Product Description
Describing how magazines work from top to bottom, this text gives an account of what editorial staff do, the editorial process, content, planning, display, illustrations, titles, blurbs, and captions. In addition it covers the steps of the production process, legalities, and ethics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Basic, introductory information
This is a helpful reference for people who aren't familiar with magazine publishing and gives some useful advice on how to deal with common problems. However, the writing is sometimes convoluted and redundant and the authors' perspective can be narrow. I would expect better writing from people who choose to write for a publishing industry audience.

Succinct overview of magazines and their staffing
I work for printing/publishing clients as an advisor for IT strategy. I give this book to consultants new to the media industry, because it does such a good job of laying out basic information in a manner that's quick to read and easily understandable. Its focus is on the different kinds of magazines, the roles and responsibilies within a magazine, and the concerns of the Editor-in-chief. Informative and exactly as long as it needs to be.

Informative book for anyone interested in magazine editing!
I have been in the magazine field for 5 years and then I found myself in a job where I was the only person with magazine experience, instead of being the youngest in the office. I wanted to be sure of everything I had learned in my other jobs and get tips about other things I had not dealt with. This was the perfect book--it had information about all aspects of magazine editing from management to layout to publication. This book is not only for the editor-in-chief (which I am), but it is also for anyone who works at a magazine and wants to have a better insight into the entire magazine process. I readily recommend this book to anyone interested in magazine writing and editing! ... Read more

Product Description
This second edition of this guide to newswriting brings aspiring journalists up to date on what it takes to put together a news story, from conception to execution. Veteran journalist, editor and educator Fox walks the beginning writer through the principles and techniques of organizing a news story and writing it with style and depth. In nine chapters, he covers essential journalistic skills, from lead writing and story development to handling quotes and composing feature stories. Fox also pays special attention to questions of style and context, varieties of the basic newswriting structure and alternatives to traditional story forms. His approach should ground a reader in the basic "rules" of newswriting without allowing the process to become a straitjacket. More than a how-to manual, the text is also an appreciation of the craft of newswriting as a modern art form. As such, it should be a valuable source for anyone involved in print journalism or interested in the rhetoric of news. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Highly recommended for students of print & media journalism
Now in an updated and expanded third edition, Writing The News: A Guide For Print Journalists, Walter Fox continues to draw upon his more than forty years of experience as a professional journalist, editor, communications specialists, and journalism educator to provide aspiring journalists and news writers with an introductory primer for their trade. Among the issues covered are writing the lead; story development, handling quotes, varieties of the basic structure of writing, examples for the contemporary press, feature narratives, and an enhanced chapter on news style. Writing The News is very highly recommended for students of print and media journalism, as well as article and reportage writing for magazines and periodicals.

can it BE more helpful?
at first, i was told to become a journalist by my dad because he's a famous journalist in my country. In the beginning, I thought of it as a burden because it wasn't my area.Then I read this book and suddenly, pageafter page, a light of my hidden talent started to emerge.Then, I finallyrealized that this is my fate and destiny, to become a journalist.Thisbook is really helpful in anything that is related to being a journalist. All the tips, comments and necessary information was provided in thisreally fabolous book.I most definitely recommend this book to anyone whowants to become and even to the ones who hates of being a journalist.Whoknows?Maybe it's your hidden talent! ... Read more

Product Description
Good editorial writing has the potential to start a war – or avoid one. Is it any wonder event the most experienced journalists find opinion writing important and fascinating? In this fully updated and revised second edition of Writing Opinion for Impact, author Conrad Fink provides the guidance for translating the basics into opinion writing that is reasoned, forceful, responsible, engaging and readable. New to this edition is a stand-alone chapter on Commentary for Cyberspace and Broadcast, with an expanded discussion of writing for online publications, including a discussion of Slate, other Internet services, and blogs. Also new to this edition is the inclusion of full-length editorials complete with the author’s commentaries that elaborate on teaching points from the chapters. These editorial reprints and author commentaries include: editorials from leading newspaper and magazine publications; a political commentary column; a humor column; a sports column; a film review; and columns on business and lifestyle. New or expanded coverage also includes: discussion of plagiarism and outright lying that struck column-writing in recent years; staying fair and balanced in reporting; computer assisted reporting, including Web sites; career progression for columnists; the trend toward campus newspaper columns containing frank sex advice. Aspiring editorial writers and columnists – whether students or journalists in transition – will find the second edition of Writing Opinion for Impact an invaluable guide to the responsibilities, techniques, and art of opinion writing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent in almost every respect
I've read this book for a college course, and overall it is excellent.

The only strange thing about this book is that it is written in a completely different style than one of Conrad Fink's earlier books, "Strategic Newspaper Management." This one, "Writing Opinion for Impact," is quite informal, even chatty, as compared with the formal, almost traditional, style of his newspaper management book. They are so dramatically different, it's as if they weren't even written by the same person.

Useful how-to-do-it.
Although intended as a college journalism textbook for aspiring editorialand opinion writers, "Writing Opinion for Impact" has greatpotential utility for anyone concerned with communication through thewritten word.
The author begins with a thoughtful discussion of thepower and responsibilities of the opinion writer, examines in detail thenuts and bolts of persuasive writing (with pertinent comments and examplesfrom other writers as varied as Dave Barry and Mortimer Zuckerman), anddevotes attention to such specialized areas as humorous writing, artsreviews, and sports. Ethical issues and common pitfalls are prominentlyfeatured throughout. For those pursuing the subject methodically, eachchapter concludes with a handy summary, recommendations for furtherreading, and practical exercises.
Whether you are a budding mover ofpublic opinion, a letter-to-the-editor devotee seeking greater powers ofpersuasion, or just a reader who wants to know how it all works, ProfessorFink's work is highly recommended, not only for its content, but also as amodel of lucid writing in itself. (The "score" rating is anunfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not"score" books.) ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Book publishing for the love of it - how wonderful!
In an age when it seems like publishing houses are being snapped up right and left, it's a delight to read interviews with noted publishers who took a chance on writers they loved, regardless of the bottom line (and even made a profit doing so - sometimes). There are nine small press publishers represented here and the interviews are quite detailed and fascinating to read. Those interviewed are Henry Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, David Godine, Daniel Halpern, Sam Hamill and Tree Swenson, James Laughlin, John Martin and Jonathan Williams. They represent, in no particular order, the publishing houses of City Lights, Cummingham Press, David R. Godine, Copper Canyon Press, Ecco Press, New Directions, Black Sparrow and The Jargon Society, among others. ... Read more