There's an old saying in the publishing business that goes, "You've got 30 seconds to catch the reader's eye, and a minute to close the sale." Specifically, we're talking about the business of selling magazines, and in our industry, the magazine's cover is generally believed to be the most important factor that determines its success-or failure-at the newsstand. As the reasoning goes, a magazine might contain the freshest, coolest, most awesome articles and photos every month, but if its cover is bland and uninviting, who's gonna bother picking it up? The mags will sit molding on the newsstand, unread, month after month. Makes sense to us.
Yet designing a winning cover might be the most inexact science in our business. In a typical month, we'll spend many, many days working on this single page, experimenting with different images and blurbs, and debating amongst ourselves whether this blue Ford, that red Chevy, or that green Jeep looks best, and whether "50 Hot Axle Upgrades" makes for more compelling verbiage than "Crash and Burn Special." No matter how long you're in this business, you're always on the lookout for a hot tip or fresh insight when it comes to cover design.
This is where you, the reader, come in. Starting next month, we'll give a select number of you the chance to join the Four Wheeler Critics' Corner. Specifically, we'll send out two or three proposed cover treatments via e-mail each month, and invite reader responses and critiques. Our aim? To learn more about our readers-how you'd like our magazine to look, and what you'd like to see inside it-and, of course, to help us design killer covers that will make Four Wheeler an ever more attractive read. Naturally, we're not expecting charity work, so for your efforts you'll be rewarded with an exclusive Four Wheeler "Critics' Corner" T-shirt, which we'll only hand out to those of you who are chosen to participate in this unique focus group.
How do you get on our list? Simple-convince us that you belong. Starting April 15, go to the home page at www.fourwheeler.com. Click on the "Critics' Corner" link, which will take you to a text box. Type up a short message explaining who you are. Tell us how long you've been reading the magazine, what you like best about it, or what you like the least. Tell us how many years you've been four wheeling. Finally, tell us why we've absolutely got to include you in our group. Then click the "send" button-that's it. We'll pick 100 lucky readers to participate in our group, and after we've made our choices, we'll contact you so you can tell us where to send your T-shirt.
After you receive our cover treatments each month, spend a few minutes to look them over, then tell us what you like and what you don't. If you like one cover better than another, tell us which one and why. If you like all the covers, tell us. If you hate all of them, we want to know that also. Don't hesitate to be honest in your critiques, and to suggest alternatives you think are better. That's what we want here-a lively exchange of ideas.
We'll be sending the files in PDF format, so to read them you'll need Adobe Acrobat (or Acrobat Reader), version 5.1 or newer. We strongly recommend you have DSL access; a standard dial-up modem will work, but it will take the files a while longer to load onto your PC. Other than that, all we ask of you is a few minutes of your time each month, along with a discerning eye, keen insight, wisdom beyond your years, and impeccable taste in general. What could be easier? 'Til your hear from us, happy reading.
-Douglas McColloch