organisational structures & Job Roles
Organisational structures
National & International publishing houses
Publishing houses are known to be any large commercial publishers whos job is to buy manuscripts through agents/authors, then become fully in charge of the editorial decisions of the style and content. After this they pay all the production and distribution costs in order to convert it into a hard copy. They from there on are also in charge of the copyright contracts. Once the sales of the books are
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in, they go straight to the publisher who then pays royalties straight to the author if stated in the contract created between the publishing house and author.
The Top Publishing Houses:
Penguin Random House
Headquaters: New York, United States.
Parent Organization: Penguin Random House. CEO: Markus Dohle. Subsidiaries: Bantam Books, Dell Publishing, Ballantine Books as a few to mention. Imprints: Bantam Books, Vintage Books, Ballantine Books as a few to mention. Founders: Bennet Cerd, Donald S. Klopfer & Christopher Coombes. |
Originally named Penguin Group, it was was founded in 1935 and ever since, it has been synonymous with publishing. In 2013, the firm merged its £2.4 Billion with another major industry force called Random House and ever since, they created the world's biggest publisher named Penguin Random House. By joining forces, they knew they had enough power to invest and fully realised the potential of digital publishing. As for now, they have roughly a 25% share of the UK's book market.
Nearly two hundred years ago, Hachette Livre was established in France however, it has been a big name in English fiction and non-fiction for a long time. Diverse famous writers such as Douglas Adams, Kate Adie and Ian Rankin were printed by the firm. As well as this, the publishing house embraces social media fully and even teamed up with Twitter, having a series of videos #WhereIWrite broadcasted in order to offer an insight from its authors.
Unlike the other publishing houses, this type of publishing house establishes up-and coming authors as well as educational titles. HarperCollins began in 1918 with the title William Collins & Sons and ever since it worked with multiple legendary authors such as Agatha Christie. It mostly focuses with traditional publishing techniques.
Faber Independent Alliance
Headquaters: London, United Kingdom.
Parent Organization: Faber & Faber. CEO: Stephen Page. Subsidiaries: Independent Alliance publishers, Faber and Faber. Imprints: Daunt Books Publishing, Lonely Planet, Scribe Publications as a few to mention. Founders: Sir Maurice & Lady Gwyer. |
Faber Independence Alliance is a British pioneering force in publishing. Unlike the other publishing houses, this is a more national independent one featuring numerous of independent publishes including Faber & Faber, Canongate, Grata Books as a few to mention. They joined forces and together created an influential community that can compete with standalone big-hitters.
Lastly, Pac Macmillian first known as Macmillan was the publisher founded in 1843. Multiple literature pieces were published from authors such as Lewis Carroll and then later on, it established itself as an academic publisher. Pan Macmillan interest in children literature was one of the main reason he started a family-run firm. This publishing house also awards young children who are talented as a way of supporting the next generation of creative minds. In order to produce a high-quality magazine, a lot of people are required to input their maximum effort whether the publication of the magazine is weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly. It is a very stressful job due to how fast-pace you are required to work due to the deadlines. There are multiple of roles which you could choose to be a part of which includes both editorial and non-editorial roles.
Job ROLES
Editorial Jobs
A magazine is all based on the quality and content they produce. It needs to be well researched, clearly written and perfectly edited before they are printed. This doesn't change even if the articles are opinion columns, investigative pieces or even the latest celebrity gossip, they all require a strong team of writers, clear attentive editors and fact-checkers in order for the article to reach its maximum strength. This is why they need an editorial group which includes the following members:
- Editor-in-Chief
- Managing Editor
- Editor
- Writers
- Fact-checkers
Design Jobs
Another important category in the magazine industry besides the articles would be how it looks. They want to be able to engage and sell their magazines correctly. This is done through its front covers, content pages and the article pages in order to correctly interest the right target readers of the magazine. This is why they need an design group which includes the following members:
- Art Director
- Graphic Designer
- Photo Editor/researcher
Sales jobs
In order for magazines to gain its highest revenue and profit, companies would have to sell advertisements, which keeps them in business. Most magazines actually gain profit through their cover price and advertising. Depending on the magazines, they all have different rates for running advertisements through either online sources or in prints. There are two sale jobs in magazine publishing:
- Ad Sales Manager
- Ad Sales Agent
Other Positions
Multiple jobs are also required in order to make sure the organisation is tidy, on schedule and organized. These include the following job roles:
- Production Manager
- Circulation Director
- Administrative Assistant
Online Positions
Most magazines not only publish a print of their magazine, but also post an online edition of their publication. Even though most of the attention is diverted to the print, online versions also matter a lot in today's society. This therefore requires a team of online positions which would be:
- Web Editor
- Bloggers
- Social Media Manager
Working practices & employment contracts
Working practices
stages of success within strict working practices
- Stages of print production
- First thing that has to be arranged would be a date of publication in order to create a schedule for the crew and also so the general public are aware of when the magazines release date takes place. Usually after deciding this planned out time, they create a schedule which you would have to aim to stick to in order to make sure the publication is out on time. The plan includes information on the production process and when each stage is set to occur.
