5 Tips for Creating Award Winning Publications

To celebrate its most award-winning year yet, Imagination Publishing offers tips and strategies for custom publishing.

(PRWeb) January 29, 2007 -- Custom media published by Imagination Publishing won a total of 20 awards in 2006, the company's most award-winning year to date. In a departure from any other publishing award contest, the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) actually created an award for Perspective, the magazine of the International Interior Design Association, to recognize Imagination for Outstanding Innovation.

Here are some tips from Imagination's award-winning staff:

1. Keep challenging yourself. "When we've just finished a great issue, it's always helpful to ask ourselves how we can do even better with the next issue." --Michelle Bowles, senior editor, Perspective

2. See what's out there, then put elements together in a new way to create something innovative and groundbreaking. "It helps to have a real passion for what you're working on." --Christian Campos, art director, Perspective

3. Know your audience, "but don't be afraid to challenge their perspectives." --Cyndee Miller, senior editor, PM Network

4. Develop great story ideas and find writers who can carry them out. "Stories should come up with fresh approaches that readers will not find elsewhere." --Judy Crown, senior editor, Forward

5. Adhere to a precise, thorough fact-checking process to ensure all information in the publication is free of error. "Accuracy is the most important aspect of a publication to retain the reader's trust and ensure journalistic integrity." --Erin Dorr, fact checker, Forward, Perspective, PM Network

Judges of SNAP's EXCEL awards reviewed all the gold award winners for the year in an effort to "identify the publications that exceeded all creative expectations." Only Perspective "met the judges' criteria for innovation, creativity and cutting-edge journalism in the association publishing world."

The award caps both an outstanding year for this publication -- six awards in all -- and Imagination's single biggest award-winning year, adding 20 awards to the 80 the company has won over the last 13 years.

"Having an award-winning publication is never our primary goal," says James Meyers, Imagination's founder and president. "It is a great validation of our work and the creativity our staff. But our first priority is winning a return on investment for our clients. Awards demonstrate that custom media is an extremely effective and persuasive medium in which marketers can reach their audiences."

To learn more about custom publishing, visit http://www.imaginepub.com/custompublishing/definition.cfm

ABOUT IMAGINATION

Imagination is passionate about custom media--it's the only custom publisher that insists on systematically producing Return on Investment Publishing (RoIP) for clients. Imagination's original editorial and creative content--designed to move the behavior of target audiences--has won 100 creative and industry awards. It publishes magazines, Webzines, annual reports, e-newsletters and other print and electronic collateral for a nationwide roster of clients, including many Fortune 100 companies and organizations. Founded in 1994 in Chicago, Imagination's areas of expertise include consumer and B2B markets, with a special focus in financial services, technology, small business, retail and association industries.