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Some more comments on the sort of magazines we're talking about, since I've been writing for them (and others) for 40+ years now:
The larger the circulation of any magazine, the more it's written for newbies and average guys, because they make up the vast majority of shooters and hunters. This is exactly why the bigger magazines don't run the in-depth handloading or shooting articles of much smaller-circulation magazines.
Those articles run more in smaller-circulation magazines, for more experienced readers who have out-learned the articles in the larger magazines. When I worked for FIELD & STREAM as a staff writer from the late 1980's to the early 2000's, there was a HUGE turnover in readers, because as they learned more, they moved on to more specialized, "advanced" magazines. This was considered normal by the magazine, another reason they offered low-priced subscriptions.
However, before the 1990's there weren't as many specialized magazines. Up until about 1990, large-circulation "general interest" magazines made the most money, whether in the hunting/shooting/fishing genre or other subjects, whether vehicles or news or whatever.
Toward the end of the 1990's, the Internet started fragmenting the market further. This wasn't because the Internet is superior to print, but because the Internet was yet another way to present editorial material.
Since then "publishing" has varied from major magazines to small websites. In general, the larger the magazine/website the less hard-core information is presented, but the more entertaining the info. This is because larger-circulation magazines/websites can pay for more entertaining writers.
At the same time, the smaller the magazine/website, the more hardcore info, but sometimes the writing is about as entertaining as gnawing on a stump.
The other trend is that writers who have some ability to entertain as well as inform often use the Internet to go directly to their readers, rather than depend on magazines which may or may not be here in another five years. Forty years ago the only option for all but a very few writers was to sell articles and books to standard publishing companies. Today the options are far more varied.
The hunting/shooting info highway has fragmented considerably over the past century, but that doesn't mean that one part of highway is superior to another. What it does mean is that readers have lots of options, whether they're readers like Savage99 who obviously has a short attention span, thinks simply, and considers [black and white photos
"composed" by a trail-cam really cool. He would have been pretty happy back when there were very few magazines in the 1930's, and the most affordable ran simple "articles" with B&W photos, much like his posts.
Other readers are looking for more in-depth information, more entertainment, or far better photos. The wide variation of publishing these days provides options for everybody's tastes.
The same camera's daytime pictures are in color! ![[Linked Image]](http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww15/Donmartin29/11-29-141050.jpg) As Big Stick would say: Congratulations?! Now be nice! It is very impressive that he is able to type on here and still remind himself to breathe while doing it!
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Getting back on topic, I just bought two more clips for my HK P7 PSP. Hopefully this will help the struggling magazine industry.
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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What, no cries of anguish yet?
Not a real member - just an ordinary guy who appreciates being able to hang around and say something once in awhile.
Happily Trapped In the Past (Thanks, Joe)
Not only a less than minimally educated person, but stupid and out of touch as well.
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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. It's interesting to see the directions publishers are going these days. Newspapers have been killing themselves with poor management for, well, decades now. Even when they made great money the were badly managed. The digital disruption has just made it more glaring. Hang in there!
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that lightening ain't distributed right." - Mark Twain
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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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. I don't disagree John, but the internet shines at always having scads of fresh content (even if much of it is suspect). It takes me about an hour to read most magazines these days. With many of them, there's so little actual content relative to advertising that I feel taken advantage of. Sports Afield is particularly well done, and so is Rifle Shooter. The magazine that SCI puts out is exceptional, and it's FULL of legitimate content (though it's a little heavy on the "here's how my hunt went" articles). The worst of the bunch to me are the NRA magazines; dear God those are horrible. Outdoor Life has gotten absurdly bad as well, as every other issue is a new-gear roundup, and they try to appeal to too wide an audience. I bought a copy of Petersen's Turkey Hunting the other day, and it was comical how little content was in there. It was like reading a pamphlet at the doctor's office.
Last edited by richardca99; 05/03/16.
Chris
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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The NRA magazines have changed for another reason.
