In an age where magazines are getting smaller, and Colorado has seen its share of magazines, come, go and be sold (now Westword will be owned by the Village Voice), it’s refreshing to see 5280 continue to thrive. With a monthly distribution of 85,000, making it Colorado’s largest local magazine, Denver’s Mile High Magazine will celebrate 20 years next year.
One of my GroundFloor Media colleagues recently met with assistant editor, Daliah Singer, who shared the following insights about the magazine and 5280 Digital.
According to Singer, 5280’s digital landscape is exploding. They are trying to post six to 10 blogs per day on topics ranging from the outdoors, sports, culture, food, and volunteering. Singer suggested reading the blog to learn more about the topics and what they like to cover on which day.
Other Takeaways
- Multimedia is growing, so you will soon see more slideshows and video
- The magazine and web will have more crossover; not all the content will make it in to the magazine, so readers are encouraged to visit the web for additional coverage
- And as with all monthly magazines, they work at least three months out
- January and February are traditionally smaller issues
Front of Book/Pitching
Singer also shared some insights for pitching the front-of-the-book sections, which she and Chris Outcalt (chris@5280.com) oversee. All content pitched needs to be local/Denver-centric.
- Singer (daliah@5280.com) focuses on health and wellness, fitness, sports, outdoors, adventure and the environment
- Outcalt covers business, city, Q&A’s, dwell and travel
- Content is 250-300 for short blurbs and 600 words for essays
- They love “how-to” ideas in thee short steps
- The “Get Involved” content needs to focus on hands-on activities for donation or volunteer opportunities
And don’t forget to follow 5280 on Twitter and like 5280 on Facebook to glean additional news and insight from Colorado’s most popular magazine.
