Reader's Digest Association
Reader's Digest Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570
http://www.rd.com
914.238.1000
The Wind-Up
This is not your granddad's magazine anymore. Reader's Digest had a major redesign in May 2001 and has been evolving ever since, weeding out the "homespun-ism" that tended to
run throughout the publication (a legacy of RD founders DeWitt and Lila Acheson) as well as stories that were a bit on the schmaltzy side. The monthly has infused pop culture into
the editorial mix, added more celebrity and now has a much sharper and contemporary feel.
"The magazine had become tired, the design had become stale and shopworn, so we spiffed up the design and voice of the publication," says Jacob Young, executive editor of RD,
who spent several years at Time Inc. before joining RD in mid-2001. Although it's been going down the last few years, the monthly's circulation (10 million) is still nothing to
sneeze at. New edit includes "Only in America," featuring factoids and unusual stories about the country, i.e. 30% of American homes resort to using self-storage units because
their homes are bulging with "stuff," and "RD Living," a service-y section with health, home, travel, money and foodie stories that provides a good window for PR professionals.
"We're still in the process of getting publicists on the radar screen," Young says. "We want pitches and products, across the board, being sent our way. We want stories on health,
music, pop culture."
The Pitch
Young, [email protected], accepts pitches and will steer them in the right editorial direction. E-mail first; follow-up by snail-mail
or voice-mail. Being a monthly, there is no crunch time, per se, but leave at least three or four months out to pitch feature stories and about two months for stories that are
focused on products or services. Patience helps when you pitch Pleasantville. "This is [one] of the most mass magazines in the country and we can turn most anything into a story,"
Young says. "What is irritating is when [PR] people won't take no for an answer." For any stories targeting the "RD Living" section, contact Catherine Romano, [email protected]; for travel, e-mail Gary Sledge, [email protected]. Travel coverage,
however, is not necessarily about the new five-star hotel that's all the rage but the roller coaster ride, or some such, that was built on top of the five-star hotel. For general
trends and new products, go to Loren Mooney, [email protected]. The publication does not accept fiction or poetry and any press junkets
are verboten. Although RD has responded to critics who said the magazine had become an antique piece, it still has maintained its unique flavor among large-scale consumer
magazines, running stories on triumphs and tribulations that are uniquely American. "The bar is pretty high and people do some amazing things," Young says. "But we're not adverse
to listening" about what makes a particular person (or story) unusual, regardless of the source. Aside from typically untypical RD stories, there's no shortage of special issues
coming down the pike. January features special coverage on weight loss, diet and fitness - inspiration, no doubt, for all of those New Year resolutions - while April tackles how
to contain all the clutter in our lives. May showcases the "Best of America," with a twist, i.e. best road food, the best farm and how to pay less for certain things. September is
the humor issue - got a CEO who moonlights as a comedian? - and the December issue features holiday memories and what makes a miracle. "People have got to stop thinking that this
is a little, old magazine with the table of contents on the cover, because it's not," Young says.