January 15th, 2008 John Brady – Rebel Without A Contents Page
John Brady may have lost his mind. In this month’s Folio:, he suggests dropping page numbers. Actually, it’s not that bad an idea — save some editorial space on the TOC and a little bit of time at the end of production. I can just imagine trying to pitch that idea, though. “But we’ve been doing it this way for so long…”
Other things I wouldn’t mind seeing go away:
- Advertiser index. I just don’t think that’s how readers use magazines. Am I wrong?
- Reader service numbers. Are we the only ones who still use them? If a reader wants more information, they’ll either go to our website or Google.
- The upfront news section. You’ve already heard it by the time the magazine hits your desk. I can just about guarantee it. If we need to elaborate, it should be a feature.
- Every ad’s request for far forward, right hand page. C’mon. Really?
- Cover blurbs. I know they’re important. I just can’t write them.
- The four-column page. Every line is hyphenated and I think for regular features it looks bad overall. It can sometimes work for special features/sections, though.
Posted by
tradepressed at 09:49 pm | Filed under: Writing
on January 16th, 2008 at 9:24 am
I advertise in magazines and still wouldn’t blink if the Advertiser Index went away. Same w/ reader service numbers. And since many writers can’t write good cover blurbs, most of them just confuse me.
Upfront news I kind of like, though.
And c’mon, if I can’t complain about where my ad is placed, what’s left to complain about?
on January 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Good to know. Even the advertisers agree with me. Well, on almost everything.