Using the table of contents as a sales tool - magazines - Editorial

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Annual, 1994 by John Brady

Think of the TOC as a marketing page, and its dynamics will fall into place.

"The most important page in a magazine," a wise old circulation guru once told me, "is the cover." He then went on to explain how a newsstand browser makes a purchasing decision based on cover impact, "in a matter of seconds."

I disagree. My experiences as a magazine doctor and avid newsstand-goer tell me that today's browser is a different breed. Whether surveying a newsstand or shuffling through a stack of controlled-circulation magazines in the mail, he or she moves quickly from the cover to the table of contents -- and then pauses for maybe 15 or 50 seconds. Whether he then makes a commitment to the magazine depends, mostly, on the table of contents (TOC).

Granted, the cover is the door-opener that gets the reader into the store; but it's the table of contents that motivates him to linger, to browse among the editorial and advertising aisles.

In short, the TOC is a marketing page. Ostensibly, its purpose is to spell out an issue's editorial particulars. Beyond that, however, it must sell the magazine, present it as something with both emotional and informational value -- certainly worth the cover price, assuredly worth several hours of precious time in a crowded schedule, and possibly even worth keeping and referring to in the future, or telling like-minded souls about.

Indeed, there are probably as many ways to put the reader at ease with your publication as there are to put the reader off. Some of the biggest turn-offs for readers are TOCs that are design nightmares, with uncaptioned photos, no page numbers, and artwork that is placed haphazardly, seemingly for effect, rather than for clarity. Other magazines are given to puns and "cute" headlines that obscure the editorial message.

When cuteness strikes, make sure it lands somewhere else in the magazine, because tables of contents must clarify. The browser is looking for a TOC that says: Here's what you need to know. The prospective buyer doesn't want to feel that it's his job to understand the magazine. That's the editor's task.

Here are five key yardsticks to use when measuring your own TOC and its impact on the audience you are endeavoring to serve.

* Location: Front-of-book, right-hand side is best. Some old-style magazines insist on putting the TOC on the left, and seem to reserve all front-right pages for advertisers. This is an unfortunate marketing blunder. A left-hand TOC is consumer unfriendly. Subliminally, these magazines are saying to their readers: Our advertisers are more important than you are.

* Length: Never less than one full page, devoid of masthead, letter from the editor, or any other "front matter" that competes for the reader's attention. If space allows (or requires), a spread is exciting and provides visual impact. Another approach is a right-hand page jumping to a second TOC page. This conveys a "jam-packed," value-added feeling to the reader.

* Logic: Copy should be organized either chronologically or by editorial emphasis -- feature stories first, then departments, columns and miscellany. The reader must be able to locate the cover story immediately (it can be boxed, labeled "cover story" or be highlighted on the page with a miniature version of the cover).

Heads should be identical to those used for features, but descriptive text for each article should be original. Don't merely regurgitate the heads and decks from the inside pages; instead, write fresh text that markets each story by emphasizing the benefits -- insight, information, income -- to be derived from reading on.

* Linkage: The reader must be able to find all stories mentioned on the cover without having to use a decoder on the TOC. If the head for a story is "How to sell widgets in your spare time," that's the head that should appear on the TOC. The cover-line should not be so cute or so remote that the reader is unable to move quickly and logically from cover to TOC to story inside.

* Look: The TOC must look designed, not pasted up. Full color is important, especially if the magazine uses it on inside editorial pages. The TOC must look significant, like a great menu in a fine restaurant. The page must not look low-rent, as though it is picking up a process color by hitchhiking on an advertiser's quarter-page tail. Visually, the TOC should be enticing and informative, but not verbose and cramped. Photos and artwork should be strong hooks for the reader on this page. Use them.

John Brady, former editor of Writer's Digest and Boston, is a partner at Brady & Paul Communications in Boston and Fort Lauderdale.