From the Editor | February 2014 Plastic Surgery Practice

Cover Me!

Denise MannBy Denise Mann

Hands down, the question I get over and over again about PSP is this: “How can I be on your cover?” The answer is longer than most doctors care to hear. My spiel is often interrupted with, “Can I pay to be on the cover?” The answer to that question is shorter. Much. “No. The cover is not for sale.”

So here is how I do decide who will grace our monthly cover. For starters, I have covers planned about a year in advance. There is some wiggle room depending on doctors’ schedules, and I always leave an open month or two in case someone really does reinvent the wheel.

I often time my covers with meetings and industry events. March is the American Academy of Dermatology meeting, so traditionally the March issue of Plastic Surgery Practice will feature a rock star of a dermatologist on the cover. I work closely with my editorial advisory board members in each specialty when deciding what makes a “rock star.”

As you all know, there is no shortage of meetings in this space, so realistically, about six of my 12 yearly covers are meeting or association-specific. Sometimes, it’s the president-elect or the immediate past president. Other times, it may be an up-and-comer or cosmetic surgeon who is looking back on his many years in practice and the changes he or she has witnessed.

I try to choose physicians from different geographic reasons (despite the fact that New York City and Southern California have more cosmetic surgeons per capita than most other places). I try to feature men and women across all ethnic groups, and include representatives from all of the specialties we cover.

I also like to publish several themed issues. Our December 2013 cover was Jeffrey Spiegel, MD, chief of the Division of Facial Plastic and?Reconstructive Surgery at Boston University Medical Center, and the entire issue looked at treating the transgender patient—a growing niche in this field. I had the idea for this issue in my head for a while, and Dr Spiegel was on a very short list of doctors who I wanted to work with. Serendipitously, he reached out via email to suggest similar, and a marriage was made.

Rarely will the cover story be the first time I have ever worked directly with a physician. Our production cycles are short, and I write all the covers myself, so I need assurances that the doctor will be available and accessible, and will understand and respect my deadlines. Oftentimes, I vet a candidate by featuring him or her in our “10 Things” column. This way, I get to learn more about them, their practice, and whether or not they are difficult or easy to work with. In  exchange for this litmus test, the doctor gets some coverage—a win-win. Other times, I may work with the doctor on a feature or clinical report in the magazine.

Hopefully, this helps demystify the PSP cover process. Please don’t hesitate to pitch me now that you have some solid intel on how to get my attention.

Original citation for this article: Mann, D. Cover me!, Plastic Surgery Practice. 2014; February: 6