Any questions about how magazines work?

[Schtauffer]

Re: Any questions about how magazines work?

I have always wondered about The Rodders Journal approach...The next release is their 15th anniversary edition, so it must be working.

Kinda' like comparing apples to black watermelons but....

Is The Rodders Journal a commercial success or just a break even labor of love?

I wonder if a Muscle Car Journal could work?

If you want meaty articles TRJ's got 'em...I assume then they pay Freelancers and Staffers some what better than the more mainstream buff books? Not counting peoples money, just a curiosity.

What is the biggest revenue source for TRJ...the minimal ads, subs, newsstand or merch?


Anybody here a regular reader or subscriber?

I get it. I like it because it has big pictures.

[38P]

Re: Any questions about how magazines work?

5. Why are magazine stories shorter than 30-40 years ago?

Well, I think everything is shorter than 30-40 years ago with respect to media stuff. If you pop open a copy of Hot Rod from 1965 you'll see lots of short one and two page car features, so that's not really a new thing, but I agree that tech stories and other stuff has shortened up. More cultural than anything I think. There are some exceptions though. For example when I was doing work for Drag Racing Action (up until a year ago when BS.com really started growing like a mother) I'd often write 2,000+ word car features for them. The "big books" use shorter stuff though, I agree.

Thanks Brian. Good insights from someone who's actually cashed checks from HRM!

My theory on reduced story length is: (a) magazines are more "graphic" now (i.e. more photos); (b) there's a perception that reader attention spans are shorter; (c) smaller staffs and reliance on freelancers has driven magazines to prefer shorter stories to cut costs; (d) more titles on the news stand and the internet have reduced the demand for the "big" magazines to do in-depth tech; (e) companies developing "tech" are more secretive and valid scientific testing remains expensive.

6. Which sells more magazines: in-depth tech or features?

In today's world? My opinion is features. The in-depth tech stuff is so much different than one would have found 30 years ago when it was about seeking out sweet factory parts at the junkyard and making them work with your combo. Now the tech stories are more about advancements being made by the aftermarket rather than the grass roots type of stuff they used to focus on. Again, audience shift (my opinion).

Maybe so. But as someone who probably subscribes to more than twenty automotive publications, I'm almost always drawn first to dyno tests and flowbench articles. Maybe it's just me. I also see a lot less coverage of basic and intermediate theory in current magazines.

8. How much influence do hot rodding magazines have with OEMs?

In the 1960's, lots. Hot Rod's test of the Tasca KR-8 Mustang is recognized as lighting the fuse for Ford to actually build those cars. Now? I think there is some influence within the halls of the "Racing" or "Performance" divisions of OEMs, but as far as influence on actual mainline production cars? I think it is small, mainly because they are too far in the shit to devote serious concern to us greasy, bloody knuckle, wrenchers.

I suspect that a lot of the reduction in influence is due to the shift to FWD, which has caused separation from mainstream and 'Racing' or 'Performance' divisions of OEMs, and the stagnation of much of the hobby in techological "dead ends" such as carburetion and pushrods. Also, on the styling side, there's just not as much groundbreaking custom work going on now as in times past. On the other hand, don't "greasy, bloody knuckle, wrenchers" still influence a lot of new car and part sales?

But, I think you're right about the niche influence. The GM CT525/Project G.R.E.E.N. stories running in "Circle Track" clearly seem to be geared toward both GM and certain elements in the racing/publishing community trying to influence each other.

9. Why are the "specials" (annuals, tech books, brand-specific anthologies) so much thinner than they were back in the Petersen days?

If the mags are thinner and those books are simply compilations of mag stories, than it's only natural.

Good point. But even retrospectives based on archival material are a lot shorter. For example, I've got a 100 Years of the Automobile special published by Petersen in 1985. It's almost twice as thick as anything IMAP, etc., published in the 1990s and 2000s. And it's not a collection of magazine reprints. Even as recently as the mid-90s, "Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords" produced a massive annual of reprints that dwarfs anything they're doing currently (and MMFF tends to run longer tech stories than some of the other magazines). (I think the the 1990s special was when MM&FF was a still CSK publication)

11. Other than tradition, why are so many car magazines still headquartered in hyper-expensive So Cal?

Buckaroo Communications made the move to Dayton, TN and it didn't help them much....

I don't think that Buckaroo ever had a competitive product. Not enough "bang for the buck." Also, news stand distribution seemed poor.

13. What car magazines, if any, do car magazine editors read for fun?

I'm not a car mag editor, but I read Car Craft, Hot Rod, Diesel Power, and Peterson's 4WOR. I had 12 subs a few years back. :P

Why did you cut back?

14. How do magazine editors pick which parts to feature in print from the hundreds of new parts shown at SEMA, PRI, etc.?

Again, not being a mag editor, but obviously someone who produces content, I grab the stuff that I think our readers would like. I get the same press releases those guys do and pass on lots of them because I don't think the typical BS.com reader is excited about new running boards for Jeeps or other junk like that.

