alexgforce Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 I would also like to post this poll in order to get feedback from people regarding to what they would expect from a magazine in terms of content ads and price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Hi, Alex, I think you mean a topic because I don't see a poll ;) Here it goes: - the magazine must have a goal, for example: info for only freecarvers or also attention to competitionsport? or both? - new products (boots, boards, clothing and so on) - ridingtechniques and styles - wintersport area tips with the best groomers/pists to carve on - trainingexercises/tips on the pist and on dryland - travelstories - ridingprofiles - how to tune, repair, wax, and so on your board, tips - of course beautiful (carve) pictures - eventcalendar (hard time to cover all freecarve events) - may be a website - manufacturerinterview, how to make a board, binding, clothing, boots, helmets etc. - advertisement of course, the magazine must be paid/produced - some attention to nature/environment - some attention to safetyrules, where are possibilities for alpinecourses Edit: okay poll is appearing, wasn't there when I was typing. Price: I think this is a tough one. The first thing you want to know is how to reach your readers, how many and who. How thick and interesting must the magazine be. I think a full coloured magazine with a nice outline (I like dark colours). I think I will pay 15 Euros for it. And if it will be very interesting but the magazine must then have a real contribution to the sport with some 'depth' in it I will certainly pay EUR 25.-- for it ( the magazine must be a keeper then, not to read it and to throw it away). What about adds: hard to tell, the magazine articles must be of a high standard and then I will pay the price. In a thick well written magazine the adds must have a balance. I think a good balance will be 30/40% of adds not more. If the adds are interesting enough and are only alpinesnowboarding/traveling related I think that wouldn't be a problem. So no vote from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgforce Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Thanks for the feedback Hans. Most of the stuff you mentioned above in terms of contents are under consideration and will be included. The quality of the publication is our first priority even if it means spending more and we definitely want to produce something that people will keep. We are just trying to find an acceptable balance between ads and end user price. I think that most of the community understands that we are not looking at this as a way to make money but an oportunity to create something that will express our community. There would be ways to make something profitable in the form of a journal or newspaper but this is not our intention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 It depends on how often the magazine is published. Once a year? $30. Four times a year? $10 each. IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transistor Rhythm Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 It would be great if there was such an amount of money to be made for manufacturers in this sport the magazine would have 50% of advertisements, so I voted for that. It would be a clear sign to the world about the future of alpine. However I would say it shouldn't be used to make the magazine cheaper, but just to increase the quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 How many cookies to a Euro? Does that mean no more drachma in Greece? I picked 10 percent. I actually would like to see if there could be more, I wouldn't mind looking at carve gear ads but not at the 50% level compared to content. Good luck with everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 frequency the snowboarders journal http://www.frqncy.com/ truly epic publication 4x a year shipped to Canada from the states +/- 100$ national geographic photo quality and paper stock made me stop buying most other snowboard mags 100 pages, 10 ads....WOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffV Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 It depends on how often the magazine is published. Once a year? $30. Four times a year? $10 each. IMO. +1, if its once a year I'd spend $30, but if published several times a year $30 would be pretty steep per issue. I'd like to see coverage across the continent. Articles/interviews with riders, product, riding style etc in Asia, Europe, East vs. West Coast, Canada, etc. I'm not interested in subscribing to a mag that is focused on producing content specific to one region. I would want hear about the carving scene in other regions as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 If I'm going to pay $30 for a single issue it's needs to be the Highest quality and packed with more than just carving photos, a prized "coffee table" book. I could deal with 40% ads if they are all related to carving, no double page booze or auto, that makes it a throw away to me. I like the Idea of a pre/mid/post season edition, or maybe a northern/southern hemisphrere winter/summer editions. A teaser website would make it easy to order and spread the word. Thank for your efforts to bring carving mainstream:biggthump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinecure Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 If its a carving specific mag, the ads are going to be cool. Bring 'em on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyTKDsquirrel Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 ^what he said^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyTKDsquirrel Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Do you have an approx. price for a mag with 30% ads? A 10 to 50 percent jump is pretty big. But as mentioned, if the ads are carving related, they'll be interesting and may get some noteworthy products circulating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 thats a good question: TSJ was published quarterly...now after almost twenty years and success its 6 times a year....4 issues per year seems a great thing no? Alex: You could try contact Steve Pezman, publisher of the surfer's journal. Another guy closer is gibus de soultrait, who manages the french version of TSJ from Biarritz. I think those guy's advice would be interesting in your process..worth asking them a few questions ( especially in that ad vs end price