Top Jobs in Magazines and Publishing

Art directors are responsible for the look of a magazine. If you notice, Vanity Fair has quite a different look than, say, Entertainment Weekly. In large part, this is because of the work of art directors who oversee how the words and pictures on every page of the magazine will match up to create a cohesive and signature look.

Someone needs to make sure that all the stories in the magazine are grammatically correct and that someone is the copy editor. 

Copy editors combat dangling modifiers, errant commas, and every other grammatical mistake in the book. If you're passionate about language—specifically grammar and usage—a job as a copy editor would be perfect for you.

Every story that appears in a magazine needs to be checked for accuracy. This is where a fact checker comes in. All magazines rely on fact checkers to ensure that quotes and all factual information included in an article are accurate. If you're someone who's good at detail and enjoys research then the fact-finding aspect of journalism is the right job for you.

Magazine editors are the wordsmiths behind the content in magazines. While some editors concentrate more on writing, other editors are more involved with assigning stories and editing them. A good assignment editor needs to have a Rolodex full of strong writers that they can contact at a moment's notice. It usually takes many years of experience (as a writer and assistant editor) before making the leap to magazine editor.

Photo editors oversee all the photography that appears in a magazine. Although most photo editors don't actually take the pictures—their job is primarily to hire other photographers to do that—it's up to them to ensure that the right image appears on the page. If you have a great eye for design, a background in photography, and love working with professionals in the field, this may be a great job for you.

There are many different roles in advertising that contribute to the success of a major magazine. In order to be able to afford producing well-written articles and beautiful photo spreads, magazines have to sell and produce advertisements that are featured in the magazine in order to generate revenue.

Major magazines usually have an in-house advertising department that handles all ad accounts, ad copy and oversees the final run of advertisements. You can aspire to work as an advertising director, account manager, copywriter, or copy chief depending on your prior experience.

After the magazine is produced, a lot of work also goes into ensuring that the magazine's intended audience knows the magazine exists. A concerted effort is put into public relations, special events, the production of promotional materials, and creating social media buzz. All of this is done to reinforce branding and sell copies of the magazine. On every magazine's mast-head you will find staff titles such as marketing director, marketing manager, social media manager, and marketing intern.