Voices from the past provide guidance and insight

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March, 2002

Feeling like no other editor has ever faced the daunting challenges that come across your desk these days? To find creative solutions, look to those who have already walked a mile in your shoes, says Greg Daugherty, editor in chief of New Choices. Follow the advice of the seasoned experts-other editors, particularly those who have long since retired. Aside from offering valuable general editorial instruction, says Daugherty, "the experiences of these editors-through world wars, economic booms, busts and everything else--provide a wonderful sense of perspective on the ups and downs of our business."

Of the 20 or so autobiographies of famous editors he's read so far, Daugherty recommends five in particular. (1) Always in Vogue, by Edna Woolman Chase and Ilka Chase (Doubleday, 1954). This title chronicles Edna Chase's career at Vogue and explains why she believes an editor should be a combination "nursemaid, policeman, diplomat and psychiatrist." (2) The Americanization of Edward Bok, by Edward William Bok (C. Scribner's Sons, 1920). Bok's Pulitzer Prize-winning story, says Daugherty, is full of "surprisingly relevant" ideas for increasing magazine-reader interaction. (3) American Story, by Bruce Gould and Beatrice Blackmar Gould (Harper & Row, 1968). The husband and wife team who edited Ladies' Home Journal from the late 1930s to the early 1960s offer tips on dealing with writers. (4) The Magazine Maze: A Prejudiced Perspective, by Herbert R. Mayes (Doubleday, 1980). Written by a former editor of Good Housekeeping and McCall's, this book provides advice on keeping a magazine "fresh." (5) My Life as Autho r and Editor, by H .L. Mencken (Knopf, 1993). In this novel, says Daugherty, "Mencken explains his typically contrarian theories of magazine editing-the main one being to stay away from the office as much as possible."