Meet the woman running the world's leading female media brand

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? What spurred you to seek a career in women’s journalism? How did you find the journey to the position you currently hold?

Growing up in Manchester I didn’t know jobs in magazines existed. It was only when my older sister won a competition in More magazine to go on a date with a male model that I realised you could actually work for one.

Of course the issue with journalism is that there are a lot of free internships at the beginning of the career ladder. It’s one of the most cruel things about the industry and means a lot of those from less privileged backgrounds can’t afford to take up jobs. That’s why last year we opened a number of Cosmo houses across the capital, offering affordable housing to young women outside of the south east who needed to be in the capital to start a career in the creative industries.

I was lucky - I went to a London university so was able to do work experience and small writing gigs in between studying. My first job was as a features assistant on Women and Home magazine and after that I changed jobs every 18 months to try and move up the ladder. And thankfully, here I am!

A career for women’s glossies is undoubtedly competitive. Do you have any advice for those starting out who aren’t sure how to stand a head above the rest? How did you ensure you stood out?

Brilliant feature ideas are the key to standing out. In my whole career, it’s been the one thing I have spent the most of time on. Editors can work with writers on tone and construct but a brilliant idea that captures a reader’s attention almost immediately is priceless. The best ideas come from recognising patterns in society. Our job is then to make an engaging, entertaining story that takes the reader from start to finish with a strong, solid subtext that explores why this is happening.

What do editors typically look for when hiring in the women’s journalism industry?

I always ask the people I interview which writers they read. It’s important to have a good knowledge of other journalists and why you like them. I look for someone with a fearless spirit too. This doesn’t mean they need to be hugely extrovert - introverts can have cores of steel too - but the sort of features I tend to favour are those that need real tenacity to see them through.

Are there unique challenges faced when writing for women? If so, what are they?

There are no unique challenges. Good writers with a strong voice should appeal to men as much as to women. But women do - generally speaking - tend to enjoy gossip a little more. It’s how we connect. So small details, such as what someone is wearing or how they speak tend to feature heavily in women’s magazine journalism. Sometimes those details can tell you more about a character than what they actually say.

Do you have any quick “how-to”s for kickstarting a journalism career - three little things to take away?

Find your voice and be true to it. It’s what people pay you for. If you’re not sure what your “natural” voice is, keep a diary. It will emerge.

Before pitching an idea, make sure you have the following in order:

• The name - and correct spelling - of the commissioning editor

• A headline and sell - just as you would want to see your feature appear in the magazine. If a magazines sells are kept to two lines, do the same

• Editors love memoir pieces and it’s usually one of the first things a young writer will get commissioned because it’s unique to you. Think about a strong personal story you have and why it’s a good fit for the magazine you’re pitching to. There is no use in pitching something about having a quarter-life crisis to Good Housekeeping, for example.

You will be leading a masterclass with us in July. What do you hope participants will be able to come away feeling capable of or thinking about?

I hope my masterclass will help people finesse their feature ideas, find their “voice” and learn what commissioning editors are really looking for. But most of all I hope it’s fun and people go away wanting to start writing.

About Farrah...

Farrah Storr is the award-winning editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan. Prior to this, she launched Women’s Health in the UK, where under her leadership it became the most successful women’s magazine launch of the decade. Over the course of her career, Farrah has been a writer for Good Housekeeping magazine, as well as an editor at Marie Claire and Glamour. She tweets @Farrah_Storr and her Instagram (where she posts jobs) is @farrahstorr. Her book, The Discomfort Zone: How to Get What You Want by Living Fearlessly, is out on 27 September. Pre-order it here.