PS Publicity © 2012

Colour Separations Charges: Most magazines ask for a contribution towards the publication of an editorial story. This is often known as a ‘Colour Separations Charge’ although it would be more accurate to call it an editorial administration charge.

For the most part, it differs from advertising in that the magazines retain editorial control of the story. However, there are many magazines that have the attitude of ‘if you pay, you’re in ... if you don’t, your out!’

Thankfully, there are still magazines out there that will treat the story on editorial merit. Even these may have targets to meet - say 70% of all stories need to be paid for. However, there is still the chance that they will run the story even if the Colour Separations request has been declined.

RTF : Rich Text Format. This is a much smaller file compared with Microsoft Word .doc files, and is more likely to be read by other programs, including Desk Top Publishing.