The Art of Making Magazines: On Being an Editor and Other Views from the Industry

Columbia Journalism Review Books

by Victor S. Navasky, Evan Cornog

In this entertaining anthology, editors, writers, art directors, and publishers from such magazines as Vanity Fair , The New Yorker , The New Republic , Elle , and Harper's draw on their varied, colorful experiences to explore a range of issues concerning their profession. Combining anecdotes with expert analysis, these leading industry insiders speak on writing and editing articles, developing great talent, effectively incorporating art and design, and the critical relationship between advertising dollars and content. They emphasize the importance of fact checking and copyediting; share insight into managing the interests (and potential conflicts) of various departments; explain how to parlay an entry-level position into a masthead title; and weigh the increasing influence of business interests on editorial decisions. In addition to providing a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the making of successful and influential magazines, these contributors address the future of magazines in a digital environment and the ongoing importance of magazine journalism. Full of intimate reflections and surprising revelations, The Art of Making Magazines is both a how-to and a how-to-be guide for editors, journalists, students, and anyone hoping for a rare peek between the lines of their favorite magazines. The chapters are based on talks delivered as part of the George Delacorte Lecture Series at the Columbia School of Journalism.

Essays "Talking About Writing for Magazines (Which One Shouldn't Do)" by John Gregory Dunne; "Magazine Editing Then and Now" by Ruth Reichl; "How to Become the Editor in Chief of Your Favorite Women's Magazine" by Roberta Myers; "Editing a Thought-Leader Magazine" by Michael Kelly; "Fact-Checking at The New Yorker" by Peter Canby; "A Magazine Needs Copyeditors Because...." by Barbara Walraff; "How to Talk to the Art Director" by Chris Dixon; "Three Weddings and a Funeral" by Tina Brown; "The Simpler the Idea, the Better" by Peter W. Kaplan; "The Publisher's Crusading Defender of the First Amendment or Advertising Salesman?" by John R. MacArthur; "Editing Books Versus Editing Magazines" by Robert Gottlieb; and "The Reader Is King" by Felix Dennis

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism, Writing

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor, publisher, author and professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was editor of The Nation from 1978 until 1995, and its publisher and editorial director 1995 to 2005. In November 2005 he became the publisher emeritus. Navasky's book Naming Names (1980) is considered a definitive take on the Hollywood blacklist. For it he won a 1982 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Reviews

[Laura McKeever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compilation of essays from industry experts. Easy read

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of paper! This is a compilation of articles written by people too refined to be able to write their own books. And this is a good thing. Take Ruth Reich. Described as both author and journalist, because journalists are not authors mind you, she is quite something. Incapable of coming up with something useful, at least she is cute. So paragraph one: she works in a restaurant. Good. So she is extremely competent in journalism. The next paragraph she and her husband live in a commune. Oh, how sweet! She is both very conventional and extremely alternative while working, yet having no money. How little money did the christian couple had? "We have not been to a restaurant in years." Cool. And the job in a restaurant? A misplaced metaphor. Do you dig it? "We were literally living on nothing. And there are eight of us in the household." The brats are worse than a black family in a getto so give the drama queen a big round of applause! She was so g*d d*mn poor she did not have her own credit card! My heart breaks for this highly qualified kitchen aid climbing up the ladder to magazine stardom. I love the way middle class kids forget how momma called the owner of the magazine to give the brat a chance or other unglamorous acts and concentrate how they did their best. You can spot this kind of person in the way idiotic details like "I could not find a parking spot" are relevant and "how on Earth somebody picked you out of 300 million people" are better left unsaid.

So the art is about papa pulling some strings. And their balding heads experiences of the 1970s are darn right relevant in between blogs. With this kind of rigidity no wonder magazines are just adverts split up with some informercials.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalists or people interested in the field will love this book. The guest speakers that make up each chapter are like a greatest hits of media: Ruth Reichl, Tina Brown, Robert Gottleib, Michael Kelly, etc. And each person has an interesting different perspective -- fact checker versus editor in chief versus copy editor -- on what goes into making magazines.

Ruth Reichl's chapter was the most interesting because she spoke twice and her first lecture makes up the first half of the chapter and the second lecture the second half. The contrast between the two is striking. In the first, you can tell she is still in love with journalism. In the second, she describes the frenetic day she had just had at work, making her too tired to think of anything to say for the lecture. Sadly, I empathize with Reichl's exhaustion in the second lecture, which reflects changes in the media wrought by the Internet. You can also see how the Internet has changed the professional lives of people like Tina Brown too.

But aside from showing you what goes on at magazines behind the scenes and how the media business has changed over the years, the book offers plenty of inspiration, particularly in the chapter by Dunne.

[Deidre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked on magazines for years so this was right up my alley. The book gathers up lectures from Columbia's magazine program and includes many known greats including Tina Brown and Ruth Reichl. For magazine nerds and those in the biz this is pure candy but others with no interest in that closed world may wonder what the fuss is all about and why everyone takes it so seriously. For those truly interested in a career in magazines there can be no greater motivational lecture than the last entry in the book by Felix Dennis. Read that when you need to get fired up and take on the world.

full review over on my website

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love magazines, so this collection of lectures given at the Columbia Journalism School piqued my interest. This was a mixed bag of experiences from mainly the editorial side of magazine publishing, with an anachronistic bent. That is, most of the lectures were from editors whose careers occurred pre-internet, so there was a quaint gem-like feeling to the collection. There was a lot in here about the glory days of The New Yorker (and one by Tina Brown) and a not a little bragginess. Journalists are't know for their modesty. Entertaining and worth reading if you like magazines.

[miteypen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains 12 speeches given to journalism students by people who worked in some capacity in magazines. The results are sometimes illuminating and always interesting, but uneven in their helpfulness. This isn't as much about how to make a magazine as it is about what it's like to work on/for one. There is food for thought here, but it's more like an assortment of snacks than a full banquet.

[James Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful peek behind the curtain of magazine publishing. Based on a series of talks at the Colubmia School of Journalism, the chapters retain a colloquial feel to them. A bit like a "master class" in a book, covering everything from the "worldviews" of magazines to the nitty-gritty of copy-editing and design. A fantastic little book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of talks from guest speakers at the Columbia School of Journalism. I learned a lot, even though the type of magazine I edit is a small association publication rather than a big national magazine. Each talk was different, but each one was compelling in its own way if you have any interest in journalism.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series of essays by all different magazine types. It was fascinating to get an insider view of the magazine industry, its past and its future, in an entertaining and informative way. I thought it might be a bit dull, but I was pleasantly surprised by it's readability.

[Anne Kadet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun blathering on

[Elizabeth Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a weird way, I was hoping that this collection of works would discourage my dream of working in magazines one day. No such luck. I loved the accounts from different professionals in the business.