Backferry Consulting 

Affordable problem-solving for small-circulation magazines

Linda Gardiner, PhD

backferry: a highly effective whitewater paddling technique for avoiding dangerous
obstacles and making your way safely downstream in rough water

Recent projects

I work with individual clients in the US and Canada, and with the two major organizations that provide technical assistance (and much more) to small-circulation magazines: the Independent Press Association (San Francisco) and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (New York City).

Independent Press Association projects

I have written or co-written several of the IPA’s technical assistance manuals, including

Feeling Fulfilled: List Management and Subscription Fulfillment

From Print to Web: Magazine Publishing on the Internet

Advertising Sales 101

Working with Libraries: Subscriptions, Displays, Events

Some Internet Legal Resources for Magazine Publishers (read it on-line)

The USPS and You: Postal Rates and Mailing Options for Small-Circulation Magazines (forthcoming)

For more information, go to www.indypress.org/programs/techassist.html.

Council of Literary Magazines and Presses projects

I have given a series of weekend-long workshops in CLMP’s “Literary Journal Institute” series, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, focusing on subscription management, low-budget circulation development, renewal design and strategy, and web site planning.

I have also given training workshops for magazine interns, funded by the New York State Council on the Arts, covering all aspects of magazine publishing.

I co-developed CLMP’s subscription management template, designed for small-circulation magazines as a low-cost alternative to commercial fulfillment systems: you can read a summary of the program's features here (Acrobat Reader required).

I have contributed extensively to the Publishers’ Toolkit, an on-line technical assistance resource available to CLMP members: for more information visit them at www.clmp.org.

Recent individual client projects

Dollars and Sense
organizational evaluation
analysis of current business plan and marketing efforts
extensive website redesign (visit www.dollarsandsense.org to see the results)

In These Times
organizational, financial, and structural evaluation

Imagine, Tiferet, Designers' Quarters
consultation on a range of start-up activities
business plan development and circulation growth planning

Twice-Exceptional Newsletter, Bust
direct mail package consultation and copywriting
renewal series copywriting and response tracking

Bitch, Catalina, Animal Fair, Architects Newspaper and others
facilitated the transition to the CLMP subscription management template
customized the template for their specific needs

The Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore (Paris)
website design

2001 Recipient of the Exceptional Woman in Publishing award from WIPP (Women in Periodical Publishing)

Client feedback is available on request.

For more information, or to schedule an introductory conversation, email me at gardiner@backferry.com.