ASK US WEDNESDAY: “How do I get pdfs of my mag work?”

by Rachel Smith
19 April 2017

I have a question. It’s a bit lame but I am truly frustrated. I’m trying to get my website off the ground (at last!) but one title has been evasive about sending through PDFs of the work I’ve written for them. I’ve asked numerous times and get the usual, ‘Oh, yes, give us a week!’. I’ve expressed that it’s necessary for my website and that DIY scans just don’t look polished. And I get it, I’ve done it: exporting PDFs from InDesign files sucks, but c’mon – it’s par for the course when you’re working with freelancers. How do I get pdfs of my work?! Or do I just give up the fight? Thanks guys! Nicole

Totally NOT a lame question. I have a mish-mash of pdfs and bad scans in the clippings section on my website and it hurts my brain that there isn’t more consistency. But as you rightly mention, sometimes it’s just near impossible getting magazines to send you a PDF.

I think this is a lot to do with what we’ve discussed before – magazine staff are time-poor, pushed to their absolute limit and doing it tough with a lot less staff these days. But there are a few ways you can make it much easier for them to get you what you need.

Find the right person to ask.

I think it’s all about who you know and often when you get the right person it becomes a breeze. That might be the editorial assistant whose job it is to have pdfs of the entire magazine to give to freelancers or the sales team or advertising clients. It might be the art director who has ready access to the Indesign files, or a sub who can also get it easily for you. Try to develop a bit of a relationship with that person to ensure your request gets followed up.

Ask for pdfs as soon as the issue comes out.

Leave it too late and you run the risk of the issue files being archived and it being a harder job to get a pdf. At the time of asking, let them know the issue, the page number and the title of the article. You’re probably doing that already, but if not – just saying, ‘It’s the story on worm farming and I think it ran in February or March, I’m not sure which’ might be vague enough for them to put it in the ‘later’ pile.

Be aware of timing.

If you ask for pdfs of your work when the team is on deadline, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of getting anything from anyone and they will probably forget even once the dust clears. Find out when things are quiet on deck and time your request with a friendly phone call, followed up with an email.

And for those who simply don’t respond or get it to you – well, yeah. You might have to accept that a scan is the best you can do. It’s NOT aesthetically pleasing next to gorgeous pdfs, I agree, but it’s definitely better than nothing when it comes to your online portfolio.

Do you always manage to get pdfs of your stories? What’s your winning tactic?

Rachel Smith

2 responses on "ASK US WEDNESDAY: “How do I get pdfs of my mag work?”"

  1. Rachel is right – ask at the time! Having worked in magazines for many years and at multiple companies, I know that old issues are often archived and it’s time-consuming for staff to dig into archives to find individual stories. I get PDFs straight away and file them whether or not I think I’ll use them later.

    I find that an email to the editorial coordinator when the issue is on sale is the best way to do it. She’s often going through the issue and emailing PDFs to advertisers and PRs at the same time, so it’s easier to do it all at once.

    Another tip is to remember the page number – in many magazines I’ve worked on, the final production files are named and filed in page order number and not by story name, so it can be a pain to retrieve the published version unless you know the page it’s on.

    And finally, many magazines are online as well these days. I have found quite a few of my stories online at the magazine’s websites. On my website I usually load up the link behind a screengrab of the hero image – and presto! Makes you look more digitally savvy too.

    1. Rachel Smith says:

      Good tips Lynne.

      And, oh, the times I’ve been told ‘That issue is archived’ because I asked too late… NEVER again 🙂

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