- After this its essential for the production of the magazine to stick to all the schedules times and dates in order to assure the quality of the manufacture is of a high standard without being rushed last minute. In case something goes wrong or something has to be re-done or is late, there is always a Plan B to the production else without that structure, it wouldn't be completed on time.
- After this, it comes to the editorial and budgetary decisions. The editorial team will decide what topics will be covered on the front page of the magazine along with coming up with new stories, illustrations, articles and even photographs which will be featured in the magazine. After this, budgetary decisions are made in order to ensure they have enough money to create the best magazine possible. Usually the key here is to use as little money as possible.
- The next stage would be the content acquisition process. This is one of the most important steps of the whole process because without content, they would not be allowed to publish their magazine. You have two options of collecting content for the magazine which would be either through house staff writers or external writers whoa re commissioned to write on specific topics which re-handed out to them. After this step, they give it all the content to the graphics and artwork department. Here they determine which illustrations and pictures should be added. These are usually designed by a computer program. When it comes to research handed in from journalists or reporters, these call all be done through internet databases. Meetings would also be arranged with interviewees.
- After all that is arranged, it is given to the sub-editing team. The sub-editing team focuses on one major thing; quality control. Usually, bigger organisation teams would be big enough to have sub-editors which help take part in the construction of the magazine. When it comes to smaller organisations, they would only have one editor which would be in charge of checking accuracy of all facts and articles, making sure words are spelt correctly along with grammar and punctuation, checking that it follows a specific house style and working on the page layout.
- The page layout team specializes on checking and sorting out the layout of the Magazine. They check, typeset and layout various of magazine pages making sure it comes together as a whole. In order to do this, you would have to use Powerful Desktop Publishing (DTP) programs such as Pagemaker or InDesign in order to complete the task. This is also the stage where adverts from a range of advertisers are placed into the magazine.
- After this comes the task of proofreading which the editorial department prints out a hard copy for. They check out the layout as well as everything else in order to make sure the draft is perfect enough for destitution. If any mistakes are spotted, they are quickly changed on the DTP file. This process will repeat until every member is satisfied that there are no mistakes left.
- After the proofreading stage of the entire magazine, it is then sent to the printer and last minute checked that everything needed to be there is there. Before printing thousands of copies, they print a few back to the company in order to make sure the organisation is happy and fully satisfied of the printing quality. This is when they are given the go ahead to print the copies. the last stage of the process of production would be the distribution of the product. From the warehouse, the magazines are then distributed and sold to the public.
- House Style
The house style of a magazine usually reference to a specific use of editing conventions which are followed by writers and editors having a stylistic consistency within the magazine. Below are examples of 3 different types of magazines and the house style they follow:
Fashion Magazine
INFORMATION
(Fashion Magazine) Editor: Bernadette Morra Categories: Fashion Magazine Frequency: Monthly (10 per year) Language: English Publisher: St. Joseph Media Total Circulation (2011): 142,016 What does this magazine cover? This magazine covers and represents international, national and local fashion and beauty trends and news. Fashion magazine has managed to gain a worldwide successful recognition ever since. |
The house style for 'FASHION Magazine' includes an main central image with a long mid-shot as the model poses with a direct mode of address; usually, they are rather popular as they work in a career such as a professional model, musician or actresses. The magazine pays a lot of attention towards the costumes as matches the sell lines which advertises mainly their fashion choices. The masthead runs along the top of the page behind the model in different bold colors, usually a dark shade however, it always had the same font and written in bold while their slogan is the right hand earpiece in the skyline. Cover lines are used so that the focus on fashion and makeup; correlating to their outfit and the masthead.
