Writer's Digest

Last updated

Writer's Digest
EditorAmy Jones, March 2020
CategoriesArticles
Frequency8 per year
First issueDecember 1920 (1920-December)
Company Active Interest Media
Country United States
Based in Cincinnati, Ohio
LanguageEnglish
Website www.writersdigest.com
ISSN 0043-9525

Writer's Digest is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles.

Contents

History

A copy of the 1939 edition of Writer's Market, published by Writer's Digest Books rests next to William Faulkner's Underwood Universal Portable typewriter in his office at his home, Rowan Oak, which is now maintained by the University of Mississippi in Oxford as a museum. TheFaulknerPortable.jpg
A copy of the 1939 edition of Writer's Market, published by Writer's Digest Books rests next to William Faulkner's Underwood Universal Portable typewriter in his office at his home, Rowan Oak, which is now maintained by the University of Mississippi in Oxford as a museum.

Writer's Digest was first published in December 1920 under the name Successful Writing. It changed name to Writer's Digest with the March 1921 issue. By the late 1920s, it shifted emphasis more from literary-quality writing to the rapidly growing pulp magazine field, which offered the widest opportunities to freelance writers. Its most important competitor was The Author & Journalist . An important feature in WD from 1933 forward was the New York Market Letter, edited by Harriet Bradfield, which gave timely updates on editor needs in the magazine field. As the pulp field collapsed in the 1950s, Writer's Digest shifted emphasis to famous writers and quality fiction. [1] [2] [3]

Until 2019, it was owned by F+W Media. The magazine is published eight times per year. [4]

F+W Media, facing near-term liquidity issues with only about $2.5 million in cash available and $105.2 million in outstanding debt, filed on 10 Mar 2019 for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, citing in various documents a perfect storm of secular industry decline, poor investments, and even mismanagement. Apparently their attempts to transition focus to online from print sales was poorly done. Their users forum had not worked well for some time, and the number of users had dropped way down from previous times. [5]

Writer's Digest was bought by the Active Interest Media subsidiary of Cruz Bay Publishing and/or PRH (Penguin Random House) after bankruptcy of F+W, according to various sources. Penguin Random House acquired the book publishing assets of F+W Media, which include the Writer's Digest catalog. Cruz Bay got several magazines from F+W, including Writer's Digest, for $200,000, beating out enthusiast publisher Madavor Media. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Writer's Digest also sponsors several in-house contests annually, including the Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards and their Annual Writing Competition for short stories.

Writer's Digest partnered with book publisher BookBaby, the sister company of CD Baby, in August 2014, to create a self-publishing division called Blue Ash Publishing, to provide instruction and education alongside book publishing and printing services. Blue Ash Publishing takes its name from the home office of the Writer’s Digest editorial team located in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Paid circulation 63000 per 2017 media kit, down from 69000 in the 2016 media kit.

See also

Related Research Articles

Pulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed due to their cheap nature. In contrast, magazines printed on higher-quality paper were called "glossies" or "slicks". The typical pulp magazine had 128 pages; it was 7 inches (18 cm) wide by 10 inches (25 cm) high, and 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) thick, with ragged, untrimmed edges. Pulps were the successors to the penny dreadfuls, dime novels, and short-fiction magazines of the 19th century.

Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. It has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the Germany-based media conglomerate Bertelsmann.

<i>Black Mask</i> (magazine) Pulp magazine

Black Mask was a pulp magazine first published in April 1920 by the journalist H. L. Mencken and the drama critic George Jean Nathan. It is most well-known today for launching the hardboiled crime subgenre of mystery fiction, publishing now-classic works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner, Cornell Woolrich, Paul Cain, Carroll John Daly, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science fiction magazine</span> Publication that offers primarily science fiction

A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, novella or novel form, a format that continues into the present day. Many also contain editorials, book reviews or articles, and some also include stories in the fantasy and horror genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson Publishing Company</span> American publishing company based in Chicago, Illinois (1942–2019)

Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his death in 2005. His publications "forever changed the popular representation of African Americans." The writing portrayed African Americans as they saw themselves and its photojournalism made history. Led by its flagship publication, Ebony, Johnson Publishing was at one time the largest African-American-owned publishing firm in the United States. JPC also published Jet, a weekly news magazine, from November 1951 until June 2014, when it became digital only. In the 1980s, the company branched into film and television.

