Step 01 / 10

Request and read the media kit

The media kit is the seller's own dossier: rates, audience, calendar, specs. It exists because AEs need it to close deals, which means it holds the numbers the website will not show you. Some publishers still post kits openly, as Trusted Media Brands does with its full Reader's Digest rate card^[1]; most gate them behind a contact form and a discovery call you do not need to take.

Desk copy

The kit request that skips the sales call

Subject: Media kit and current rate card, [Title]

We are planning print for [quarter]. Please send the current media kit with the rate card, circulation statement, editorial calendar and mechanical specs. We are comparing several titles on CPM and close dates; a call is not needed at this stage. If rates are only released by phone, let me know and we will deprioritize.

Firm, not rude. The last line matters: it tells the AE that withholding paper has a cost, and it filters sellers by how they treat informed buyers.

What a complete kit contains

Rate card. Open rates by unit and color, frequency ladder, cover premiums. Reading it is Step 02.
Circulation statement. Ideally an AAM or BPA statement^[3], not a round number in display type. Verifying it is Step 06.
Audience data. Demographics with a named source and field date.
Editorial calendar. Issue themes with space and materials closes, which set your timeline (Step 05).
Mechanical specs. Trim, bleed, live area and file requirements (sizes, artwork).

Red flags in the audience pages

"Total audience" with no circulation figure anywhere. The multiplier is doing all the work.
Round circulation claims with no bureau statement and no willingness to show print invoices.
Demographics sourced to "reader survey" with no methodology, sample size or date.
A kit more than two years old. Rates move yearly; a stale kit means the desk is not being run.

Sources on file

[1]Reader's Digest 2026 Media Kit, Trusted Media Brands. 2026 rate card, published October 2025. Retrieved 2026-07-31. Evidences: Reader's Digest full-page and half-page 4-color gross rates, 1,400,000 rate base, RD Large Print rates and 175,000 circulation.
[2]Dotdash Meredith (People Inc) advertising. Current site; company rebranded to People Inc in August 2025. Retrieved 2026-07-31. Evidences: Print plus digital bundle posture across People, Better Homes & Gardens and siblings; no published print rates (quote-only).
[3]Alliance for Audited Media (AAM). Ongoing audit bureau. Retrieved 2026-07-31. Evidences: Publisher statements and audited circulation used to verify any title's claimed distribution.