Media kit for a magazine

What a magazine media kit contains

Most magazine kits answer the same questions an advertiser asks before booking:

1. Who the magazine is for. The subject, the tone and a short description of a typical reader.
2. Audience and reach. Print readership or copies, website visitors, newsletter subscribers and social followers, each with where the figure comes from.
3. Editorial calendar. What each issue or month will cover, so advertisers can match their campaign to the right one.
4. Ad formats. Print sizes, newsletter slots, sponsored articles, social posts and events.
5. Prices and deadlines. A rate card, or a note to contact sales, plus booking and artwork deadlines.
6. Contact. The person who sells the advertising.

How big publishers lay theirs out

TIME's media kit is a good example of the full version. It's a website with sections for key tentpoles (its big recurring franchises), platforms, print and digital, the editorial calendar, events and press. Its audience figures are listed with the research source and date for each, such as the tool or survey used. That last detail is worth copying: an advertiser trusts a number more when it says where it came from.

Condé Nast presents advertising across its titles as one offer, with branded content, events and audience insight alongside ads. Individual titles such as Vogue or GQ sit inside that. You don't need any of that scale to make a useful kit, but the structure is the same.

A one-page kit for a small magazine

If you run an independent magazine, a zine or a newsletter, a single page covers what most advertisers need. Put the magazine's name and a two-line description at the top. List your channels with their numbers: newsletter subscribers and average opens, social followers, monthly website views. Add your audience's main countries and ages if you know them, then your ad formats and prices, and finish with a contact email.

The generator below starts with a sample independent food magazine. Every figure in it is made up to show the layout. A few tips for filling it in:

• Use the Followers column for subscribers or followers, and Avg views for average newsletter opens or monthly page views. Say which is which in the bio if it isn't obvious.
• Put your print run or readership in the bio, because the table is built for online channels.
• Write each ad format as its own rate line, such as "Full-page print ad" or "Newsletter sponsorship (one issue)". Leave a price empty to show "On request".

Figures advertisers trust

Take every number from a source you could show: your newsletter platform's dashboard, your website analytics, each social app's insights, or your printer's invoice for the print run. Use the same period for all of them and round them sensibly. If you've run a reader survey, say so and give the date. Never estimate readers per copy unless you have research to back it up.

Sponsored content and labelling

If you sell sponsored articles or social posts, say how they'll be labelled. In the UK, the ASA and CAP guide sets out how to make clear that ads are ads, and similar rules apply in many other countries. Advertisers expect it, and readers keep trusting the magazine.

After you download

Send the PDF with a short email that names the issue or slot you think suits the advertiser. Update the kit whenever your numbers or prices change, and before each new issue's calendar is set. For a creator's kit rather than a publication's, see the influencer media kit, and to send your kit as a file, see media kit PDF.