About the LJI Toolkit

LJI Main | LJI Toolkit | Participants | Circulation Database Template

Developed by publishing and circulation experts, peers from the field, and the CLMP staff, the Literary Magazine Toolkit is THE comprehensive guide to the most pressing and complicated business issues facing literary magazine publishers today!

Within the "pages" of the Toolkit, magazine publishers will find information on issues as diverse as building individual donor campaigns, benchmarks for renewal rates and new business initiatives, advice on building an effective board of directors, links to printers, distributors and subscription agents, and much more. The Toolkit has something for everyone–magazines just starting out will find useful information on the necessity of the mission statement, how to get a Business Reply Mail permit from the post office, and where to look for potential readers when there’s no budget line for marketing. More mature organizations will find downloadable, preformatted reports for analyzing renewals, new subscriptions, and projecting future subscription income, as well as worksheets on how to keep track of single-copy sales and make sense of those onerous reports from distributors!

We know that you will find an abundance of useful information in the Toolkit and hope that you continue to rely on it for advice and instruction.

A sampling from the Toolkit table of contents follows:

INFO AT-A-GLANCE: Quick Tips, Advice, & Instruction

• A Quick and Dirty Look at Newsstand Sales
• Marketing Copy That Sells Literary Magazines
• Seven Steps to a Great Renewal Series
• Industry Standards for Renewal & Conversion Rates
• Preparing a Grant Application Budget

The Experts Speak: Advice & Instruction from Publishing & Nonprofit Professionals

• Starting from Scratch: A One-Year Marketing Plan for Beginners
• Making In-House Fulfillment Work for You–and Your Subscribers
• Creating an Individual Donor Campaign
• Not Just Names on Your Masthead: Understanding the Role of Your Board
• Marketing Printed and Electronic Content on the Web

CASE STUDIES: LJI Graduates Share their Stories

• One Baby Step at a Time: One Magazine’s Effort to Increase Readership Despite Limited Resources
• The Feasibility of Increasing a Journal’s Frequency
• From Filing Cabinet to FileMaker Pro: One Magazine’s Transition to Computerized Circulation Management

SAMPLES, MODELS & TEMPLATES:

• One-Year Marketing Plan
• Direct Response Fundraising Letter
• Renewal Reports (Spreadsheets & Explanatory Text)
• New Business Profit & Loss Reports (Spreadsheets & Explanatory Text)
• In-House Distribution Report

RESOURCE DATABANKS:

• Distributors that Carry Literary Magazines
• International Subscription Agents
• Funders
• Publishing, Circulation, & Fundraising Consultants

The Literary Magazine Toolkit represents the culmination of the Literary Journal Institute, the two-year CLMP/NEA partnership program designed to help literary magazines nationwide strengthen operations through workshops, one-on-one consultations and a peer support network.