The cost of obtaining highly specialized editorial talent, especially in technical trade magazines, continues to soar. Such salaries, in the face of decreasing ad revenues, are making it more difficult to staff trade magazines.
Publishers frequently turn to English majors, journalists and tech writers.
They communicate via e-mail and the Internet, and the magazine's pages are composed by each in the computer. Similarly, even centrally located technical trade books have regional editors who never set foot in the main office. The wonders of fax, Fed Ex, telephone, e-mail and Internet make the virtual editorial office perfectly feasible. These folks have been around for years and years. The virtual office has made it much easier for them to be located anywhere, and some magazines, such as Managing Automation, have a half-dozen or so, each with a different specialty.