How to win awards - magazine awards

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Annual, 1994 by Allison Lucas

What you need to know to enter and win magazine awards contests.

Awards contests. You know they're out there by the score, honoring magazine excellence in hundreds of different categories. You're aware that they can dramatically improve your standing with advertisers, readers and your publishing peers. And yet, opportunities too often pass; you lose track of which contests are relevant to your magazine, you miss deadlines, or you aren't sure how to proceed. Worse, you may guess wrongly about what a contest sponsor is really looking for. Meanwhile, in your worst-case scenario, your biggest competitor wins a prestigious award and flaunts the accomplishment across its cover.

There are hundreds of awards bestowed on magazines every year. If you want to acquire the mantle of instant credibility that they confer, you need to know what those awards are, what they require and whom to contact. And you need an outline of what the contest sponsors are looking for in a winner. Here are some of the key points.

The objective

Most judges and award coordinators agree that as they review submissions, one element is key: The article's objective must be clear, and it must have successfully met that objective. "It is not just excellence in writing, but the application," says Steve Forster, executive editor and publisher of Candy Marketer and Snack Food. He is chairman of the competition committee for the American Society of Business Press Editors' Cleveland chapter. The ASBPE's 1992 winner in the signed editorial category, William E. Tracy, a writer from Transport Topics, had all the winning elements, Forster says: identification of a problem, analysis, solutions and application of solutions. "His entry summed up all that is best in signed editorials: pertinence to the readership, a fresh approach. He proved there was a problem and found a solution. It was extremely well thought-out," Forster explains.

Laura Rush, coordinator of Women in Communications' Clarion Awards, adds that would-be entrants should follow this critical rule of thumb: Submit stories that clearly reach your readers' needs.

"All members of a jury have been in business. We apply what we know to magazines. We can't know everything, but we can judge service to the audience," adds John Tibble, a judge for American Business Press' Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Awards.

Another important criterion for many awards-contest judges is the overall look of the article. "Editors and designers can be at odds along the way, but we are influenced by the look of an article even if it is all text," says Marjorie Groves, editor of Mature Outlook and judge of WIC's Clarion Awards.

"Pay attention to basic details," she adds. "Do the figures add up? Is the grammar correct? It taints a judge's thinking if it is wrong."

Carol Johnson, coordinator of the Neal Awards, notes that graphs and design can be influential. "Judges look for something inviting to read -- reader accessible. People are deluged with information. We want something to look into and dive into. We want to get information as easily as possible." However, a few judges believe that only copy -- the written content -- should be considered.

Entrants will find that judging is a mixed bag. Although many contests have a screening process, there are no across-the-board rules once a story makes the finals. For some contests, like the Neal Awards, judges are given a strict list of qualifications. But others, like the ASBPE, go by the impression that a judge has about an article.

Almost all contests require that a judge have a background in the area he or she is judging, whether it is in the specific trade covered by a given magazine, or simply a strong knowledge of the category being judged. Says Forster, "It is of major importance that judges have a feel for the audience. How else could a judge weigh merit of editorial content if the judge doesn't understand the audience?" And judges cannot judge their own magazines, or those of competitors, or any other magazine with which they may be associated.

So what is the most important advice for would-be contest entrants?

"The basic judging qualification is that you have to enter," says Mature Outlook's Groves. "People get so busy that entering is extra. But winning is important -- to be able to say you are an 'award-winning' publication."

Adds Clarion Awards coordinator Rush, "There are a lot of things that are really, really good. You don't have to be from Time to win an award."

A selection of major contests and how to enter follows.

1. National Magazine Awards

Sponsor: American Society of Magazine Editors, administered by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and supported by Magazine Publishers of America.

Contact: Marlene Kahan.

Address: ASME, 575 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Tel: 212-752-0055.

Description: Annual awards honoring overall excellence in consumer magazines.

Notes: Eligibility is geared toward consumer magazines. Classes of competition are organized by circulation size. Entries must have been published in the previous calendar year. Entry fee: $150 per submission.