Quick question for any old hacks, journalists, newspaper men out there

smoothseas

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In the novella I'm working on, the mc is a syndicated columnist for a biweekly magazine.

He generally writes four to five columns ahead.

The copy that's ready for future print is called?

I'm search for an industry standard term here. i.e. in the pipe? in the cue?

tia,
seas, who labors hard to always find the right word.
 

maxmordon

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I don't know in the US, but we generally calm them "on hold" here.

Maxmordon, who's very proud for being a columnist on a small arts & culture blog.
 

Maryn

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I'm wracking my brain, because I've spoken to someone here at AW who's a newspaperman. Dang it, who was that man?

If I remember, I'll shoot him a PM telling him to check this thread.

Meanwhile, I can rule out that columns completed in advance would be called "in the queue," at least in the US, where we don't use that word unless we're making fun of our British friends. We queue up to do that, at times.

Maryn, trying to be funny
 

Richard White

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In the queue was generally the term when I was working in the newspaper business, but that was in the mid- to late-70s. Things may have changed since then.
 

WeaselFire

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The copy that's ready for future print is called?

I'm search for an industry standard term here. i.e. in the pipe? in the cue?

In the 1980's we used "In the queue" for these, although, "in the pipeline" was also used. I had a magazine editor tell me they wanted articles for "backstock" but I only heard that from a single editor.

Once a specific issue was identified for it to appear in, it was "slotted for publication."

Jeff
 

Lil

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One question. You said your writer is a syndicated columnist. That means he is published in a number of publications, and I don't think he is going to be the one sending his columns to a specific magazine.
 

smoothseas

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One question. You said your writer is a syndicated columnist. That means he is published in a number of publications, and I don't think he is going to be the one sending his columns to a specific magazine.



Thanks for taking the time to respond.

The publication is a queer-centric publication with national distribution in 150K+ markets.

Reviews, advertising, etc would, of course, be local. All other print content is the same, be it for Boston, Mass or San Diego, California.

The MC's regular feature is a 'Dear Abbey' type column.
 

WeaselFire

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The publication is a queer-centric publication with national distribution in 150K+ markets.
That may or may not sell as a description... :)

My wife does layout for a similar type of publication (Health and Wellness genre) and their articles are referred to as "in the queue" as well. In their case, the local publishers (franchisees) determine whether or not to use what columns/articles are available from the national franchise and articles may stay available for years even (if the topic allows) before a publisher chooses to use (and pay for) it.

By the way, it would be hard to find 150K plus markets for anything. 1,000 markets is doing really well. In the entire US, 150,000 markets would be markets of about 2,000 people. Or about two potential readers per market. :)

Jeff
 

Al Stevens

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I was a magazine journalist from '88 to '03. Wrote a monthly column, book and product reviews, interviews, and feature articles. And I did tech edits of article submissions. I do not recall a specific term for articles written for future issues. If anything, we'd call it the "January column," the "Ritchie interview," and like that.
 

smoothseas

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That may or may not sell as a description... :)

My wife does layout for a similar type of publication (Health and Wellness genre) and their articles are referred to as "in the queue" as well. In their case, the local publishers (franchisees) determine whether or not to use what columns/articles are available from the national franchise and articles may stay available for years even (if the topic allows) before a publisher chooses to use (and pay for) it.

By the way, it would be hard to find 150K plus markets for anything. 1,000 markets is doing really well. In the entire US, 150,000 markets would be markets of about 2,000 people. Or about two potential readers per market. :)

Jeff



Duh! And I pride myself on being clear and concise.

That was supposed to be in markets with populations of 150k+

His being a columnist is not central to the story. It's about him falling in love with a younger man, when he returns home, to help his octogenarian aunt transition into an assisted living facility.

At the most, it earns a couple of lines here and a couple of lines there. And, as a possible hook to maybe spin this novella off into two novellas, and let the younger guy tell his story.

But first, I have to get this one written, edited, submitted, and accepted.

Thanks again,
seas, who's trying to think forward
 

CEtchison

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My old managing editor would say "we have several months worth stockpiled" in regards to regular features or columns. And if an article was bumped for something more time sensitive, he'd say "hold that in reserve".

Of course, he was a crusty old fart from Oklahoma. The lingo he used was probably his own rather than industry standard.
 

smoothseas

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My old managing editor would say "we have several months worth stockpiled" in regards to regular features or columns. And if an article was bumped for something more time sensitive, he'd say "hold that in reserve".

Of course, he was a crusty old fart from Oklahoma. The lingo he used was probably his own rather than industry standard.

Stockpiled, eh? Kinda like that. It's one word, instead of three.
 

GradyHendrix

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I've written for a bunch of places, and the terms vary from magazine to magazine. Generally, if it's a column that's awaiting future publication, it's commonly referred to as "banked." If it's a review that's on hold until closer to the release date of the movie/book/album it's "embargoed." And if it's a feature article or an interview that's waiting for a future date I've heard "lined up," "in the pipeline," "on hold."

But it varies across publications, I think.
 

Lil

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Thanks for taking the time to respond.

The publication is a queer-centric publication with national distribution in 150K+ markets.

Reviews, advertising, etc would, of course, be local. All other print content is the same, be it for Boston, Mass or San Diego, California.

The MC's regular feature is a 'Dear Abbey' type column.

If it's one publication, put out by one publisher, with or without a national distribution, it's not a "syndicated" column. If, on the other hand, it's a sort of subscription service, from which local publications can pick (and edit) whatever they want to use, it is "syndicated."
 

Mark Jacobs

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When I was with newspapers in the 1990s it was still called a queue. I write a magazine column now but, as far as I know, we have no specific term for future columns. We just call them "future columns" or something along those lines.