When I started writing for them, starting with AMERICAN HUNTER in the late 1980's, they ran around 10 feature articles in each issue, along with several columns. But as gun rights issues became more critical during Bill Clinton's administration, political news started taking more of each issue's content. In recent years it even started "bumping" non-political articles from many issues of the magazines. This is because the anti-gun movement has grown over the past couple of decades, both in organization, numbers and the irrational arguments that anti-gunners call "common sense."
If the NRA magazines were commercial magazines this change wouldn't work, because too many readers would drop their subscriptions. But they're not. Instead they're part of the NRA membership package, and the political climate right now is so filled with new threats to legal gun ownership that it's imperative for the NRA to cover many issues.
As a reader, I'm not exactly thrilled with each issue of AMERICAN HUNTER and AMERICAN RIFLEMAN being dominated by political material, because like most of us I like to read about hunting and guns for entertainment, information and relaxation. (And on a more personal level, the change has cut into the market for my articles!) But I can appreciate why its happening, and as a long-time Life Member continue to make financial contributions to the NRA every year.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Posts: 35,900
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 35,900 |
I picked up a copy of American Rifleman the other day dated gawd knows when, and bumped into an article by Finn Aaggard entitled "Kenya Days and Rifles" or something like that. Geezus it was refreshing.....starting out with some baying dog that had cornered a cow buffalo on Mt Kenya or some such, Finn and companions struggling to keep up,close encounter with the cow, a misfire, 400 gr bullets smashed to confetti on the cows shoulder. It was hair raising and had me on the edge of my seat...it was "hunting", interesting. I was entertained and momentarily riveted. But more importantly it was rooted in the author's personal experiences and was well written,and articulate, and written by someone who had BTDT. I don't mind techno babble if I am trying to understand a new concept but have a hard time absorbing a lot of numbers and charts. Once understood I may never look again. Like Ben (Mudhen) I am into the first paragraph and if there isn't much there I am off and running..  To be honest I learn as much about technical stuff from the knowledgeable guys here as I need to know, and more. Between John B and others I learn a lot on here. I have some PM strings with some knowledgeable guys on here that have taught me a bunch and are entertaining as hell to boot! So when it comes to publications I like SA, Handloader/Rifle, Rifle Shooter, and Sporting Classics because I love the old art work, the pictures, the classic old guns and sporting pursuits steeped in tradition. Recently I bought fresh copies of "The Jungle Book" (Kipling) so I can relate to my grandkids, and "Man Eaters of Kumoan" (Corbett). Anything by Corbett is a cliff hanger .
Last edited by BobinNH; 05/04/16.
The 280 Remington is overbore.
The 7 Rem Mag is over bore.
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Campfire Outfitter
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'Maneaters of Kumaon' is outstanding. I have that and just bought 'The Leopard of Rudraprayag'. Corbett is the best.
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I have been reading Carmichael's the book of the rifle. There is a ton of substance in it. It is dated but has given me a better technical understanding of rifles and rifle shooting.
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Campfire Outfitter
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I have been reading Carmichael's the book of the rifle. There is a ton of substance in it. It is dated but has given me a better technical understanding of rifles and rifle shooting. I need to get that one.
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A bit off topic...Any, and all magazines to which I subscribed that had an advert for PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE was summarily cancelled, regardless of content. PI is among the most anti-american, anti-hunter, anti-gun outfits in the country. I refuse to support any magazine that pretends to support shooters/hunters and accepts PI a advertiser.
Just saying.
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New Member
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Hi:This is my first post. I have worked in newspaper as a pressman for 37 years and have got to see a lot of the changes from the in side. And a lot of the same thing that are killing us are hitting magazines the same way.
The internet has become the new magazine /newspaper. As the core readers of print gets older and drop away the push is to get younger readers to subscribe. Right now there is a large percentage of people who have never known life with out internet and there even more coming that have never known life with out a smart phone. These people have grown up doing every thing on line and if "old media" wants to make it is going to have to offer content geared to the devices that thy are using and that content is going to be geared to that age group.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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facetious,
Welcome to the Campfire!
There's a lot of truth in your post, but in the magazine and book business (where I've spent my writing career) the transition still isn't as abrupt as in newspapers. Most hunting/shooting magazines are finding what might be termed a synergistic mix of electronic and print media works well, in order to find both younger and older readers.
