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Articles are one of the most important
assets a publication can have. However, most people overlook this
fact because their focus is only on making money by selling adspace.
But anyone can publish an adsheet that
contains page after page of pasted-up ads. There are even some so-called
publications that contain nothing but ads. (Publications of this
type are only print and mail services. They do not qualify as a
publication in my opinion.)
But if you want to step-up from a print
and mail company and become a publisher you must recognize the importance
of the articles you allow to be printed in your publication.
Articles are show stoppers. If you don't
believe me, the next time you are in the waiting room at the doctor's
office, watch how people read magazines. They flip to the articles,
read the headlines and only read the article if the headline is
of interest.
The second thing the reader looks for are
the full-page ads. It's easier to flip through the pages and read
a full-page ad, then to spend a lot of time on one page reading
the smaller ads. Again, if they find something of interest, they
will dig deeper into the publication and perhaps read every page.
As a publisher, why should you care that
someone reads every page? Because you should be working for your
advertisers. Remember, if they don't get a response from their ad,
they won't advertise with you again. Besides, when you place an
advertisement in a magazine, newspaper, tabloid or adsheet, do you
advertise in it again when you don't get any response? Of course
not. So why should your advertiser feel any differently?
Therefore, your articles should be selected
with as much care as you give full-page ads. Here are some steps
to determine if an article is okay for your particular publication:
1. Read the article in it's entirety. If
you don't have the time to read it now, put it aside. DO NOT print
the article until you read it and determine if it would be interesting
to others. How would you know this? If you like the article and
learned something from it, the chances are good that your readers
will too. (Remember, your reader will judge your publication by
the articles you allow to be printed in it.)
2. Never print an article just because
someone else wants you to. Remember: you are in control of your
publication. It is your baby and you have the power to print whatever
you deem necessary. If anyone tries to force you to print their
article (and you don't want to), tell them you'll print it if they
pay your standard advertising price for the space the article will
take up. That will force them to put their money where their mouth
is.
3. If an article is too long but the content
is good, don't be afraid to send it back to the writer and ask them
to revise it. For The Pay Day Tabloid, John allows 800-1,000 words
maximum for articles that I typeset for him. If an article is too
long, I simply send it back and the writer will reformat it and
send it to me. (This is standard business practice and in no way
hurts the writer's feelings.)
Another option would be to run the article
in two separate issues. Split the article at a point that is extremely
interesting. (Think about how Soap Operas on television get you
to tune in and watch the next day. They do it by stopping in the
middle of something very interesting. Then, you have to tune in
the next day to see what happens.) When you split your article to
run in two issues of your publication, the first one should stop
at a very interesting point so the reader will want to get next
month's copy to read the ending.
4. Be very careful about printing the same
articles that everyone else if printing. It's okay to have a few
overlapping with another publication, but if the majority of your
articles are not written exclusively for your publication, you will
be defeating your purpose and offending your readers. (Don't believe
me? Go to the newsstand and pick up a copy of Home Office Computing
and Entrepreneur Magazine. Compare them. You will never find the
same article appearing in each one.)
Finding Good Writers
There is absolutely no reason of any kind
that you should be stuck running the same articles that every other
publication is running. It's a bad habit that needs to be broken.
There are literally millions of writers that are unknown and looking
for a break. They would jump at the chance to write articles just
for your publication. Most of them can be found on the Internet
by doing a search under the words authors or writers or by looking
through a copy of Writer's Digest.
Typesetting The Article
It may seem too picky to some publishers
to point out that ALL articles appearing in your publication should
be typed in the SAME font. Pick up a newsstand publication the next
time you are in a grocery store. You will never find articles looking
different from other articles by varying font styles. Instead, they
all look uniform. (Most of them are typeset in Times Roman.)
However, many publications will have articles
typeset in a 10-point type, another in 12-point and another in 8-point.
One greedy publisher I have witnessed always typesets his articles
in a 7-point type that is so hard to read you have to have a magnifying
glass. This clearly demonstrates that the publisher has no idea
about the marketing benefits of articles. He immediately appears
greedy and solid, professional writers would never submit anything
of value to him.
If you do not have the ability to typeset
your articles, ask the writer to format them properly before sending
them to you. Any article in any publication should be a minimum
of 12-point (you can get away with 11-point sometimes) and preferably
in a Times Roman font. Leading (the space between the lines of the
text) can often be reduced and enlarged to take up less or more
space without sacrificing the size of the font.
Conclusion
Some people may not actually realize the
power and necessity of publications. They are the lifeblood that
brings the advertiser and customer together. That's right! Every
time you paste-up or typeset an advertisement to appear in your
publication, it's another business you have partial control in prospering
or destroying.
Articles though become YOUR lifeblood that
keeps readers coming back for more. They are the entertainment for
your readers. They keep your readers turning pages and contribute
to keeping them in the mood to buy from your advertisers. They are
really that important! All you have to do is pay attention to your
articles just like you would a paid advertisement and you should
do well.
Publishers have a powerful responsibility
that more of them need to understand so they can grow, prosper and
make more money.
