Hemispheres magazine
Although Hemispheres magazine primarily reaches readers in the air during business flights, Editor Randy Johnson is bent on heightening the United Airlines magazine to make it the most informative travel news source readers turn to - on or off the plane. Hemispheres targets a "highly affluent, highly educated and professional audience" that travels often on business trips and likes to read about destinations.
"When the magazine launched in 1992, the in-flight genre was pretty dismal," Johnson says. A longtime stereotype was that the writing on the sick bag was more interesting [than in-flight publications] and most were company newsletters."
Although the magazine is printed in English, its focus is international. While readers' ages and occupations may differ, keep in mind one thing all Hemispheres readers have in common: flight.
Sections
Terminal Bliss - what to do at an airport terminal when your flight plans go awry, (e.g., what shops a terminal offers, and the best two-hour charms of a city);
Roving Gourmet - cuisine in various places, such as fine dining in Melbourne, Australia, or the "new" fare at ski resorts;
Travel Trends & News - as it's named...news such as increased customs security in certain locations;
15 Fascinating Facts - historical and cultural facts about a particular spot;
Book Beat (not a regular section) - books about various subjects;
Three Perfect Days - how to maximize a short vacation in a particular destination. It's the "best of" each city. Writers of this section's features are indigenous to their subject.
Editors/Lead Time
Pitch Editor Randy Johnson by email at [email protected], or Senior Editor Selby Bateman by fax to 336/378-8265. Lead time for stories is usually three to four months.
The Web site content is updated at least twice monthly, and will probably be updated more often when the site's finishing touches are completed.
Pitch Tips
Hemispheres features cultural activities in different cities, advice on how to enjoy yourself if you're stuck in a layover, a look at what different cities are doing for various times of the year - such as Black History Month - and new technology.
Pitch Bateman about "the kinds of technology that would be of interest to a road warrior. We do technology stories all the time," he says.
Johnson doesn't have any particular pet peeves, except that he doesn't want "things that are likely to leak all over the floor."
While there is no specific criteria for what to pitch, Hemispheres' editors are open to anything from technology to books about unusual travel destinations to appealing activities vacationers can indulge in.
Comments
Pitch in a brief, professional manner. Johnson doesn't favor any particular type of pitch, and even if your pitch fits his fancy, its content might not necessarily warrant coverage in Hemispheres.
"It's hard to say which pitches have led to the best stories," Johnson says. "When the time is right, the time is right."
Keep in mind that Johnson is also fluent in Spanish.
Hemispheres does not publish product reviews. Johnson says he hates wastefully packaged, convoluted and difficult-to-unwrap packaging.
A Pitch That Became A Story...
Without an editorial calendar, fate plays a large role in placement. Ordinarily, Johnson wouldn't feature a book about lighthouses in Hemispheres. But last summer, the magazine was planning to run a story on the romance of lighthouses. Coincidentally, a book about author Robert Louis Stevenson called The Lighthouse Stevensons about his family's connection to lighthouses was coming out that month. The book's publicist approached Johnson in a "brief, professional manner."
"We absolutely wanted to get back to that guy," Johnson says. A preview of the book was run as a sidebar to the lighthouse story. "It was probably one of the best placements that book received, but we normally don't do book reviews," he says. So take a shot, but make it quick.
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Contact Marisa Torrieri at [email protected].