PR Interview: How to Pitch Electronic Design Magazine

Contact Information
Mark David
Editorial Director
Penton's Electronic Design Group
45 Eisenhower Drive, Suite 550
Paramus, NJ 07652
201-845-2467
mdavid(at)penton(dot)com
http://electronicdesign.com/

Background
Before joining Electronic Design, David worked for eMedia and Internet start-up companies. He started his career in technology journalism as Editor and Publisher of Frontline Solutions.

Circulation & Readership
Readers are mostly electronics engineers and engineering managers who are responsible for the design and implementation of equipment manufacturers' products and systems. Total circulation is 140,120.
Source: BPA statement for the 6-month period ended June 2007

Editorial Coverage
Electronic Design provides its readers with technological breakthroughs and applications. Stories are written using engineering terminology. The magazine bills itself as “the authority on emerging technologies for design solutions.”

Content categories (ones with asterisks are the best submission opportunities):
o Embedded in Electronic Design: collection of comprehensive articles and pieces on technology advancements and the latest products and trends in computing
o TechView: overview of significant industry developments*
o Leapfrog: thorough analysis of important latest products (Industry First and First Look)*
o Design articles (Design Solutions, Ideas for Design)*
o Point of View: industry expert forum*
o Engineering features on career and education topics *
o Engineering Essentials: standard recaps
o Virtual Market Trends: what works, what fails
o Technology Report: trends summary
o Pease Porridge: column of an analog expert

Sponsored content includes Basics of Design (hows and whys), Design FAQs (answered by technical editors) and Quick Facts (design advice).
Special issues include Technology Forecast Issue (key trends), One Powerful Issue (power integrity), Wireless Everywhere (hottest devices), Megatrends (marketplace opportunities), Ideas for Design (includes reader contributions) and Best Electronic Design (editors’ and readers’ choices).

Web Site
The Web site’s categories include eight technology sections, eight design hotspots sections and six design resources sections.

Readers can subscribe online to seven newsletters:
- Electronic Design Update (weekly)
- EDA Alert (biweekly)
- Wireless Systems Design UPDATE (monthly)
- Find Power Products (monthly)
- Electronic Design TOC (biweekly)
- EEPN Products of the Week (weekly)
- Mechatronic Design (monthly)

How to Pitch
Editors look for design tips and information on up-and-coming technologies that will influence electronics products. Their sweet spot is information on how the new technology differs from earlier incarnations. You will make the editors very happy if you describe how the technology will benefit the designer in differentiating the end product.

One of David’s pet peeves is a pitch that does not reflect a familiarity with the publication. If you “are not really involved in the electronics marketplace, and hence do not understand the mission of the magazine,” make sure you read up before you hit the send button.

Send leads for feature stories to the editor-in-chief. For contributed design stories, send tips to the issue editor. For new products, send them to the appropriate technology editor. For news stories, try the assistant editor. You can find the staff’s contact information at:
http://electronicdesign.com/Info/Index.cfm?Action=ContactUs

Be specific in your subject line, and don’t be shy about following up on the telephone.

How to Contribute to Electronic Design
Exclusive editorial contributions are accepted for the following sections:

1. Design Solutions: a summary of your well-timed and appropriate design advice article will be published in print, and the entire story will be posted to the Web site.
- Your detailed piece should focus on accomplishing a specific task.
- It must include formulas and cover the design philosophy and tradeoffs and circuit analysis.
- If you are writing about a certain device, concentrate on “how to design with the parts, not how the parts were designed.”
- Email the piece to the issue editor as a Word document attachment that contains contact information for the author and the company.
- The article should run 2,200 to 2,500 words and contain four to five descriptively captioned elements (sidebars, figures and tables).
- Art should be submitted electronically in .tif and .jpg files and at 300-dpi resolution.

2. Ideas for Design: succinct description of practical working circuits application.
- Explain the benefit of using the novel application instead of the standard one.
- The circuit should be innovative and creative, yet without “super-tight” requirements.
- The circuit should contain design creativity beyond IC’s bounds.
- The writing must be comprehensible, and no longer than 700 words.
- In your email to the issue editor, include a 300-dpi author headshot, one large circuit diagram and two smaller illustrations.
- Your submission should be free of patented or copyrighted material.
- Do not send stories on circuits solving trivial problems.

3. Point of View: vendor-neutral expert contributions for Point of View columns and Industry Viewpoint newsletter.
- Send 750-word articles as Word attachments to Managing Editor
- Include an author headshot, a three-sentence bio, company and email address.

You will hear back from the editors within six weeks.

Meet David and Other Editors
David is “happy to do briefings here in the office in New Jersey, at leading trade shows, and lunch meetings are always fine.” He doesn’t mind when people on a media tour stop by their office.

You might also want to check out some of these events:
http://www.planetee.com/events/

Send the editors an email before attending a show and you will probably end up with an appointment.