Contacting magazines

Hey!,

I am thinking of contacting some magazines to try and get my work shown,but I am not sure what magazines to contact and I am not sure what to say. If anyone has any advice on how to best approach this I would be most gratefull!

Thanks!

Hi Adam

First of all - identify who you want to get your work in front of. Once you know who your target audience is, you'll be able to identify which publications reach that audience. Targeting is everything :)

As Belinda says, you need to have a target and you really need a name of the right person who makes the decision. They will bin anything that is just addressed to the editor etc...

Another way could be to put together a step by step guide on how you create a particular image/layout or write some articles on what you do.

Hi Adam,

I worked on a newsdesk for a number of years, the best way to get in front of journalists in the first instance is to start commenting on issues they're covering in the news pages. They may ask you to comment on other stories they're writing then, and eventually you may get the chance to write a one-off column or a letter, promoting your products and services.

It is a bit of a slow-burn, but very valuable once you're in.

Hope that helps - let me know if you have any other questions.

Good luck,

Nick

Thanks for the advice guys, it's certainly helped work out what I need to do!

Cheers

Hi Adam,

Great to meet you at 4N Thornbury yesterday; following our conversation a further thought has occured to me that might help answer this question:

There are directories of all UK publications - from The FT down to small local magazines - which give full contact details of editors and other key staff at each publication, as well as an outline of their circulation, audience, etc. Although these can be very expensive to get hold of, most decent libraries have copies that you can refer to. Copying entries from a directory makes for a dull morning, but could give you brilliant leads to research more fully online.

If you can't find a directory in your library (or in central bristol - the business library is off college green) then let me know as I have a colleague in PR who has access to the online directories and might be able to help.

cheers,

Philip

Hi Adam

A resource like Philip is mentioning above is Brad - their website is brad.co.uk

Excellent resource, have a look on ebay for just out-of-date ones, still v. useful and a lot cheaper.

Jane

Hi Adam, we met at Emersons Green a couple of weeks ago.

As you know I'm Bristol-based too so if you fancy hooking up for a coffee and a chat about dealing with the media, (mags, newspapers, radio, anything!) give me a shout and I'd be happy to see you.

Cheers for now,

Simon