Category / 100 Words

by Magdiaries

Freelance life

The joy. Commissioned. Relief. Still a writer.

Prevarication. Official deadline… passes. Real deadline? Aaargh. Words wrenched from reluctant brain. Anguish: is it any good? Too many words? Again.

Click. Save. Send. Forget.

Time passes.

A magazine. On a shelf. I’m in it! Forgot it existed. In real life. Quick scan; no glaring blunder? Nice headline; I’ll claim it.

Intro changed. My fault. Too many words. Again.

But doesn’t it look lovely? The nice pictures. Shiny paper. Third read; relaxed in its company. Like real writing. By real journalists.

Maybe I’m OK. Onto the next. Then I’ll probably never work again…

Adrian Lobb | Freelance Writer (TV, music, arts)



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Absolute control

The Wine Merchant went from vague concept to actual product very suddenly. One day, it was just there. There were ads, articles, PDFs, the smell of ink, envelopes stuffed and dispatched.

It looked as I wanted it to look. Finally, I had absolute control of an editorial product. The magazine that had gestated in my mind was something people could hold, read, sniff. And it was mine!

Today, readers quote articles I don’t remember. I stumble upon online discussions about my picture captions. I see it being read by people I’ve never met.

It’s no longer my magazine. It’s theirs.

Graham Holter | Editor and Publisher, The Wine Merchant


Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

It’s busy but…

People working in magazines are busier than ever (or at least, there are fewer people working in magazines and there is no less work to do); you have to do the stuff your predecessors had to do in addition to a whole load of new stuff that’s just expected these days, all while worrying about your industry, and specifically, vaguely worrying that you haven’t saved it yet.

Buried under all of that is your passion. Excavate it. Dust it off. Squint at it; remember that this is why you do what you do.

And remember that many envy your job.

Christopher Phin | Editor, MacFormat



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

My last £20

Editorial design became a vocation as a fresher at university when a visiting Art Director spieled on the wonder of publishing. This was 2009. The recession shortly made her team redundant.

Publishing is a strongly competitive field. Being female, the odds of getting design work are statistically slim. Cold-calling every title I could got me experience with a women’s glossy. Evenings, I designed a teen magazine.

My last £20 of student loan was spent on a book of editorial design. Graduating, a cycling title gave me a proper job.

The years of extra effort were worth it – I recouped that £20.

Grace Neal | Designer, Singletrack Magazine



Grub Street Journal
by Magdiaries

Words and pictures

A magazine is words and pictures. That’s all it is, all it’s ever been and all it ever will be.

How we present those words and pictures continues to change, but we should never lose sight of the fact that people want to read magazines for words and pictures, and advertisers want to reach the people who like the words and pictures.

The magazines that will thrive are those that present words and pictures in the best ways, from a neat turn of phrase in an intro to developing a whole new digital platform.

Do the words and pictures well.

Simon Caney | Publisher, Sport Magazine

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Grub Street Journal