Otto Penzler is an American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F+W</span> American media company (1913–2019)

F+W was a media and e-commerce company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1913 in Cincinnati, F+W published magazines, books, digital products, produced online video, offered online education, and owned and operated e-stores, as well as consumer and trade shows.

Watercolor Artist, formerly Watercolor Magic, is an American bi-monthly magazine that focuses on watermedia techniques, trends and artists. As of June 2006, it had a print run of more than 90,000.

The Pastel Journal is a bi-monthly magazine focused on pastel artists and pastel art. The magazine was started in 1999.

David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and content outside North America, and also distributes Interweave Press publications in the UK and worldwide excluding North America, and as foreign language editions. The company distributes Dover Publications and Reader's Digest books into the UK Trade and is also a UK and Europe distribution platform for the overseas acquired companies Krause Publications and Adams Media.

<i>Tuff Stuff</i> Online magazine for sports collectibles

Tuff Stuff is an online magazine that publishes prices for trading cards and other collectibles from a variety of sports, including baseball, basketball, American football, ice hockey, golf, auto racing and mixed martial arts. The print edition of the magazine was published from 1984 to 2011, when it ceased publication, As a result, Tuff Stuff has remained as an online publication to date.

<i>Print</i> (magazine) American graphic design magazine

Print is an American design and culture website that began as Print, A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts, in 1940, and continued publishing a physical edition through the end of 2017 as Print.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krause Publications</span> American publisher of hobby magazines and books

Krause Publications is an American publisher of hobby magazines and books. The company was started by Chester L. Krause (1923–2016) in 1952 and published Numismatic News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Hersey</span> American magazine editor and publisher

Harold Brainerd Hersey was an American pulp editor and publisher, publishing several volumes of poetry. His pulp industry observations were published in hardback as Pulpwood Editor (1937).

Writer's Market (WM) is an annual resource book for writers who wish to sell their work and become published authors. The publication is released by Writer's Digest and usually hits bookstores around the summertime of each year. Writer's Market was first published in 1921 and is often referred to as "The Bible for Writers" or "The Freelancer's Bible."

Sourcebooks LLC is an American independent book publisher located in Naperville, Illinois. The company publishes books, eBooks, and digital products.

The Artist's Magazine is a monthly magazine for artists formerly published by F+W Media in Cincinnati, Ohio. The magazine was founded in 1983 and claims a circulation of 60,000. The founding company was Fletcher Art Services. F&W Publications acquired the magazine in September 1986. In 2019 the company stopped its operations and its publications were sold. Macanta Investments, LLC, acquired The Artist's Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Random House</span> American multinational conglomerate publishing company

Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was founded in 1927. It has more than 300 publishing imprints. Along with Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers.

The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association annually in Sydney "to celebrate the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers". Works are first selected by an academy of more than 200 industry professionals, and then a shortlist and winners are chosen by judging panels.

<i>Popular Woodworking</i> American woodworking magazine

Popular Woodworking is a woodworking magazine published by Cruz Bay Publishing an arm of Active Interest Media.

References

  1. ↑ Locke, John; editor. Pulp Fictioneers: Adventures in the Storytelling Business, Adventure House, 2004. ISBN   978-1-886937-83-3.
  2. ↑ Sexton, Philip; editor. Legends of Literature: The Best Essays, Interviews and Articles from the Archives of Writer's Digest Magazine, Writer's Digest Books, 2007. ISBN   1-58297-473-X.
  3. ↑ Locke, John; editor. Pulpwood Days: Volume 1: Editors You Want to Know, Off-Trail Publications, 2007. ISBN   978-0-9786836-2-7.
  4. ↑ Grasha, Nathan Bomey and Kevin. "Writer's Digest, Popular Woodworking publisher F+W Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". The Enquirer. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Forums Archive | WritersDigest.com". www.writersdigest.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Writer's Digest, Popular Woodworking publisher F+W Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". USA Today .
  7. ↑ "Information on the F&W/Writers Digest Bankruptcy". May 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ "F+W Media, Citing Debt, Decline and Mismanagement, Files for Bankruptcy Protection". Forbes .
  9. ↑ "PRH Buys Half of F+W Media at Auction, Including Half of Writer's Digest". June 8, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Penguin Random House Buys F+W Media's Books at Auction". June 7, 2019.
  11. ↑ "F+W Media Reveals Winning Bidders at Bankruptcy Auction". June 17, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.