The Contemporary Magazine/
MAGAZINE TERMINOLOGY A-Z
With thanks to
Wooden Horse Publishing
http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/glossary.ht
m
A
 ADVERTORIAL
Advertising supplement that reads like an
editorial.
A
 ALLIANCE FOR AUDITED MEDIA –
(Formerly Audit Bureau of Circulations)
An independent, nonprofit organization that
verifies publishers’ circulation claims by
holding regularly scheduled audits. AAM is
sponsored by publishers, advertisers and
advertising agencies.
(http://auditedmedia.com/)
A
 ANCILLARY PRODUCT
Products sold by publishers in addition to
magazines, such as trade shows, conferences,
books, tapes, special issues, coffee mugs.
A
 AUDIT REPORT
The official findings of an audit bureau (Audit
Bureau of Circulation or Business Publications
Audit Inc. in the U.S.) as a result of its
examination of a magazine's records for a
particular year or other stated period of time.
Also referred to the "white audit" because it is
printed on white paper in order to
differentiate it from a publisher's statement.

B
 B2B
Shorthand for business-to-business.
 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MAGAZINE
A magazine published specifically for an
industry, business, service, technical,
scientific, or trade audience. Also called
"specialized business magazine."
B
 BACKBONE
The bound edge of a magazine or book.
B
 BIND-IN CARDS
Promotional postcards bound into magazines
that either advertise a product or offer a
subscription to the magazine.
 BLOW-IN CARDS
Promotional postcards “blown” into magazines
by a machine after the publication has been
bound. These either advertise a product or offer
a subscription
B
B
 BIMONTHLY
Published every other month.
 BIWEEKLY
Published every two weeks or twice a month.
B
 BOOK
Shorthand slang for a magazine.
C
 CHURCH AND STATE
A metaphor for the formal or informal
structure division established between the
creative "church" side (editorial) and the
commercial "state" side (advertising) at a
magazine to prevent advertising from
influencing editorial decisions.
Circulation
 PAID CIRCULATION
Magazine copies that have been paid for by
an audit bureau-approved source, including
subscription and newsstand sales.
 CONTROLLED/NON-PAID CIRCULATION
Free copies of a publication sent to
individuals who meet publisher's
predetermined demographic qualifications.
C
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
Advertising placed under distinctive headings
or categories of interest to the magazine
reader. Designed for single item or service
announcements (rather than mass product
promotion); type and style are uniform, do
not usually include display, and have special
insertion rates.
C
 CMYK
The four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow,
black) used to achieve full-color image
appearance. Color and contrast is achieved
using black ink (abbreviated K).
C
 CONTENT
Any material, other than advertisement, that
appears within the context of the magazine,
web site or other publishing forum.
C
 CONTROLLED CIRCULATION/NON-PAID
CIRCULATION
Free copies of a publication sent to
individuals who meet the publisher's
predetermined demographic qualifications.
C
 COST PER THOUSAND - CPM
The standard measure of cost to reach 1,000
readers, usually with advertising material.
CPM = Cost of 1 ad x 1000
Circulation
If an ad costs $4,000 in a magazine with a circulation of 100,000, your cost to
reach 1,000 readers is $40. (4,000 X 1,000/ 100,000 = $40)
C
 COVERLINES
Short lines of copy placed
on the cover of a
publication to entice
newsstand browsers to
buy it. Also called cutlines.
D
 DEMOGRAPHICS
Data on readers of a magazine, such as
gender, age, education, household income,
geographic location.
D
 DIRECT MAIL
Invitations, solicitations and informational
mail pieces sent to individuals to market a
product, such as a magazine.
E
 EDITORIAL
1. That part of a publication provided by
writers which is not advertising.
2. An article expressing the views of the
editor or publication.
G
 GENERAL INTEREST MAGAZINE
Magazines whose editorial content is general
in nature and thus appeals equally well to
most men and women. Examples are The
Atlantic and Reader's Digest.
I
 ISSUE
All the copies of a periodical with the same
cover date and distributed at the same time.
 ISSUE DATE
The date a magazine is distributed to readers,
usually before the cover date.
L
 LOGO (OR LOGOTYPE)
A standardized, distinctive pattern
representing a company's name or
trademark. Originally, the logotype was cast
as a single piece of metal for printing.
M
 MPA (formerly Magazine Publishers of
America, now MPA, THE ASSOCIATION OF
MAGAZINE MEDIA)
Trade group for consumer magazines
established in 1919 that acts as an advocate
on behalf of the industry.
http://www.magazine.org/
M
 MEDIA KIT
A package of information detailing
circulation, ad rate, and editorial data of a
magazine and used to assess the magazine's
editorial content and appropriateness for
advertising.
M
 MISSION STATEMENT
The editorial explanation that details the
mission and objectives of a magazine.
P
 PASS-ALONG READER
A person who reads a publication that was
purchased by someone else. Statistically
becomes part of the total number of readers of a
particular issue or a particular publication. AKA
secondary audience.