Teenvogue Magazine
INFORMATION
(Teenvogue) Editor: Bernadette Morra Categories: Teen Magazine Frequency: Quarterly Language: English Publisher: Condé Nast Total Circulation (2011): 142,016 What does this magazine cover? This magazine covers and represents many topics including fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway appropriate for a younger audience. |
The house style for 'TEENVOGUE Magazine' includes an main central image usually taken with long mid-shot/mid-shot as the model poses with a direct mode of address repeatedly; the models all work in career relatively similar such as a professional model, musician or actresses. Just like the previous magazine, this magazine pays a lot of attention towards the costumes as matches the sell lines which advertises mainly their fashion choices. The masthead runs along the top of the page in front the model in different bold colors, usually a girlish shade such as pink, however they still always use the same font in bold.
Worldsoccer Magazine
INFORMATION
(Worldsoccer Magazine) Editor: Gavin Hamilton Categories: Sports Magazine Frequency: Monthly Language: English Publisher: IPC Media, Time Inc. Total Circulation (2013): 331,000 What does this magazine cover? This magazine covers and represents all types of international football scenes, games and events while mainly focusing on British football as their main professionality when choosing topics that they would cover monthly. |
The house style for 'WORLDSOCCER Magazine' includes an main image taken with long mid-shot as the model poses with a direct mode of address repeatedly; with all the models being professional footballers. This magazine pays a lot of attention towards the success of the football team which coordinate with the sell lines specifically placed there as English readers usually read from left first which is why they repeatedly place the main image on the right. The masthead runs along the top of the page behind the model in bold colors red and black which are eye catching with the font in bold.
- Impact of digital technology
Digital technology helps magazines distribute their work in a more international method. Producing a digital edition of a magazine poses challenges for publishers as the technology required to create a digital edition is different to that required for print. Bringing it digitally requires quite a big investment. Digital circulation of magazines is growing, however currently accounts for a very small percentage of overall magazine circulation. Press Gazette states how ‘Digital magazines accounted for 2.5 per cent of the total circulation audited by ABC in the second half of 2016. Digital editions (defined by ABC as digital versions which largely replicate the print edition) accounted for a further 1m in circulation (up from 750,000 in the same period a year ago).
- Historical influences
1663 The world's first magazine named ''Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen (Edifying Monthly Discussions) is published in Germany.
1731 The first modern general-interest magazine, ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', is published in England as entertainment with essays, stories, poems and political commentary.
1739 ''The Scots Magazine'' begins and today remains the oldest consumer magazine in print.
1741 Benjamin Franklin intends to publish America's first magazine, ''American Magazine'' came out three days earlier.
1770 The first women's magazine, ''The Lady's Magazine'', starts with literary, fashion and embroidery patterns.
1843 ''The Economist'' begins examining news, politics, business, science and the arts.
1895 An American magazine, ''The Bookman'', lists ''Books in Demand'' originating the idea of a bestseller list.
1896 The first pulp fiction magazines are printed on cheap wood pulp paper with ragged untrimmed edges.
1897 The old ''Saturday Evening Post'' is revived to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine.
1899 ''National Geographic'' appears.
1912 ''Photoplay'' is the first magazine for movie fans.
1933 ''Esquire'' is the first men's magazine.
1944 ''Seventeen'' is the first magazine devoted to adolescents.
1953 ''TV Guide'' starts.
1953 ''Playboy'' opens with Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
1967 ''Rolling Stone'' demonstrates the popularity of special-interest magazines.
1972 Feminist Gloria Steinem brings out ''Ms.'' magazine.
1990 ''Entertainment Weekly'' starts.
1731 The first modern general-interest magazine, ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', is published in England as entertainment with essays, stories, poems and political commentary.
