Gold Quill Awards: Judging
Entering Your Publication? How to Prepare a Standout Entry
by Barb Sanford, Gallup, Nebraska, USA, and Tim Buckley, AB Publishing Limited, United Kingdom
Work plans that stood out in the publications category:
- Demonstrated that the publication’s goals, strategy, and tactics connected with the organization’s mission and strategy.
- Included audience demographics, including specifics on numbers or percentages within each audience segment.
- Were specific about budget. Depending on the project, these numbers included costs for such items as printing, design, photography, freelance writing, or mailing/distribution. They also accounted for the staff support required to determine the need for the publication, then to support and produce it.
- Demonstrated value for money spent on the publication and any other ROI for the organization.
- Had goals and objectives that were specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely, and measurement that was directly tied to its goals.
- Included an analysis of the competition, where appropriate. Where does the publication stand in reference to others in the marketplace? What competitive challenges do your readers share, and how does your publication address them? If your publication is designed to make you stand out from your competitors, what makes it different?
- Were well written. Treat the work plan like a narrative. Tell us the story of your success and how you overcame challenges to achieve it.
Tips for producing an outstanding publication:
- Evoke an emotional response in your readers. Thrill them, anger them, make them feel joy or outrage. No one is engaged by a dull publication.
- Provoke a response. Challenge readers to act. What do you want them to do after reading your publication? Ask for a response, then measure it.
- See print as only one of the ways to engage your audience. Many of the best publications were just one channel in part of an integrated marketing or communication campaign or used social media to allow audience response.
- Learn about research. Learn about measurement. Do some. Show what you learned and how you measured your results.
- Write tight copy, and go green. Some of the best publications respected readers’ time while conserving trees.
- Look at previous winners’ work, then steal from the best.
- Aim high. Be brave. Break some rules. Dare to do outstanding work.
Start preparing your Gold Quill Award entry today! The early-bird deadline is 27 January 2010, and the final deadline is 3 February 2010.
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