Re: On the Fence/Writing for Journals
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding on this list about what
differentiates professional journals, professional magazines, and trade
publications.
No misunderstanding here. Nor any misplaced naivety or idealism, as your "editorial" suggests. The issue is which ones a writer might find worth contributing to, and why.
Good summary, though. The only quibbles I'd make are:
- most academic publications have peer reviews, but having peer reviews doesn't mean that a publication is necessarily academic, as you seem to imply. I can think of at least a couple of peer-review publications that I'd hesitate to describe as academic or scholarly. But perhaps the implication was unintentional.
- a number of trade publications and magazines do, in fact, pay extremely well for contributions. Obviously, however, payment varies considerably. On the one hand, a contributor isn't likely to be well-paid by a gaming magazine, because the magazine can get all the copy it wants very cheaply by adolescents who are excited simply by being published. On the other hand, a specialty magazine whose contributors have expertise may pay rates that only senior technical writers could hope for.
As an aside, I'd also mention that the general trend in the last decade is for magazines to derive income from advertising, rather than from subscription or magazine rack sales. In many cases, income from selling the magazine are in decline, or holding steady, while manufacturing and production costs are rising, so this trend is probably unavoidable. However, it often leads to readers' complaints, and accusations of a loss of objectivity.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
Prince, I can hear the trumpet of Germinal,
The tumbrils toiling up the terrible way;
Even to-day your royal head may fall,
I think I will not hang myself to-day.
-G. K. Chesterton, "A Ballade of Suicide"
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