Proposed New Magazine

[Glenn collins]

Originally Posted by Malibu Flyer

Here's a link to a magazine produced by a specialist flying group I belong to. The magazine is produced entirely from articles submitted by members and is perhaps a good example of how a new magazine might be published on a cost effective basis.

http://www.pplir.org/index.php?optio...d=42&Itemid=37

You can access the older editions without being a member.

Thanks for the heads up. Ill look at it latter when in front of computer.

Regards
Glenn.

[HUMBER P4VWL]

As I put in the other thread, great idea. One point though, we do have the net on the boat, in the car and in the loo!!! I use my iPhone to read rib net and books and the news when early for a meeting waiting in the car, waiting on the boat for fish and waiting on the loo for.. well you get the picture.

Technology is moving on v quickly and the stats for under 30s buying any form of paper based journalism is shocking.

Hence some of the newspaper sites are charging for full content on line. Paper sales have slumped. The news you read in the morning paper is outdated, as many have read the news on their phone at breakfast, which is 4 hrs more up to date, the hijacker has already died by 9am

As you say though, nothing ventured nothing gained.

[chewy]

I think the thing with mags is its there for reference in the future. I've got a pile of old magazines (ask Rogue Wave) which have decent articles to refer back to.

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Polwart

You should do a search on the forum - this topic comes up almost annually.

Firstly, let me say I'll buy it, at least for the first issue or two until such time as someone posts a new thread here suggesting that all the RIB magazines on the market are crap. I'm a fairly regular RI, and SB&R reader and have contributed to SB&R in the past. I completely agree with most of the common criticisms of both magazines, but I also accept that they have to keep both subscribers and advertisers happy.

Whilst I appreciate that you don't think it demands a fancy glossy mag - I‘d suggest it does - and with some competent graphic design too, if it is to get a readership beyond those who already frequent this site. Good quality photography is almost essential to a quality boating mag, and that demands good quality printing.

However, the biggest challenge I think you will face is maintaining momentum. Doing it for nothing more than the love of it and yet still sticking to production deadlines so that it comes out o4n-time regularly when the job that pays your mortgage is making other demands on our time (and finding time to get afloat yourself) is not trivial.

There's a lot more to consistently pulling together a magazine with quality content on a regular basis than most of us probably realise. Its probably a full time job, that means you need serious advertising content to fund that. Advertisers will expect a quality publication with a wider readership.

All good points Polwart. I work in publishing for a newspaper, but we also have experience of producing glossy magazines. As a rough cost - a 36 page A4 publication (4pp 150gsm cover) and (32pp text 115gsm inside) will cost around the £3,500 mark for around 15,000 units. Add a gloss laminate to the cover and you can probably add another £1k.

Then there's the editorial and design costs, administration, accounts, etc. From an advertising point of view, we deal with national agencies, and we're currently experiencing the biggest downturn in revenue from blue-chip customers since the 80s, so goodness knows what it would be like for a new publisher. Advertisers want to know all about production runs, distribution, target audience, advertising rates, etc, either printed or available online.

This sort of venture needs capital, and lots of it. While I agree the market could use a RIB magazine that has a more 'enthusiast feel', it would be suited to a company or entrepreneur that's in it for the long haul.

[Glenn collins]

Originally Posted by spartacus

All good points Polwart. I work in publishing for a newspaper, but we also have experience of producing glossy magazines.

is that, you will approach your company to see if they will assist with printing ????

Wink ;-)

[Steve_B]

I wish you luck in this venture and like so many others, I would willingly purchase.
I like real life articles about maintainance, self builds, strip downs and "How to" type pieces.
I would like to see honest tests of new products, take a leaf out of the Top Gear magazine and actually print what you think of the boat. I cancelled my subscription to Rib International when they wrote how poorly the Rayglass was, only to praise it a couple of issues later.
This might make you unpopular initially, but if you stick at it, you will find that eventually they will compete for your opinions.

[Glenn collins]

Originally Posted by biffer

i'm in, i can add a huge amount of practical knowledge to your cause, talk to me, 07946 ******** info@customrib.com

Hi Biffer

I'll be in contact during the week.

Regards

Glenn

[slimtim]

Glenn,

As has been said, this comes up a lot but you are the first to stick your head above the parapet and say you'll get it started

Anyway, I've been on here a while, but have not been around much over the last year or so due to various reasons. Those old school solent members will know that I'm a bit of a keen bean when it comes to photography. I'd be keen to get involved and if you need any stock pics for it I can help you out. There are a few on my website but you'll find more lurking around on various threads on here. I think I started a photo essay thread ages ago with a bunch of my favourite pics.

As far as the magazine goes, here are a few of my thoughts...
Going straight into print is going to be a bit problematic. Are you thinking of just doing a run of a few hundred and sending out copies to people on here to start with? I assume you aren't thinking of going straight into full production and distribution in news agents?

I know there is a lot to be said about having a magazine to hold and put on the coffee table/next to the bog but I think the best way to go for now is to produce a web magazine. I know people can just look at RIBnet but stay with me...

I know a couple of people who have set up online magazines. One is a mountain bike mag and the other was a kitesurfing mag. The bike mag is just in PDF format so you could print it out easy enough, the kite mag is flash based with interactive videos and stuff (good for RIB "how to's") and has actually now progressed so far and got enough advertising revenue that its now available in print. I think this is the way to go, produce a web mag to see how the first few issues go in terms of getting material, adverts etc. and gauge the response. It won't cost anything other than web hosting and time, assuming contributors will do so for free (contributions however can't be expected to be obtained for free if the mag makes decent money through advertising).

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see how thing develop, sounds really interesting.

Cheers,

Tim

[slimtim]

sorry forgot to mention...