The traditional book-selling market--mass publishing and selling in bookstores--hasn't worked for most hunting/shooting books for years. It still works for big-market books, whether murder mysteries or books like GUN DIGEST, but selling hunting (and even fishing) books through bookstores is just about dead, though some publishing companies keep trying.
What is working is self-publishing specialty print books, which the Internet made possible. My wife and I have been doing exactly that for almost a decade now, because we were dissatisfied (or had been royally screwed) by half a dozen book publishers, some of whom apparently had no clue about marketing. We do sell a few books through stores, though probably 98% are sold on the Internet.
But I also write for a couple of Internet sites, including our own. This resulted in an interesting example of how the Internet and print publishing can work together. For around 7-8 years we've been publishing a quarterly Internet magazine for hunters and shooters, RIFLE LOONY NEWS. It's a mix of short and long articles, including game recipes, book and product reviews, technical gun stuff, and hunting stories--and doesn't have any advertising, being totally supported by subscriptions.
It's done pretty well, but after five years one subscriber asked if we'd consider printing a paper edition of all the issues of RLN published to that point. He said he'd sure buy one, because his deer camp didn't have Internet service.
We thought this really odd, but then asked other subscribers if they'd buy a copy. A bunch said YEAH, and the common reason was a book would work better in bathrooms than a computer on a lap, or a pile of print-outs. So we decided to try it.
Usually we print 500-1000 copies of any of our books for a first run, but in this instance only did 250 of RIFLE LOONY NEWS: THE FIRST FIVE YEARS. They sold out so quickly we had to order another printing within a couple months, and it's been selling steadily ever since. While not one of our best-selling books, like my wife's big game cookbook or THE BIG BOOK OF GUN GACK, my rifle handloading guide, but it keeps plugging along. And a bunch of new subscribers to the Internet RLN have signed on because a friend had a copy of the book.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire Ranger
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Great purchases, Bob.
As a kid I read my parents' Book of the Month Club edition of The Jungle Book pretty much to tatters. I've no idea how many times I've read Man Eaters, but the last time was about a week ago after an exchange with RevMike. That copy was a free ebook I got on archive.org. There's a two volume Corbett Omnibus available as well that
I picked up a few years back.
If you haven't already read them, I also recommend the stories by H. Rider Haggard. They're fictional, but the Allan Quatermain character resembles Selous more than a little, I think. You can get a Kindle Omnibus of 50 novels and short stories for $2.99 on Amazon.
What fresh Hell is this?
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WOW ! One post and I get a smiley face and a greeting from a famous author.
I do agree magazines have advantages over newspaper, for one thing thy are trying to keep printing and selling magazines. Newspapers are trying to get away from print and go online. Magazines can change content to match changing trends and so on, newspapers are pretty much what thy are granted we can run more and better color than forty years ago but so what. You will keep a magazine for months or years and reread it, when was the last time you dug out a old newspaper just so could read it again?
My wife is a writer and has gotten three books published and the fourth should be coming out this year. She writes under the name Ruby Standing Deer. Add a .com and it takes you to her web site. So in the last five years I have had a chance to learn more about e-books and print on demand than I ever cared to.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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facetious,
Yeah, newspapers are perfect for the Internet.
In the past decade we have also learned far more about on-demand printing, e-books and websites than we ever planned to! One thing we learned about e-books is they're not very good for books with lots of data, which includes handloading or cooking recipes, because the data had a tendency to get garbled. Luckily, we learned this before trying it ourselves....
Will check out your wife's website!
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I've had the best luck with ebooks that are actual scans of old books. OCR still ain't ready for prime time and prodces some pretty bizzare results.
archive.org usually has multiple formats available for each book and I just download different ones until I get one that displays well on my iPad. I also have an older Kindle, but that requires that I download it on my Mac and then "mount" the Kindle as a device and then copy the file. Don't do that much anymore, but when I do it gives me a chance to back up all the non-Amazon content.
Another benefit of the scanned books is that you sometimes get little hand-written notes and such from the previous owners; little raisins in your cookie.
Last edited by Pappy348; 05/15/16.
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