FOLIO: Personalities -- The Blog People Page

Granted, there’s not many things more certain than death and taxes but I found one more: any time I started off a declaration with the phrases “Back in my day…” or “When I was YOUR age…” with one of my classes of Introduction to Writing & Reporting at the University of South Alabama, I could pretty much guarantee a room full of collective eye rolling. “Is that when you drove your Model T to school?” one of the class clowns would invariably smirk.

In this particular instance I was explaining to the room of Gen Y-ers that in my first job as a newspaper reporter I went to what is known as a public library and did research…in BOOKS! Well, they were largely unimpressed, and why shouldn’t they be? For the unin More...

In October, I came back from Santa Fe, New Mexico refreshed, rejuvenated, recharged, and ready to hit the ground running when I returned to the office. I wasn’t there for a spa weekend or a vacation; I went to the International Regional Magazine Association’s (IRMA) Annual Conference. But the experience there with other regional magazine pros was certainly as eye-opening as any skin peel could peel.
 
IRMA is not a typical organization and the conference is anything but run of the mill. The goal is to facilitate a free flow of ideas among peers. To that end, there are no competing m More...

I got the bad news three weeks ago that my beloved assistant editor was taking a job in Birmingham and would be leaving Southern Breeze. Not only was she leaving publishing altogether but her salary was doubling—before commission. Who could blame her for this decision? Still, it’s sad to see someone so gifted as a journalist, editor, writer, and reporter leave the profession.

But the cavalcade of projects slows down for no one so I had to fill the position. I posted an ad on several online job boards and in the local Sunday newspaper. Within 48 hours I had more than 40 applications pop up in my in-box. Very few came in based on the More...

When my June/July issue of Men’s Fitness landed in my mailbox, tennis star Rafael Nadal’s shirtless torso looked familiar—and it wasn't because I was looking at my own torso in the mirror, that’s for damn sure. Had it not been for the green Nike polo shirt around his neck, I would’ve never remembered that a similar photo was used on the cover of the 2008 fall fashion issue of New York magazine.

The photos, taken by Nigel Parry, are fantastic, and work remarkably well for both magazines. The New York cover shows Nadal at his pouty and petulant best, giving the camera—and thus, the reader—a wicked come hither look that likely More...

As an editor I still believe—and will always believe—that content is king. However, I recently ran into a problem when the content I really wanted did not exist … or so I thought. That’s where Craigslist came in.

Like every other publishing company in the country, the planet, and the galaxy, we’ve had to severely cut our freelance budgets. And by “severely” I mean “none.” And it became an issue for the Mississippi Travel Guide, one of my company’s many travel-related pubs, when I was doing a story on a restaurant that doubled as a music venue.

It just so happened that my favorite band, Hoobastank, was playing there More...

You know how you have that friend who you love to rile up about sports or politics because they get a little crazy? My friend Inez likes to do that to me on occasion, especially about magazine publishing. She informed me that an editor-in-chief—an incompetent, sweaty moron (think George Costanza without the charm)—begged off on proofreading his own work because…well he just didn’t like proofreading.

What?!

As she expected, I went off on this guy who never demonstrated any sort of vision or leadership at a major publisher’s b-to-b arm (which no longer exists). And yet, this guy was an editor-in-chief at this very well More...

To say that the news about our industry is depressing is an understatement. Massive cuts. Layoffs. Shutterings. I can’t help but think back to the many years I worked in the b-to-b world.

Looking back, it certainly seemed like nothing was ever too expensive to be prohibited from expense reports. One example: Herman Miller Aeron Chairs. At two of the b-to-b publishers where I worked, every single office and cubicle had an Aeron. I’ll admit, they are comfortable and I even have one at home. Floor after floor was filled with Aerons. At $1,200 a pop, that’s a lot of cash that could’ve been used to—oh I don’t know—save a maga More...

The recession has found its way into every aspect of publishing—and regional and city publishers are no exception. Thankfully, I have not had to lay off anyone in the editorial or art departments and—most importantly—we are still publishing Southern Breeze on its regular schedule, albeit in a more concise format. (We’ve reduced the trim size, changed paper stock, and cut each issue by 16 pages)

While I’m not overjoyed about any of these changes, I would rather make them than face the alternative that I’ve faced before and that so many magazines are facing now: More...

Death and taxes aren’t the only things those of us in the magazine world can be sure of anymore. We might as well add magazine layoffs. At least that’s been the case for the last couple of years. How many of us read the FOLIO: or mediabistro.com e-newsletters and see one of our former—if not current—employers ditching their publications or shaving off dozens of our former colleagues? It’s getting scary to do what we do these days, even more so than after 9/11.

But who are the bearers of not-so-glad tidings to hundreds of hardworking magazine staffers? The HR rep, that’s who! For the three seasons of The Office, Toby, th More...

As a human, I try to adhere to that old golden rule, “do unto others.” It’s served me pretty well so far but apparently there are some of our journalistic brethren who don’t hold to that tenet. I was on a culinary press junket to one of the major Deep South cities recently and it was truly a magnificent time: great food, great experiences, excellent lodging—plus, I got the rare chance to hobnob with other journalists from around the country and, in this case, the world.

As these outings generally go, everything was handled for us: it didn’t cost the journalists anything and it certainly didn’t cost our publications More...

How did you spend your Memorial Day? I spent mine at the local Books-A-Million browsing the magazine rack, something I don’t get to do as much since leaving Manhattan. Typically I’ll go into local bookstores to see how my own pub, Southern Breeze, is doing. Much to my chagrin, Southern Breeze wasn’t being sold. Were they sold out? Nope, they don’t carry it. Odd, considering our offices are less than a mile from this particular outlet.

But my chagrin is not the topic of this blog. I wanted to let other magazine pros know about a really cool publication you may not be familiar with: Performing Songwriter. In perusing More...

[There Will Be Blood still, courtesy of Paramount.]

There is nothing that will create a bond between art and editorial quicker than a meddling publisher. Granted, editors and artisans should already be thick as thieves, but when a publisher starts needlessly getting involved in the creative aspects of a magazine, there will be blood!

Take the case of a design-driven b-to-b magazine. The creative staff worked together nicely throughout the production process, but almost like clockwork, the publisher would decide to put her two cents in. It basically happened eve More...