A point about online mags. I don't think they can be too wordy. No one wants to sit in front of a computer for hours reading a PDF. Lots of visuals, great pics and to-the-point articles that get the job done in not too many pages. Despite the limitations of the online approach, I still think its the way forward for testing the water...

[Glenn collins]

Originally Posted by slimtim

Glenn,

As has been said, this comes up a lot but you are the first to stick your head above the parapet and say you'll get it started

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see how thing develop, sounds really interesting.

Cheers,

Tim

Hi Tim

Thanks for the offer. As previously stated I earnt a living for some time as pro photographer but being stuck over here in the east of Kent I am a long way from the main plau area of the Solent. Any input you can offer will be greatly received.

As for the web mag idea, this is really what I had in mind. Start in a format that can be online or printed. Allow for circulation to grow a little to encourage some advertising interest and then go into print proper. That said what is really getting the interest is the ability of folk to be able to lock themselves in the loo and read, or keep fo the article that may be of use on months to come. As the other commenter stated earlier, i have piles of mags that i have collected over the years that drive my wife insane. Thousands fo irrelevant adverts of stuff that I will never even consider buying but tow pages of useful stuff that I know ill need "one day"

Might just have to dip my hand in my pocket and see what transpires.

Glenn.

[Max...]

It's funny a MTB mag should be mentioned as this idea has a lot of parallels with Singletrack magazine - this started some years back as the popular bike forum (Google STW) evolved into the mag and the first issues were run hand to mouth effectively by the subscribers putting their faith (and money) in the project. It was also a sort of anti-establishment mag with the emphasis on more mature riders and grown up writing and photography with a minimal number of ads.

It has stayed remarkably faithful to that ethos but has grown and grown to be a much bigger playerl. As has been mentioned earlier though the whole print world is shrinking so it's a tough market out there for sure and RIB's have a much smaller catchment than MTB's.

As with many other riders back then though I'm sure I'm not alone in being happy to put my money up front with a sub if it helps you gain the confidence to go for it!

[Glenn collins]

[QUOTE=Max...;

As with many other riders back then though I'm sure I'm not alone in being happy to put my money up front with a sub if it helps you gain the confidence to go for it! [/QUOTE]

Hay, max.

Thanks for the vote of faith.

I have sought some quotes for printing costs. If print is an option form the outset, even for a very limited distribution then that would be the most beneficial outcome.

Glenn

[slimtim]

I'm an occasional lurker on STW

The mags I was talking about were Wideopen and Core Kitesurf mag. Wideopen is still fairly new and in my opinion is a bit long which links back to what I said about it should not be too wordy. I like what the guys are doing though and they put in a lot of effort.

With regards to online vs print. Perhaps the online version could be a flash interactive mag but then you could have links to a downloadable version in PDF format that is setup so you could print it on A3 or A4 paper and staple it into a mag yourself.

[GerryP]

Glenn,
Great idea that I would fully support.
Subscription upfront - yes worth punt
I've posted a couple of threads re mags etc so great to see this thing growing.
This must be the fastest growing thread in along time!
Best of luck - count me in as somebody who would buy it.
Gerry

[Nos4r2]

I'd buy it too.

If you want another writer, I'm up for it too

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by slimtim

With regards to online vs print. Perhaps the online version could be a flash interactive mag but then you could have links to a downloadable version in PDF format that is setup so you could print it on A3 or A4 paper and staple it into a mag yourself.

That's the way I'd go initially, to gauge response without committing to expensive production and distribution costs. You can host this type of thing online. It's produced in InDesign CS5. Has a nice feel to it.
http://landrover.tagworldwide.com/RR..._100_en_AU.php

[Poly]

To get me excited it would need to be a physical print product. Otherwise I can't see it having any advantage over RibNet or "Hotribs" or any other free to view site - and Ribnet is likely to me more immediate and interactive. It may have some form of e-book/on-line readership too for iPad or Kindle owners etc - but I think you'll struggle (in 2010) getting a significant number of people to pay for an on-line only product, or if you end up with advertising getting them to pay for content. I'm not necessarily suggesting you need a production run of 15,000 though - RI (note that is readership - circulation will be lower) only claims a readership of c.20k, and SB&R a circulation of around 12k.

[Cookee]

I already write for SB and RIB - but not exclusively - so if you need more input then just let me know what you're looking for, I do think that long term you will have to pay contributors though ..................

[slimtim]

An online one I think would have to be free at least to begin with, revenue will have to come from advertising. By getting the word out and building it's popularity you will increase the download count and so make it more valuable to potential advertisers. There are enough web developers lurking on here who I'm sure could whip up one of those flash based e-magazines quick enough.

I think there is a "market" for it along side the likes of RIBnet as many people do not want to trawl through thousands of posts to get the useful information. A magazine brings together some good bits all in one.

Cookee is right too, I'm happy to get involved to get things started but its not something I would do for free forever, especially if it turned into a publication that was making money. As you know Glenn, there is more work involved in producing photos than most people think!

[slimtim]

A few things that I think could go in the mag (based on what I think works in other boaty and non boaty magazines):

Gallery - just big photos with a few words on each.
Technical - contribution from designers, I'd love to see technical articles about naval architecture.
DIY - regular how to series detailing common maintenance and upgrade jobs.
Projects - full articles (or even series) detailing DIY builds and upgrades.
Tests - boat tests, engines and bit and bobs. Could even review commonly available second hand boats/engines.
Company profiles - factory tours, interviews with owners etc.
Tips - regular series providing advice for common issues.
Lauching sites - regular series detailing a different launch site each issue, this is definitely something that can be done with a power of the RIBnet.
Cruising - articles on both places to visit (hand in hand with above) and also articles on big trips people have done.
Adverts - both commercial and private boat ads.

Thats all I can think of right now.