If you love writing and reading, consider movies like The Devil Wears Prada and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days the best of the best, and spend your mornings in the Starbucks line, a job in the magazine industry could be for you! But how do you know which position will be right for you?

First, a little background: the two main branches of a magazine are editorial and publishing and the titles usually file under director, editor, and even assistant.  Positions vary in the company’s size.  If a magazine is relatively tiny and caters to a small, specific audience, the titles are broader and include more workload under each name.  The opposite goes for better-known companies with wider audiences.

Below is a list of several of the main magazine positions with a description of their responsibilities included…

Editor-in-Chief: The head honcho of the magazine!

-Overall editorial direction of the magazine, like the content and cover

-Hiring staff

-Managing budgets

-Dealing with other publications for business

Managing Editor:  Time is money.

-Makes sure all departments follow a set schedule in a fashionable form

-Oversees copy-editing and fact-checking

Creative Director: They’ve got the look.

-Responsible for establishing the overall identity of the magazine and making sure each issue keeps consistent to it

Art Director: The visionary.
- Supervises all design aspects; like the photography, typography, format and layout

Features Editor: The Generalist.

-Writes, edits, & researches

-Plans out stories for assigned sections

-Can cover events and regular features

Contributing Writer: A la Carrie Bradshaw.

-Under contract to write an assigned number of articles or a column per month

-May supervise in the production of features, departments, or sections

Editorial Assistant: Your go-to gal.

-Performs all secretarial/administrative tasks

Fact-Checker: Telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but!

- Sometimes supplyling extra research to columns, features, and departments

-Checkin’ over those facts!

Publisher: The Distributer.

-Business manager

-Handles sales accounts and circulation finances

Marketing Director: Set sale!

-In charge of the development of marketing and advertising concepts

-Analyzes statistics and conducts research to help define selling strategies

-Supports sales activity of the advertising

SOURCES: Here and here.

What position are you dying to get your hands on?

Alexa is a twenty-something student at James Madison University. She is majoring in Media Arts & Design and minoring in both Creative Writing and Anthropology. She aspires a career at a magazine.
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