• advertorial: an article that is sponsored by an advertiser and not assigned as part of standard editorial
  • angle: a variation of an idea that has a narrow focus for a particular audience; can be used as both noun and verb
  • art: the photography or graphics that accompany the text of an article
  • assign: when an editor officially requests that a certain writer take on a story
  • assignment: a firm offer to write a story for a website, magazine, or company
  • back of book/back matter: the pages in a magazine following the feature well
  • break in: the act of getting an article published in a new-to-you magazine
  • byline: the name of the writer who has written a particular article; also used occasionally as a synonym for clip
  • client portfolio: the clients that a writer works with regularly
  • clip: a sample of a writer’s writing; originally short for clipping, from when clips were physically cut out of newspapers
  • cold: an approach to a prospective client or editor without a prior relationship
  • comped: when a meal, hotel, tour, mode of transportation or other expense is paid for by a sponsoring body, not the writer
  • commission (verb): when an editor solicits a writer to complete a certain piece of writing
  • consumer magazine: a magazine that is aimed at the public and can be purchased in bookstores or other newsstands
  • content marketing: pieces of writing created for a company to use to promote their business
  • content management systems: software or web programs that facilitate easy entering and updating of writing on dynamic websites
  • contributing editor: a freelance writer who writes frequently for a magazine, often on contract to complete a certain number of articles each month; this individual does not typically assign articles
  • copy: the text of an article
  • copywriting: writing that sells products
  • custom magazine: a magazine that is published for a specific company and limited in circulation to that company’s customers
  • convention and visitors’ bureau (CVB): an organization, typically governmental, that oversees tourism promotion and coordination in a certain city, town, region, state, or country; also known as tourism board
  • departments: articles before the feature well of a magazine that follow the same format every month; also sometimes called columns
  • destination marketing organization (DMO): a non-governmental organization that oversees tourism promotion in a certain city, town, region, state, or country
  • editorial: the parts of the magazine or website that include commissioned content, not advertorial, and/or the group of people who create them
  • editorial calendar: a list of varying specificities of the topics and destinations a magazine will cover in a given year; often included in the media kit
  • fam(iliarization) trip: a trip for travel agents and sometimes also press to get to know a region, city, or resort through a variety of tours, site visits, and activities
  • feature well: the part of a magazine that contains the features
  • front of book (FOB): the first articles in a magazine, typically very short in length
  • front matter: everything in the magazine before the features
  • ghostwriting: a type of writing in which the writer mimics the voice of another person, whose name is used as a byline in place of the writer
  • glossy: newsstand magazine with a shiny cover
  • put to bed: finishing an issue of a magazine and sending it to the printer
  • hook: the beginning part of an article that grabs the readers attention
  • in-house: when an article in a magazine comes from a member of the magazine’s staff
  • junket: a free trip for journalists to explore a destination
  • kill fee: a sum of money paid to a writer when his or her article is dropped from the magazine
  • lead time: the amount of time between when a writer should pitch an idea and the publication date of the issue of the magazine in which the article would appear
  • lead/lede: the first sentence or paragraph of an article
  • letter of introduction (LOI): a type of pitch used for trade magazines or recurring writing gigs that pitches the writer rather than a specific idea
  • market: a place a writer’s work can appear
  • marketing: the act of sending pitches to markets to obtain work
  • masthead: the page toward the front of a magazine that lists the names of all staff members
  • media kit: a set of statistics, demographics, and pricing information that magazines use to sell space to advertisers
  • media rate: a discounted rate available with hotels, attractions, and tour companies for members of the media
  • narrative: a story that has a beginning, middle, and end
  • newsstand (adj): a term used to describe consumer magazines that are readily available on most newsstands
  • on acceptance: when a writer’s invoice for an article is requested when an editor accepts the final draft of the article
  • on assignment: when a writer travels for the sole or original purpose of completing a particular assignment
  • on publication: when a writer’s invoice for an article is requested when the article is published in print or online
  • on spec(ulation): when an article is written in full before an assignment is officially extended
  • outlet: a place a writer’s writing appears
  • package: a set of articles of similar or varying lengths centered around a theme or destination; can be written by one writer or many
  • per-piece rate: a type of pricing in which a set price is used for an article regardless of length
  • per-word rate: a type of pricing in which the writer is paid for each written word
  • pitch: a type of communication that requests the assignment of work; can be used as both noun and verb, as in, to send this type of communication; used in journalism for the proposal of an article idea to an editor
  • portfolio or writing portfolio: a collection of a writer’s clips
  • PR: a person who does public relations work for a company
  • press pass: a typically laminated piece of paper identifying an individual as a member of the media
  • press trip: a trip organized by a CVB, DMO or private entity paying the expenses of writers visiting a certain destination in order to write about it
  • put to bed: finishing an issue of a magazine and sending it to the printer
  • query: a type of communication that requests the assignment of work; can be used as both noun and verb, as in, to send this type of communication; used in journalism for the proposal of an article idea to an editor
  • recurring income: income that is guaranteed to arrive in your bank account every month without additional marketing
  • reported: an article based on interviews
  • round-up: a type of article that includes multiple mini-articles on different topics or places around a theme
  • service: a type of writing that gives advice or tips or instructs the reader in the best manner to do something
  • simultaneous submission: when the same query is sent to two editors or more at the same time
  • site visits: short tours of hotels and other venues for press and tour operators to get a sense of the venues’s offerings and ambiance
  • slant: synonym for angle; can be used as both noun and verb
  • slush pile: a term for unsolicited queries that originated from the physical pile of mail from unknown senders that magazines and other publishers previously maintained when queries arrived by postal mail
  • spin: a narrow approach to an idea that is adapted to fit a specific audience or circumstances; can be a noun or verb
  • stable: a group of writers that an editor works with frequently
  • time peg: a type of hook that involves a specific date such as an opening date or anniversary
  • title: a synonym for magazine used by publishing professionals
  • trade magazine: a type of magazine that is not available to the general public and only reaches members of a certain industry through controlled circulation
  • tourism board: an organization, typically governmental, that oversees tourism promotion and coordination in a certain city, town, region, state, or country; also known as CVB
  • unsolicited: pitches, queries, and entire articles that are sent cold, without being requested by an editor
  • writer’s guidelines: instructions of varying degrees of accuracy and use on how to pitch a story to a magazine, newspaper, or website