I was asked by Warfare History Network to find and hire freelance journalists to help create a new digital magazine issue about military gaming. It would be my responsibility to create and deliver assignments, work with the freelancers in developing the artwork and finalizing the copy. I would then create the layout for the digital magazine, publish the edition, and then develop a social media campaign promoting the issue.
Knowing most readers would pick and choose only a few stories to read, we tried to find a breadth of perspectives on military gaming, as well as a variety of games in various genres. We also researched which games were most sought after at the time, which created the most online attention, and which had developed the strongest online communities. After creating a list of games to cover, topics were matched with available freelancers based on personal preference, personal experience, and access to the games.
For the design, we emulated the branding already in use in WHN’s previous digital editions while leaving room to emphasize the artwork for reach review. For the social media campaign, all games were given a spotlight to find which topics most resonated with the audience. Then, we ran a secondary campaign that focused on the successful topics from the first.