ratio). Historically TSJ was sold only on subscription, then a few selected shops, then more shops, then regular news mag shops etc....now u can find the french version in almost every train station in france ( its about 15 euros for less than 7 ads if i recall) Nils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpio Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Having worked in the magazine business myself for a few years and involved in the ad sales side of it, the price of it depends on a few factors. First, the costs to produce the magazine are fixed. You print x copies with x amount of pages on certain stock, with a specific trim size, different finish etc. Assuming this is a large job, it will be shipped and priced by weight so that's fixed. I'm not sure what the frequency is you plan to publish but for the most part, you can project your operating expense for the year. Oh, there's also the costs for the editorial contributions, photography, layout etc. Not sure if you do it or hire someone to do that. either way, that's predictable. not sure if you have administrative costs like sales people to pay for selling advertising and commissions but that's something you'll factor in. you should have a good idea of what break even is from the beginning. The advertising that you plan to sell for it should cover that cost if not more. The revenue you generate from the people who purchase will probably be minimal in comparison to the ads you sell. If you're doing this for profit, sell as many ads as you need to, esp to survive which is difficult in the magazine print industry. Publications are folding left and right because ad sales is down. that's the bread and butter right there. Someone mentioned the snowboard journal below. Great mag, not a lot of ads. Went out of business because it couldn't sustain. Ads were too expensive or not enough to keep it afloat. It was also a pricey magazine if I remember. The quality of the magazine made it expensive to produce. It had a small circulation and as an advertiser, it may prevent them from buying into it due to the small readership. I'd buy it just because but if you want to keep it going long term, treat it like a business for profit because your "enthusiasm" and love of alpine sure won't pay the bills to print it. You'll know what a fair price is when you crunch the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pushee Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 I think you can find a mix somewhere above 10% that will be acceptable to most. I think that 20%-30% is reasonable. I scanned through a recent copy of Gun Dog to see what their mix is. The total magazine was 84 pages (covers included). I counted roughly 37 pages of ads (where ads and copy were mixed on a page, I estimated the page fraction that was ad). This is over 40% ads, but I don't find it excessive because 16 pages of ads were in a section (Trading Post) at the back of the magazine. This section was a collection of small ads arranged by topic something like classifieds in a newspaper. The pages of the Trading Post section were all outlined with a colored band so that the reader can go directly to it if looking for something, or skip it if not interested. Removing the Trading Post section from consideration leaves about 30% ad content. I find that ads can provide useful information to me, the reader. They can make me aware of new product innovations that I might find useful. In your magazine, ads could help make subscribers aware of products/services that they didn't know existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvingchef Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 i didn't vote because personally i don't care what the percentage of advertising is as long as there is enough reading material, let me explain what i'm talking about let's say the magazine has 40 pages, 8 pages are for advertising and 32 pages for articles, photos, etc. that would be 20 % advertising now let's say the same magazine has 64 pages and 32 pages are for advertising, now the advertising makes up 50 % of the magazine but it didn't take away any reading materials because you still have 32 pages for articles, photos, etc if more advertising would keep the price down and the magazine in business i'm all for it, if you get distracted by too much advertising you probably were not that interested in the reading material to begin with just my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjulezD Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 thats a good question: TSJ was published quarterly...now after almost twenty years and success its 6 times a year....4 issues per year seems a great thing no?Alex: You could try contact Steve Pezman, publisher of the surfer's journal. Another guy closer is gibus de soultrait, who manages the french version of TSJ from Biarritz. I think those guy's advice would be interesting in your process..worth asking them a few questions ( especially in that ad vs end price ratio). Historically TSJ was sold only on subscription, then a few selected shops, then more shops, then regular news mag shops etc....now u can find the french version in almost every train station in france ( its about 15 euros for less than 7 ads if i recall) Nils That's a good reference indeed. Surf sessions, which is also published by the same guys, has been on the market for more than 15 years in France. They have a good recipe. Now, the comparison also brings back the issue of editorial angle, because a good number of people who buy that magazine don't surf. They buy it for the dream/cool factor and the nice pictures. A bit like big motors magazines, not all their readers own a S8 or a boxster... In this context also, ads must be thought out in terms of content. 30% of porn board pictures would be way better than 10% of bud ads ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 I didn't vote in the poll becase i think whatever amount of advertising it takes to get it going Alex, would be just fine with me. Norman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shrederjen Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 More pics and articles, less ads.... This is worth $20 to me! It looks like a winner Alex! PS....I am enjoying the "Month of May" at work and at home!!! (my guys at work think I'm nuts when I wave at you, on the work calendar) Cheers, Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.