I agree. But then I saw a lot of stuff at SEMA (and even on Bangshift) that I haven't seen written up (yet) in the big magazines. On the other hand, I had over 300 new product scans that I somehow lost in cyberspace . . . .

16. What is the best way to get a letter published in a magazine?

Write them a letter....pray they publish it.

Maybe so. I've had good luck writing provocative, concise letters and sending them almost immediately after receipt of the magazine I'm commenting on. Being a contrarian also helps. Of course DF did publish about 50% of a "verbose," name-dropping rant I sent him back in his CC editor days.

17. Why don't the big hot rodding magazines run classified ad sections any more? (I suspect the reason is that $30,000.00/page figure from earlier in the thread).

Craigslist, RacingJunk, eBay, club message boards, blogs, etc.

True enough. But the old HRM classified ads are sort of a time capsule as to what the hobby was like in times past. It just knocks you out to see a classified ad for a $4,900 Superbird, a $1,500 Deuce, or a $3,000 Boss. I don't think future generations will get to experience this. On the other hand, not all magazines have abandoned classified to cyberspace (e.g. Autoweek, Road and Track, Grassroots Motorsports).

21. Why do most non-automotive magazines (including ones with substantially less circulation than HRM) have so many more people listed on the masthead than most hot rodding magazines?

Examples? Maybe they generate far more ad revenue?

The best time to look is in the December issues when everybody has to publish the USPS circulation form. I don't have any examples handy at the moment, though. I'm wondering how magazines with less circ than HRM generate more ad revenue.

24. Considering how much readers seem to like meeting, greeting and conversing with "star" magazine editors, why don't the magazine companies encourage more high-profile public appearances at events, points-of-sale, on-line and in broadcasting?

There are less than a handful of people on staff at the car mags now. Knowing some of the guys personally, they barely have time to see their own families let alone travel like rock stars to shake hands and kiss babies. It ain't the old days any more.

And they're missing out on a potential "brand builder" here, in my opinion. Would anyone read BBC's "Top Gear" magazine but for the popularity of Clarkson, May and Hammond? Even forgotten old magazines like "Mechanix Illustrated" sold on the strength of celebrity writers like Tom McCahill.

Some of the "buff books" pump up the fame of their writers more than the hot rodding magazines (e.g. why is it that anyone's ever heard of Brock Yates, Jean Jennings, David E. Davis, or Pat Bedard?) It seems to me that a lot of the "grunt work" could be done by lesser staffers, and the finishing work by "stars." That's how they do it in academia, politics, and many corporate environments. That would free up more time for the "stars" to build the brand on-line and in person. But then the mags would have to invest in people. Moreover, "stars" would probably demand more compensation. So it probably boils down to money more than time.

[38P]

Re: Any questions about how magazines work?

my question,, is more on the stock of the mag. world..
IF THE FINAL COPY is sent to the printing house, in digital form(pdf, etc)
why not offer up the mag as a year end dvd. with all 12 issues on one or more..
it's already, in a form, thats ready for this form of media. And still wouldn't affect the print mag sales, as it be offered after the paper mag year had ended,,

And I'm wondering why somebody hasn't offered up all 60+ years of HRM in digital form. I recall they used to have it on microfilm in college (fun, fun).

And if I may, D/F . How about a 2011 power tour 8.0 . With 8 starting points,, that all end up in the center of the good old US OF A.. 3 starts from each coast and 2 fromt the top and bottom central local..
for a world of hot rod power tour.. it be huge, it be unmanagable once at the final stop.. BUT IT BE SO BITCH'N

That sounds like a cross between the old 1960s versions of the Monte Carlo Rally and the PowerTour. Didn't R&C's "Americruise" have multiple starting points?

But part of the Power Tour's attraction is the idea of traveling along with the HRM eds.

So I'm uncertain that multiple starting points would have the same impact because there aren't enough editors to go around. Besides, aren't they always complaining about the unwieldy logistics of it now. Multiply that time eight and who knows what would happen.

But you do allude to a good point that the Power Tour's regional focus leaves out parts of the country where the Tour doesn't go near in a given year.

[38P]

Re: Any questions about how magazines work?

I have always wondered about The Rodders Journal approach...The next release is their 15th anniversary edition, so it must be working.

Kinda' like comparing apples to black watermelons but....

Is The Rodders Journal a commercial success or just a break even labor of love?

I wonder if a Muscle Car Journal could work?

If you want meaty articles TRJ's got 'em...I assume then they pay Freelancers and Staffers some what better than the more mainstream buff books? Not counting peoples money, just a curiosity.

What is the biggest revenue source for TRJ...the minimal ads, subs, newsstand or merch?


Anybody here a regular reader or subscriber?

I get it. I like it because it has big pictures.

TRJ is one of the few magazines I'd display for my non-gearhead friends. Its circ must be tiny. But it certainly is elegant . . . almost in an "Automotive Quarterly" (RIP) kind of way.

As a boutique quarterly, it probably has a vastly different business model from monthly books.