1739 ''The Scots Magazine'' begins and today remains the oldest consumer magazine in print.
1741 Benjamin Franklin intends to publish America's first magazine, ''American Magazine'' came out three days earlier.
1770 The first women's magazine, ''The Lady's Magazine'', starts with literary, fashion and embroidery patterns.
1843 ''The Economist'' begins examining news, politics, business, science and the arts.
1895 An American magazine, ''The Bookman'', lists ''Books in Demand'' originating the idea of a bestseller list.
1896 The first pulp fiction magazines are printed on cheap wood pulp paper with ragged untrimmed edges.
1897 The old ''Saturday Evening Post'' is revived to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine.
1899 ''National Geographic'' appears.
1912 ''Photoplay'' is the first magazine for movie fans.
1933 ''Esquire'' is the first men's magazine.
1944 ''Seventeen'' is the first magazine devoted to adolescents.
1953 ''TV Guide'' starts.
1953 ''Playboy'' opens with Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
1967 ''Rolling Stone'' demonstrates the popularity of special-interest magazines.
1972 Feminist Gloria Steinem brings out ''Ms.'' magazine.
1990 ''Entertainment Weekly'' starts.
Employment contracts
Types of contracts
Magazine industries, being a media industry always has flexible and constantly changing contracts unlike more traditional jobs. I will talk about the most common contracts which can be found in the media industry which are as followed:
- Full-time, permanent
- Part-time, permanent
- Fixed-term and freelance
- Shift work
- Office hours
- Irregular & anti-social hours pay
- Salaried
- On completion
- Voluntary
Employment Equality (age) regulations 2006
''The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, which implement the Framework Directive on Equal Treatment and Occupation, take effect in October 2006. Tackling age discrimination is seen to be a means of achieving a more diverse workforce, yet in trying to achieve this objective there have been compromises with the principle of non-discrimination. During the consultation exercises preceding the Regulations there have been important differences of approach between employers and trade unions. The Government has, mostly, adopted the approach supported by employers. The result is a set of Regulations, which, although an important step forward in tackling age discrimination, have numbers of exceptions which effectively legitimise some aspects of age discrimination at work.''
Financial issues and current market trends
Financial
Sources of income
- Circulation and Subscriptions
- Classified Advertising
Sources of expenditure
Magazines can be distributed through:
There are also three means of circulation which are the following:
- Bookstores
- Sales at newsstands
- Other Vendors
- Variety of free distribution methods such as making them available at selected pick-up locations.
There are also three means of circulation which are the following:
- Paid: Magazines can be sold to the readers for a price which is either through a subscription or per-issue basis.
- Free: There is no cover price so this means the issues are given away for free.
- Controlled: Industry-based publications distributed to specific or qualifying readers would usually be free and determined by a survey. This method was widely used before the rise of the world wide web.
Other important financial trends
- Business Models
There are quite a lot of different ways to expand magazine publishing from events to building a brand around a membership model. Research pays dividends when creating or changing a business model. An individual approach is also crucial. What works for one publisher will surely fail for another, so first invest in research then evaluate the data and consider the impact of change on your current audience.
There are six tactics which can help to minimise poor cash flow and achieve sustainability:
There are six tactics which can help to minimise poor cash flow and achieve sustainability:
- Encourage prepayment: offer incentives for pre-payment on advertising space
- Sell a series: when selling advertising space, incentivise your sales team to secure series bookings with pre-payment
- Build up subscription sales: magazine subscribers pay in advance which equals cash in the bank
- Timely payments: have systems so payments come in promptly, penalise late payers and don’t delay dealing with bad debts
- Avoid income eaters: such as monthly payments for those added extras that aren’t essential
- Keep it lean: monitor all expenditure and when necessary be prepared to make cuts.
Market trends
all types of market trends
- Vision, Objectives & Goals Of Organisation
- Target Audience
1. Create a customer profile
Usually, your target audience would share similar characteristics and interests. In order to identify your audience to put together a customer profile, you need a detailed description of your target demographic which should include the following:
Other points which you may want to take into consideration would be: Marital Status, Occupation/Industry, Families with or without children, Ethnic Groups, Hobbies and Interests.
