How NOT to bore your readers to death

Ann Wylie, president of Kansas City, Missouri-based Wylie Communications, is a trainer who helps writers and editors polish their skills.

Deborah J. Schwab, column editor, can be reached at [email protected].

Presenting even the freshest editorial in the same old package can put your readers to sleep. Here are 15 eye-opening alternatives.

As the American mass market shatters into smaller and smaller slivers, magazine editors find themselves covering increasingly eentsy niches. Not just Parenting, for example, but Atlanta Parent, Bay Area Parent, Biracial Child, Christian Parenting, Divorced Parents, Grand Rapids Parent, Growing Parent, Healthy Kids, Home Education, L.A. Parent, Long Island Parent, Metrokids, Pediatrics for Parents, San Diego Family, Sesame Street Parents, Smartkids, South Florida Parent, Twins and more.

The problem is, after a few dozen issues, we editors sometimes feel that we've exhausted the tightly targeted topic of, say, power boating in Canada or bass fishing in the Gulf Coast. More important, if we present our topic in the same way, time after dreary time, we can bore our readers to death before their subscriptions run out.

Tight editorial positioning is essential. But same-old, same-old doesn't sell. One solution to this fresh-vs.-focused dichotomy is to "rewrap the banana" with creative editorial formats. These formats allow editors to present our niche topics in innovative ways that keep readers coming back for more. So instead of that well-worn 2,500-word feature, consider:

Anatomy of a ...: Remember those popular posters from the 1980s that detailed the anatomies of nerds and Yuppies? Use the same layout to take a closer look at your topic. For example, in "Holiday party schmooze primer: Tips from Atlanta's favorite dinner-party diva," Atlanta Magazine ran a photo of a local party planner surrounded by strategies for throwing a successful bash. Sample: "Invite someone infamous. Try a Buckhead matron who was put in a paddy wagon for shoplifting."

Animation: One trade magazine runs a flipbook in the lower, right-hand corner of each issue. The reader flips the corner and watches a short, animated "movie." Use this approach to illustrate a production process, demonstrate a safety procedure or show how to use a new product.

Centerfolds: Brainstorm and figure out how your magazine can take advantage of its center spread. One astronomy journal, for example, publishes a regular center gatefold called "The sky this month."

Comparative charts: Charts make the complex material you want to present to your reader easy to understand--or in the case of Restaurant Hospitality, easy to digest. In "Take this food and eat it," the magazine invited readers to see how their restaurants stacked up against six national chains for a carryout order. The one-page chart covered the container, length of wait, food quality and other comments. (The bottom line: "It's better to eat inside.")

Don'ts: For a memorable how-to story, communicate the right way to do something by demonstrating the wrong way to do it. I still remember an article called, "How to kill your husband" that ran in one of the women's magazines a couple of decades ago. Of course, the story actually did a delightful job of showing women steps they could take to help their husbands live longer. Another approach to don'ts: Ask your readers to share the worst advice they ever received.

Infographics: Design News once took an inside look at a new Corvette engine--literally. One page featured a four-color illustration of each of the engine's 15 components, from ignition system to oil pan. The facing page cataloged each part, focusing on the V8's "many packaging surprises."

It's the next best thing to having the engine spread out in your garage.

Flow charts: For a story where one step follows another, you can usually present the information visually. When I edited Ingram's, a regional business magazine, we ran a story explaining how to tell a joke. But instead of a page of text, this "story" consisted of six photos of a popular local comedian. As cartoon thought balloons revealed his setup and punchline, cutlines under the photos explained his six steps to successful joke-telling. Tip No. 1: "Be born with a sense of humor. Some believe this is genetic; others think it's caused by prenatal exposure to such things as city council proceedings."

Form follows function: Sometimes you can match a story's topic to its layout structure to create an interesting editorial format. Loring Leifer, a freelancer I worked with at Ingram's, once wrote a story about how executives use e-mail to build business connections. Leifer not only researched the entire story via e-mail, she also organized the story itself as a series of e-mail vignettes.

Interactivity: Take a tip from online magazines and invite readers to participate in your contents. Run 3-D features with glasses, stories with computerized components that sing short songs, scratch-and-sniff pages and wacky contests. One Web-based publication, for example, invites readers to submit haiku about current news events.

Lists: Catalog anything--questions and answers, trends, surprising statistics, the top-80 ski resorts, the most influential women in the industry. Lodging once carried a one-page column listing what managers say-- and what they really mean--in letters of reference. Some samples from the copy: "#7. He's laid back. (They don't come any lazier.)" "#46. He's involved. (He's nosy.)" "#48. He'll go the extra mile. (He likes to travel.)" "#58. He looks for added responsibility. (He's never in his office.)"

Quotes: In "Perspectives," Newsweek runs the best quotes and editorial cartoons of the week-funny, juicy stuff that few readers can resist. I always wonder why more magazines don't follow suit. Sure, you could spend your annual editorial budget on permissions for the cartoons. But the quotes have never been easier to find, thanks to online services that gather stories about your industry from the top news sources. (The San Jose Mercury News' Newshound is one good resource, at www.hound.com.) Strategy & Business fills one spread with noteworthy quotes about management. One issue attributed this bon mot to Anonymous: "If you pay in peanuts, expect to get monkeys."

Reader makeover: This is a twist on the beauty makeovers you find in women's magazines. But instead of showing the reader how to style her hair or apply eyeliner, you help the reader "make over" some aspect of his or her life that isn't working. If you cover financial services, for example, you could give your reader advice on paying off credit cards, preparing to send the kids to school or planning that first portfolio. The results: a story format that's more compelling than "Six steps to getting out of debt"-plus, an excellent way to demonstrate your magazine's commitment to helping its readers.

Ribbons: Esquire publishes a short essay (200 words or so) on a one-line ribbon of red than runs from page to page to page to page. Talk about moving tired, busy, distracted readers through the magazine!

Soap opera: Take a fictional character, issue by issue, through the challenges and frustrations of, say, launching a new business (or whatever activity is germane to your readership). Through the character's experiences, your readers will learn how to get financing, set up a home office, get clients and manage record keeping. Just like a TV soap opera, run a cliffhanger at the end of each piece. As anyone who's ever been addicted to "All My Children" knows, this is a great way to keep readers coming back for more.

Timelines in real life: Remodeling ran a timeline in a cover story about a year in the life of a remodeling company. The article began with the owner setting six goals for the company. Over the next 12 months, the office manager goes on maternity leave, the designer gives notice, the production manager leaves for an architectural job, the driver resigns and a $300,000 project is canned because the owner gets sick. The year-and the article-ended with just one goal met.

Not all these editorial formats will fit your magazine, but some should. Try one or two and see if they help you meet your goal of revving up readership by rewrapping the banana.

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