Concept Refinement

     I have finalized my idea for my magazine. It will be an ecotourism magazine, which falls into the genre of environmental and travel. I was inspired by National Geographic and Conde Nast Traveler. Ecotourism is a type of environmentally sustainable tourism, where the tourists do not leave a negative footprint on the place that they visit. Currently, it is increasing on popularity, and I have only found one magazine that completely covers ecotourism in a whole, while others just have smaller articles or stories on them. My hope is to highlight different activities, places to stay and restaurants to eat at that are beneficial to the environment while appealing to a younger audience. Younger travelers could determine whether some places suffer more from tourism impacts, so it is important for them to read and become educated about how they can limit their impact. So far, I think I might focus on Costa Rica, as I took a trip there two summers ago and did some activities of this sort.

    This week, I was tasked with presenting my topic to the class in a business-style product pitch. I worked on defining what type of reader I would be pursuing, what ideas I would feature and how I plan to do it. When I presented in class, I talked about what ecotourism is and why it is important to learn about and practice it. I also told how I hope to appeal to younger readers in the 16-25 age group, as they are the future of tourists. My classmates said my idea was a good one, and did not express any concerns they have about my topic. My instructor also gave me positive feedback, about how she saw the rising demand for this product and that I should pursue this. This means my topic is relevant, well-researched and refined enough to begin my main ideas for the project and article ideas soon.

    I was also assigned to look at statistics for magazines to find useful information about their setup when I am writing. I found that magazines have been read pretty consistently from 2008, with ESPN magazine being the most consumed in 2019 (Statista,2019). Many magazine have adapted drastically with the technological advances over the past decade, with several increasing different aspects of their hard copy and digital copy. Popular Science, for example, has recently shifted to include more visuals in their magazine. They also raised their prices and switched their availability, which gave them an increase in subscriptions, this data was from Ovid Bell Press' magazine statistics article. I will keep this in mind with my own magazine, making sure to include lots of visually pleasing pictures and beautiful shots inside the magazine. 

    In an article by Camille T Dungy, a writer for Poets and Magazines, she talks with editors from other magazines about what aspects of magazines are important to convey to the audience. I found it interesting when the editors agreed that helping young authors and poets find their way onto a successful path brings them joy and how they feel their work turns into beauty with the finalized product. They also discuss what their daily activities are; Parenshia Jones said she usually, "Sits in on production meetings, pitch meetings, cover meetings, editorial board meetings, sales and marketing meetings, fund-raising and author-agent meetings" (Dungy, 2020). I was shocked at this, because I had no idea how much work it was to be a magazine editor! I had previously thought that it was just looking over the product before it was printed, previewing the issue for typos or where the design could be fixed. I now know I have to focus on everything with great importance, such as the smaller details like font and divisions and the larger parts like the cover, the feature and the photos used. I learned a lot of good information from this article, my pitch and the statistics that I will be sure to incorporate in my magazine.