Recently in Behind-the-Scenes Category

Part 6: The Assignment Letter

We found out on August 5 that Kaufman would participate. After any story is confirmed, the editor sends the writer an assignment letter, an official announcement of when the story is due, and in which issue it is expected to run. The letter goes to the writer (to give some editorial direction), the magazine's top editors (to alert them that the story has been assigned), the photography editors (to start pulling photo reference), and to me and the design staff, so we can start coming up with ideas, calling in portfolios, and spitballing. Nancy Miller wrote the assignment letter for this story, below:
… MORE

Part 3: Negotiations

Before we can write a profile, of course, we need to secure the subject's participation. On July 17, Kaufman's representatives asked Nancy for a synopsis of the story we planned to write. It kicked off a brief round of negotiations: … MORE

An Experiment

When we started talking about building this site last year, one of the first ideas that came up in our brainstorming meetings was the need/desire to "pull back the curtain" on the process of making (writing for, photographing for, designing for, producing) magazines. As the SPD continues to grow and expand its mission deeper into educational realms, the notion of (radical) transparency has stayed front and center in my mind. Heck, our magazine wrote a cover story about the trend back in our April 2007 issue.

… MORE