Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Things Must Be Tough in the Magazine Business

Naw,---the grass in the background was still.



Jerry

I don't get any of them anymore because they've all gone tactical. I just bought the new Shooting Times (first magazine I bought in two years) because it had an article in about Remingtons biggest successes. Most of that mag didn't interest me. Luckily the last page had an article about Karamojo.

The cover of the Magazine isn't the issue, it is what is inside that really stinks...

Books are the answer. For the price of a magazine subscription, you can get a good book you'll have all your life and then pass on to someone else when you go under.

Lots of free, classic hunting books online too.

>>>Yes, Shrap I responded to that on P 3.>>

To Add - From that pic, we can't tell 'how fast' the deer was moving. The lead 'might' have been right but...

"in the pic" it looks to me like the buck was ALSO turning to its right.
[/quote]

IF the buck was turning R, then it's a complete MISS and the bullet goes into the UNKNOWN.


We are now discussing 'where' we would aim for the pic in the Cover Shot.

Not to plagiarize- The Cover Shot was O P by Shrapnel.

Jerry

They've always been that way....what do you expect them to do....chit mouth their sponsors?
I'm just surprised at how long it took people to figure that out....

The JUNE Handloader is 144 pages, it has a double issue, The new issue along with a reprint of Issue #1 inside.


Mike

Things are tough in the mag biz these days:

Harris Publications Closing

Thank you John, I shall pass that around to my friends and family for some light reading.

TexasPhotog,

I wasn't all that surprised at Harris Publications closing. They were among the first magazines companies (and perhaps the first) that started tying article content strongly to advertisers' products. As I recall, this was in the 1980's. Before then, many if not most magazines operated on the idea that attracting readers with good articles would increase subscribers and newstand sales. Since advertising rates are tied to numbers of readers, the magazine would make more money by running by attracting readers.

Harris reversed this. Instead of primarily running articles to attract readers, they primarily ran articles to attract advertisers. This works in the short run, but eventually readers catch on that they're not being informed and entertained as much as they used to be--one reason so many readers quit reading hunting/shooting magazines. At some point circulation drops so much that ad rates drop, and eventually the same magazine isn't making enough money to remain profitable.

This reversal of the reader/advertising strategy is far more common than when I started publishing magazine articles 40 years ago. It's been common for a generation now, and many younger people in the business can't even remember when the primary strategy of most magazines was to attract readers.

Agreed that better articles will sell more issues however the NEW world is this internet.

With an easy search we can find interesting talk, pictures, video and references to what's interesting.

People produce 'tablets' or whatever they are and read them in public. Newspapers are history.

Use the search site: www.boardreader.com to find forum talk on your topic.

"Jan 26, 2016 ... Fast-forward to 2016, and the newspaper business is a shell of its former self. ... ( Another 30,000 or so print newspapers were sold via single-copy sales.) ... If advertising is falling off the cliff and print circulation is plummeting, then surely ... with the way we now consume news—skipping around the Internet, ..."

I found the last magazine that came. It's the May 2016 American Hunter that comes with the NRA membership.

I had not opened it yet.

One article mentions the NRA annual meeting to be held in KY.

We went to the one years ago because Rush Limbaugh was the keynote speaker.

1993 Annual members banquet.

Yep, the Internet is particularly great for people with short attention spans, who apparently can only read and write a few sentences at a time, without any depth or focus.

I've written for a bunch of magazines AND websites, and one interesting aspect of the net/print question is that even though the Internet can publish much longer, in-depth articles at far less expense than printing them on paper, Internet articles are usually shorter and provide less actual information. The exception is when they're "reprints" of paper-published articles, but many of those are edited to much shorter length for the short attention span of Internet (and "smart" phone) users.

It isn't as much fun to sit on the krapper with a laptop or a tablet as it is with a magazine.

I still prefer reading with a book or magazine in my hands. If it's an online article about something technical which demands concentration, mathematics at an advanced level for example, I'll print it rather than scrolling around on a screen.

We only get the Rifleman and Am. Hunter mag. with the memberships.

My wife and I get no other publications.

We used to get the local paper, a news magazine like the National Review occasional book clubs and even the Shotgun News.

National Review Magazine

I grew up living for every new issue of Outdoor Life. That was the days of Carmichel, Zumbo, and McManus. OL now just doesn't impress me all that much.