2. Conduct Market Research
You can learn about your target audience through primary and secondary market research. Primary research involves learning about customer buying habits through direct contact, such as:
Usually, your target audience would share similar characteristics and interests. In order to identify your audience to put together a customer profile, you need a detailed description of your target demographic which should include the following:
- Age
- Gender
- Income
- Location
Other points which you may want to take into consideration would be: Marital Status, Occupation/Industry, Families with or without children, Ethnic Groups, Hobbies and Interests.
2. Conduct Market Research
You can learn about your target audience through primary and secondary market research. Primary research involves learning about customer buying habits through direct contact, such as:
- Surveys
- Interviews
- Focus Groups
Basis for Comparison |
Primary Research |
Secondary Research |
Meaning |
Research conducted to gather first-hand information, for the current problem is called Primary Research. |
Secondary Research is one that involves use of information gathered originally by Primary Research. |
Based on |
Raw Data |
Analysed and interpreted information |
Carried on by |
Researcher themselves |
Someone Else |
Data |
Specific to the needs of the researcher |
May or may not be specific to the needs of the researcher |
Process |
Very Involved |
Rapid and Easy |
Cost |
High |
Low |
Time |
Long |
Short |
Legal, ethical & professional obligations
Legal
Acts of parliament
- Obscene Publications Act 1959
Long title: An Act to amend the law relating to the publication of obscene matter; to provide for the protection of literature; and to strengthen the law concerning pornography.
Citation: c. 66
Introduced by: Roy Jenkins
Territorial extent: England and Wales
Royal Assent: 29th July 1959
Commencement: 29 August 1959
Amended by: Obscene Publications Act 1964
According to Channel4, ''The Obscene Publications Act 1959 applies to television and covers material which is obscene, whether it is in a person's possession or it is published or broadcast. The definition of obscene is "likely to deprave and corrupt" the audience for which it is intended and includes not only sexually explicit material but material relating to violence and drug taking. This offence is more likely to apply to research material than material actually transmitted because of the stricter tests relating to harm and offence under the Communications Act 2003 and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.''
Citation: c. 66
Introduced by: Roy Jenkins
Territorial extent: England and Wales
Royal Assent: 29th July 1959
Commencement: 29 August 1959
Amended by: Obscene Publications Act 1964
According to Channel4, ''The Obscene Publications Act 1959 applies to television and covers material which is obscene, whether it is in a person's possession or it is published or broadcast. The definition of obscene is "likely to deprave and corrupt" the audience for which it is intended and includes not only sexually explicit material but material relating to violence and drug taking. This offence is more likely to apply to research material than material actually transmitted because of the stricter tests relating to harm and offence under the Communications Act 2003 and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.''
- Data Protection Act 1998
Long title: An Act to make new provisions for the regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals, including the obtaining, holding, use or disclosure of such information.
Citation: Section 7
Introduced by: Lord Ashton of Hyde
Territorial extent: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Royal Assent: 16 July 1998
Commencement: March 2000
Amended by: The DPA
The Data Protection Act 1998 (c 29) was a United Kingdom Act of Parliament designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system. Under the DPA 1998, individuals had legal rights to control information about themselves.
Citation: Section 7
Introduced by: Lord Ashton of Hyde
Territorial extent: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Royal Assent: 16 July 1998
Commencement: March 2000
Amended by: The DPA
The Data Protection Act 1998 (c 29) was a United Kingdom Act of Parliament designed to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system. Under the DPA 1998, individuals had legal rights to control information about themselves.
Ethical
Types of requirements
- Policies & Procedures
Hearst, the second most popular magazine industry who publishes motor magazine and cosmopolitan has specific policies and procedures they need to follow in order to conduct themselves with one of the highest standards of business conducts. This is their policies and procedures:
- Ethical Requirements
Meredith, the third most popular magazine industry who publishes allrecipies and shape. They insure that they follow specific ethical requirements in order to conduct themselves with all the same requirements. Ethical requirements they are aware of in order to support system development is the following
Professional Obligations
Regulatory Bodies
- Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
- Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)