Expert: Cathy Clamp - 12/15/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi
If the magazines readership is affluent, educated white males aged 25 to 45, how do you target an article on Americans with Indian blood for them?


Thanks

ANSWER: Hi, Demetrius!

Well, I guess a lot depends on nature of the article. For example, two magazines with those same demographics would be Maxim and Guns & Ammo. Pretty diverse groups, those, so the approach to the magazine would be wildly different. Give me a little more information about the type of article you're proposing and the target magazine. You don't have to name the magazine if you don't want, but at least give me some clue about whether 1) we're discussing Native American or a native of India (which are both often referred to as "Indian") and 2) whether it's a destination/travel article, how-to/teaching article, ex-pat/remembrance essay, interview or new product feature. We'll try to get you on the right track. :)

Cathy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: You're close to the magazine when you write "Maxim" I was going to do a review of the video "Black Indians" for Black History Month in Feb. But they said they had already went to print. We are discussing Native Americans. I'd call it  cultural, political essay. Just read online a person  says he has 1/8 Native American blood in him,but is considered white. The piece was something like that issue. How many white and black Americans have Indian blood in them, want to recognize their Indian heritage, and/or receive citizenship from the Native Americans, but couldn't? But because the magazine's readers are white, college educated affluent, I belive it should be re-written to appeal to them. But I didn't see how. I know, it might not sound like a piece for an "Esquire" type of magazine, but they didn't reject the idea. But it has to be written with their readership in mind, right? Thanks.  

Answer
Sorry for the delay in answering, Demetrius. Apparently I didn't get the email the first time.

Well, a movie review isn't an article, per se. It's considered "filler" and should be approached to the magazine in that manner. And yeah, the deadline for Black History Month is long past for most major magazines. Keep in the back of your mind when you're querying articles that the magazines are going to be running a 6-9 month lead time. So, to have an article accepted for a February publication (which is actually shelved in January,) you'd have to query it as early as April of the previous year, to as late as July.

However, something you might think about that might move this idea past a simple review and into something that the magazine might take ANY TIME would be to make it more all inclusive. In other words, don't JUST talk about the movie. Use it as ONE example of the problem. Think about the time period. There are just as likely to be Chinese/Native American descendants, Irish/Native American unions and Mexican/Native Americans out there. The west was a huge melting pot, so if you can research examples of the other possibilities, you can take this to the next step and make it most definitely interesting to a broader demographic magazine.

Give it a try and see what you come up with. Otherwise, look at perhaps querying this same story to multi-cultural publications such as Ebony or Jet next spring for a February 2009 slot.

Hope that helps and feel free to ask anything else that comes up. :)

Cathy