PASS-ALONG CIRCULATION
Subscribers who offer non-subscribers a chance
to read their purchased magazine.
P
 PRIMARY AUDIENCE
1. The total number of people who purchase
and read a publication.
2. The readers that a publication's editorial
content is written for.
R
 READERS
The total number of people who see and read
a publication, including primary readers
(those that purchase the issue) and secondary
readers (those who have access to an issue
but do not pay for it).
S
 SECONDARY AUDIENCE
A person who reads, but does not purchase, a
publication, and must be counted in the total
number of readers for a publication. See passalong readers.
SECONDARY READER
Any reader of a publication purchased by
another member of the household.
S
 SEVEN SISTERS
A term to describe the seven wellestablished, mass-market women's service
magazines, one of which, McCall's, is now
defunct. The others are Better Homes and
Gardens, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping,
Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, and Woman's
Day.
S
 SHELTER MAGAZINES
Magazines that offer editorial content
focused on decorating, maintenance,
gardening, and food (examples: Dwell, Better
Homes & Gardens).
S
 SUBSCRIBER
Any person that pays for having a magazine
delivered to them.
T
 TRADE MAGAZINE or TRADE
PUBLICATION
A magazine published specifically for an
industry, business, service, technical,
scientific, or trade audience. Also called
"business to business" or "spe-cialized
business magazine."
TRADE MAGAZINES
The Masthead
 Publishing
 Editorial
The Masthead/Publishing
 PUBLISHER
Oversees the overall profitability of a
publication by setting the direction editorially
and visually, determines target markets,
manages staffing and production, and
controls resource and budgets.
The Masthead/Publishing
 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Reports to the Publisher and oversees nationwide advertising sales, supervises Regional
Managers and sales staff, recruits and trains
sales personnel, sets policy and procedures for
the sales department and is responsible for
meeting goals and quotas. May also be in charge
of marketing and/or promotion.
The Masthead/Publishing
 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Oversees advertising operations at a
magazine; magazine may have a national
office in NYC and regional offices.
The Masthead/Publishing
 CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Directs and coordinates the circulation,
fulfillment and production departments and
develops policies.
The Masthead/Publishing
 MARKETING DIRECTOR
Oversees the marketing group (covering
circulation, advertising, promotion, research
and public relations) and sets goals and
monitors implementation of policy. Helps
division managers evaluate publications and
new opportunities.
The Masthead/Publishing
 MARKETING COORDINATOR or
MARKETING SPECIALIST
Assists the marketing director by executing
marketing, advertising, publicity, PR, and
events campaigns and acts as information
liaison to staffers and advertisers.
The Masthead/Publishing
 PROMOTION MANAGER
Plans promotion programs in aid of the sales
objectives. Creates, produces and distributes
sales tools. Conceives, writes and supervises
production of sales aids (advertising, direct
mail booklets, sales kits and multimedia).
Sets the promotion budget; is responsible for
keeping promotion costs under control.
The Masthead/Editorial
 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/EDITOR
Oversees all editorial direction and policy,
including content, editorial page, budget,
goals and staff.
The Masthead/Editorial
 EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Oversees daily copy quality and deadline
compliance.
The Masthead/Editorial
 MANAGING EDITOR
Sets and carries out editorial policy with the
Editor-in-Chief, manages the editorial staff,
plans the content and layout of each issue
and decides which material will be published.
Oversees expenditures for art, manuscripts
and reprints, and helps prepare the budget ,
while also assuming writing and editing
responsibilities.
The Masthead/Editorial
 ART DIRECTOR
Oversees the visual look of the publication,
including the format design, art production,
cover ideas and graphics that illustrate each
article.
The Masthead/Editorial
 PHOTO DIRECTOR/EDITOR
Oversees the assignment and selection of
photos in a magazine.
The Masthead/Editorial
 ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Writes and/or edits features, covers and
represents the publication at industry events.
The Masthead/Editorial
 SECTION EDITOR
An editor specifically assigned to a major
editorial department (such as Features, News
and Reviews).
The Masthead/Editorial
 PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Oversees production and manufacturing of a
magazine, sets budgets, manages production
personnel and may be responsible for
purchasing paper and negotiating with the
printer.
The Masthead/Editorial
 ASSISTANT EDITOR
Senior editorial staff assistant who handles
routine work, research, writing/editing "front
of the book" or "back of the book"
departments and may write/edit features.
The Masthead/Editorial
 COPY EDITOR
A magazine staff member who edits copy for
accuracy, style, grammar, and spelling.
The Masthead/Editorial
 FACT CHECKER/RESEARCHER
Editorial staff position in charge of verifying
factual statements contained in copy before
it is published.
The Masthead/Editorial
 EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Support staff for the editorial department.;
entry-level job.
The Masthead/Editorial
 PHOTO ASSISTANT
Support staff for the photo department;
entry-level job.
The Masthead/Editorial
 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
An editor or writer who contributes to a
magazine's efforts but is not on staff.