Christine Quinlan actually came to magazines from an unlikely place: she started as a portfolio manager and equity analyst.
“I moved to NYC and no apartment and no job and I just hoped for the best,” she said. Quinlan took classes through MediaBistro to learn more about the communications industry and at Parsons. To support herself, she also worked as a florist and interned at two Italian food magazines.
She then started at Food & Wine as an Editorial Assistant to the Managing Editor. She explained that there are three different types of EAs: assistant to the EIC (kind of like a personal assistant), assistant to the Managing Editor (who focuses on the budget and staffing, and doesn’t write very much), and assistants in specific departments.
During her five years with the magazine, she has moved up to Senior Editor. Quinlan covers design, style, equipment, and increasingly beer, and deals with formulating issue themes, packaging stories, new editorial platforms, and works with the ad sales team and on special sections for advertisers.
Food & Wine actually began as an insert in Playboy in 1978, but today it’s owned by American Express and has about seven million readers. In comparison with its late competitor, Gourmet, Food & Wine is aspirational, but there’s a lot of accessibility; the gift guide features a lot of items under $20. Gourmet didn’t make money, was too asipirational, didn’t change their formula with the times, and didn’t translate well online.
For those of us who are starting out as an editorial assistant, it’s important to speak up if you find something missing or a hole; make yourself available and raise your hand and volunteer to do it, she advised.
Fact Checker and Research Editor can also be entry-level positions, but first get a sense of the career track, talk to editors and emphasize where you want to go.
It’s important today to be well versed in HTML, being able to complete a package and be online producers, have copy-editing and fact checking skills, to be organized and deadline-oriented (this is very difficult with creative types), smart, trainable, and enthusiastic.
In terms of finding fresh ideas, she said F&W is always looking for new new new and the “and factor,” meaning there are a bunch of components for each story, new food products. The staffers will attend events and trade shows for inspiration also.
Among her favorite projects to work on, Quinlan most enjoys the May travel issue, the Trends issue (which forecasts upcoming trends), “Chefs Know Best,” and “big things that tend to scare other people.”
