In the publishing world there are many rules and varying games of play. Every company likes to think their way is the right way and every company competes against the other - for space on the newsstand, for 'talent' and for their place up the circulation ladder.For the journalists and creatives working within the publications the pressure is definitely felt to make their magazine/newspaper or supplement 'The Best'. Better sales mean higher circulation numbers and the higher the numbers the better the pay.
For those minions fighting to make it within the walls of the likes of Conde Nast, Hearst (Natmags) and Hachette Filipacchi it's hard to know the road best to travel. First you need experience - which will be unpaid and at times soul destroying - and then you need a gap to form. Because with a finite number of titles and within them only one or two entry-level positions, some other minion before you has to either get promoted or be kicked to the curb and then you get an 'in' for an interview. If you're lucky.
Once in you have to stay there. You have to impress and deliver, time and time again, generally on very little pay. So why is it that in the industry that presents glitz and glamour to the world the pay is so very low? Just how are the ladies who judge the who's who of fashion meant to afford their own Prada and Pucci?
Freebies? They don't get as many as you think. Besides you can't pay your rent or buy groceries with a Fendi handbag and palming it off on eBay wouldn't exactly make you popular with their PRs.
People say magazine sales are dropping because of the Internet. I argue that a wo
man would always prefer to caress the glossy pages of her fave mag than click through a website. However, with brands being able to advertise far more cheaply on the Net the draw of a pricey, glossy advert is starting to dim... And newsstand mag sales are falling. I just hope that they don't fall too low. It would be horrible to think that my current stint in the slave trade will come to nothing in the end. That, I just couldn't bear.
man would always prefer to caress the glossy pages of her fave mag than click through a website. However, with brands being able to advertise far more cheaply on the Net the draw of a pricey, glossy advert is starting to dim... And newsstand mag sales are falling. I just hope that they don't fall too low. It would be horrible to think that my current stint in the slave trade will come to nothing in the end. That, I just couldn't bear.
1 comment:
It's true, mag sales are falling, and the internet hits a certain market. But women's mag I think are safer than many other sections of the publishing world, because yes, it's lovely to come home, flop on the couch and flick through Vogue, InStyle, OK. It's similar with cookbooks, even though there a million and one beautiful food blogs out there, cookbooks are being published hard and fast. There is a comfort with women's mags, and I think they're here to stay for a while, at least I hope so too, and for you :-)
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