Move Over, “American Idol,” the Custom Magazine Cover Process Takes the Stage

The magazine cover selection process, in custom publishing at least, can be a bit like “American Idol.”

It goes a little like this: Contestants try out. Judges praise their favorites—and even quibble amongst themselves in defense of their Chosen Ones. Finally, a small group of potential winners is put up to a vote. (In this case, it’s our client who will cast a single, if not collective, vote.) We hope our covers perform as well as we expect them to. And finally, a winner is announced. We applaud. (Hopefully we do. Sometimes there are “winners” that make us grumble.) And we have every expectation, and seemingly divine insight, that the winner is truly the best.

Just like Idol, the cover selection process can be an exciting but also exhausting process.

Contestants Try Out
The magazine-cover audition process starts with the art director’s handpicked selections. Is the image aesthetically beautiful? Will it compel readers—perhaps a wide range of readers? Does it look like a winner? Is it different enough that it will stand out in a crowd? But also, does it match our style of what the Next Great Issue Cover should be?

If an image passes the art director’s muster, it gets a golden ticket (so to speak) to the next round.

Hollywood Week
Contenders for the Next Great Issue Cover then appear before a panel of judges. There’s no voting. Not yet. Covers are compared, side by side, and in a group. The judges ponder which ones have star quality. Which will the people (our audience) love? Which will be the most popular (in our client’s eyes)? And are they one and the same?

For Four Seasons Magazine, for which I’m the managing editor, the judging panel even includes Pace’s version of Simon Cowell—and, just like Simon, he’s usually right. Unlike “American Idol,” there’s usually a judge who wants to go back and see the other contestants already booted out—and a judge who wants to introduce new candidates. But just like on Idol, the judges have strong opinions, and they may vary. Judges, with their varying degrees and years of experience in the business, have been known to defend their candidates to ensure that they go on to the next round. There’s much deliberation and consideration. But at the end of the day, cuts need to be made. Only a certain number of covers will move on to the Big Stage that is our client’s office.

We Present the Top 12
Or at least we present our top cover choices. Really, it’s hardly ever 12. After all, we’re on deadline. There isn’t time to put a full dozen covers up to a vote. But, at last, it might be a small handful of strong candidates. These covers have our business objectives in mind. They have our client’s objectives in mind. And they are now on. The judges remark on each cover’s strengths. We’ll even point out a favorite—by this point, we usually have one or two. Our experience and instincts tell us we got it right. And we hope our client thinks so, too.  

Bold Predictions
Like Simon, who in 2005 predicted Carrie Underwood would be the winner early in the competition, sometimes Pace judges will go so far as to boldly pick the winning cover in advance of the “voting.” We wait anxiously for the results to come in. We sweat. Will they pick the Right one? Or were we so successful at putting forward choices that are all winners, that the final selection does not really matter? Never mind; we remain anxious. Deadline draws nearer, and it’s time for the proverbial commercial break.

The Results Are In
By phone or by e-mail, we learn of our client’s choice cover—our Next Great Issue Cover has been chosen. The judges applaud, and the cover meets the press.

The balance of its success now lies in the hands of the reader.

Posted By: Susan E. Stegemann