You, Too, Can Be in Publishing

So you want to get into the computer magazine business, do you? Tired of the relentless glamour and high paychecks in your current job? Well, if you want a lucrative (sorry, that should read ludicrous) career in the world of high-tech publishing, we have a three-step training program for you that has proved itself time and time again.

Step number one: Get a degree
Step number two: Get a postgraduate degree in journalism
Step number three: Learn how to write magazine cover lines

We can't help with the first two steps of the training program (well, not yet). But thanks to an eight-year research project by a veteran computer magazine editor who prefers, for the sake of his family's safety, to remain anonymous, we can help you turn out perfect cover lines every time.

And so, without further ado, The DriveHead Academy brings you a preview of its forthcoming training course: Magazine Publishing 101: The Art of Writing Cover Lines.

The Art of Writing Cover Lines

They say you can't judge a book by its cover. It's true. But that does not apply to magazines. On a newsstand, a magazine's cover is exactly what you judge the magazine by. Cover lines tell all. These 30-second advertising slots for the contents of the magazine combine fact, marketing promotion, town crier hustling, and a dash of saccharine to tease the palate without spoiling the appetite.

Cover lines vary depending on the type of magazine they adorn. The rules for what belongs on the cover of Cosmopolitan differ from those of the National Enquirer (marginally). But when you're dealing with any special-interest, review-based magazine, the rules are pretty much the same. Here are the six crucial elements, which we'll examine at length.

Attention getter
First hype
Second hype
Noun
Hyperbolic second noun
Hype enhancers

Once you've studied each of these elements, we'll take what you've learned and feed it into a Web-based tool that you can use to generate your very own cover line for any computer magazine.

We can't guarantee it'll launch a career in computer publishing, but we do promise it'll end your chances of retaining credibility once you've got your foot in the door.

put it all together with The Computer Magazine Cover Line Builder

just get me out of here