Archives for March 2020

Since 2011, Magazine B has devoted each monthly print issue to a single “well-balanced” brand, uncovering untold stories from the business and its customers, and providing original insight and analysis. Eunsung Park took over as Content & Editorial Director in 2017, but she’s been on staff since the magazine’s fourth issue in 2012. She corresponded with Wonder Shuttle on how she runs the “brand documentary magazine,” their global network of correspondents, and why their financial independence is so important. Her answers were written in Korean, and translated to English by Magazine B staff, with special thanks to YB Kim. 

Can you describe your responsibilities as Content & Editorial Director? How do you understand the magazine’s audience?

From planning and creating content to marketing and selling it, I guide the overall direction, conduct business strategies, and do my best to share my vision with our team. I believe it’s important for all the editors, marketers, distributors, and designers to look in the same direction, so I try to give thoughtful advice as the person who has worked at the magazine for the longest period of time, guiding them on what Magazine B is about. It’s fair to say, however, that our members now have the ability to make the right decisions themselves. 

In addition, I strive to communicate how important I believe it is for the people making this magazine, myself included, to consider ourselves as the core reader. There is, of course, an ideal target for Magazine B readers, but our original expectations of it can often be different from when we receive feedback and discover new readers. As opposed to trying to predict our changing audience, we have set a high standard to satisfy the people creating the content, believing that there will be many more people that have similar standards.  

Holloway, a new digital publishing startup, makes comprehensive guides on how to navigate modern work. Courtney Nash is the Director of Editorial Development, overseeing the creation of the guides. She’s currently putting together a guide on remote work, navigating complex topics and recruiting experts to share knowledge with startups and high-growth companies. Now that they’ve produced a few guides, Holloway is also opening up its platform to independent authors, which Courtney described as “reverse Netflix”: they demonstrated the value of the in-house guides, and now they’re bringing in outside talent. 

Was Holloway already focused on editorial development, or did that come in with you and other editorial hires?

What drew me to Holloway was that it isn’t just a technology company or just a publishing company. Pretty much everybody there is in some way a writer and an editor. Everybody is a huge fan of books and knowledge. Even on the engineering side, there has always been that focus. So it’s been a combination of a really strong editorial philosophy paired with a product development philosophy. They’re largely intertwined; everyone at that company is thinking about publishing as an entire value chain, instead of pieces of it, which is where places tend to spend more of their time.