and Tina Brown speculate on the many changes the magazine industry has undergone in the past two decades. An anthology full of intimate reflections and surprising revelations, this volume holds immense value for current editors and practicing journalists, as well as for students of culture and journalism, and it holds wide appeal for anyone hoping to peek between the lines of their favorite magazines.

Author Biography

Victor S. Navasky, editor of The Nation from 1978, became editorial director and publisher in 1995 and is now publisher emeritus. He is the George Delacorte Professor of Magazine Journalism at Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism, where he directs the Delacorte Centre for Magazine Journalism and chairs the Columbia Journalism Review. Evan Cornog is dean of the School of Communication at Hofstra University and a former publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review. He has worked on the editorial staffs of The New Yorker and Wigwag and has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The American Scholar, and Columbia Journalism Review.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. vii
Talking About Writing for Magazines (Which One Shouldn't Do)	p. 1
Magazine Editing Then and Now	p. 29
How to Become the Editor-in-Chief of Your Favorite Women's Magazine	p. 47
Editing a Thought-Leader Magazine	p. 61
Fact-Checking at The New Yorker	p. 73
A Magazine Needs Copyeditors Because…	p. 85
How to Talk to the Art Director	p. 101
Three Weddings and a Funeral	p. 113
The Simpler the Idea, the Better	p. 131
The Publisher's Role: Crusading Defender of the First Amendment or Advertising Salesman?	p. 141
Editing Books Versus Editing Magazines	p. 155
The Reader Is King	p. 165
Acknowledgments	p. 179
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