Are Sailing Mags Dead?

[Charlie]

I used to subscribe to three different sailing magazines and pick up a fourth for free. I'm down to two magazines and am not sure I will re subscribe. The free one which wasn't glossy I used to read because it was at least a month ahead of time on the glossy magazines. Now with this forum even the non glossy seems to be behind the times. I get links to local tv stories and such. I like reading magazines I like turning the pages etc. Do you think magazines are dead dying or just going to shrink?

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Charlie

I used to subscribe to three different sailing magazines and pick up a fourth for free. I'm down to two magazines and am not sure I will re subscribe. The free one which wasn't glossy I used to read because it was at least a month ahead of time on the glossy magazines. Now with this forum even the non glossy seems to be behind the times. I get links to local tv stories and such. I like reading magazines I like turning the pages etc. Do you think magazines are dead dying or just going to shrink?

I don't subscribe to any right now but I still see most of the old standbys (Cruising World, Sail & Sailing) on the news stands. What's missing?

And I picked up a copy of YachtWorld at the airport the other day ... from the looks of it, they must be doing fine!

[dpons]

I do think they are dying, and it's a well deserved death. With the probable exception of GOB, they pander to advertisers in a way that castrates their content. In other words, you can't trust their articles.

If you add to that the fact that most mags are over-edited and most articles seem written by the same soulless drone, the reasons to pay money for something that only provides, at most, a good 30 minutes of reading get scarce.

Compared to that, it's refreshing to read forums like this one, with it wild mix of generalizations, truth, idiocy, geniality, lethal ideas, priceless info and uninformed drivel.

[Drew13440]

I would add to dpons' perspective that in economic downturns, corporate advertising budgets often take hard hits which in turn hits magazines and newspapers. But both are like restaurants, one dies another pops up around the corner. The mags will always be around in some fashion. Curling up in bed with a computer just isn't the same.

[Joli]

I like the e-mags. One of my favorites is pro boat builder, good stuff.

[rebel heart]

I read The Log; everything else is 60% ads / 20% garbage / 20% content I care about.

[Anzo]

I subscribe to Lats & Atts and sometimes look at DIY and Good Old Boat. The rest seem to be expensive ads for Oysters.

[SaltyMonkey]

I'd like to know some more sources. Pro Boat Builder and the Log are new to me. Thanks for the advice. I usually read the old standards - Cruising World (which I used to think was trash and has become utter garbage), water sailing">Blue Water Sailing, Good Old Boat, Latitude and Attitude, Ocean Navigator (when I could find it) and occasionally Wooden Boat. Other rags: Latitude 38, and Soundings.

Cruising world and Blue Water Sailing I subscribe using Zinio and read it on my iPad. Think that's the way they are going. Amazon Kindle has options.

But yes, magazine are not very informative. The articles are watered down and so short on subject to the point of being useless. They are afraid to say anything because of liability issues. They are fearful of costs when an article is 2000 words or more. I only buy them mostly to stay abreast of who the key vendors are in the market place.

Also, who buys all these boats on the market? There are TONS of new and used boats, not to mention the new ones advertised by manufacturers. Not exactly a base life good. Baffling some of the asking prices.

[Joli]

I also like this one:

Ocean Navigator | The magazine for long-distance offshore sailing and power voyaging

Here is pbb:

Professional BoatBuilder magazine

I gotta believe the e-mags win through readership. The more clicks the more $ and the higher the add revenue. They win, the advertiser wins, we win. Hard to beat that.

[SaltyMonkey]

You need a LOT of clicks to make a profit. Banner ad's are pretty much bogus unless you have millions of participants.

[Joli]

I'm helping; clickclickclick.......

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

You need a LOT of clicks to make a profit. Banner ad's are pretty much bogus unless you have millions of participants.

[SaltyMonkey]

That's no good Joli. They have your IP, keep track of patterns etc. Multi clickers are counted once. I'm in the biz

[speciald@ocens.]

If they would sell online subsriptions like Passagemaker, it might help.

[Bash]

Although I don't write for the sailing press, I've been writing magazine articles about once a year, including one this summer, and have grown increasingly unhappy with how the editing process is going, even in the better mags. Content takes a back seat to layout, and editors are terrified of including material that might actually challenge readers intellectually. It used to be that the driving force behind editorial decisions was a concrete editorial vision--now it's more a function of the marketing plan.

If magazines aren't around ten years from now, it will be their own fault.

[JiffyLube]

I've bought different boating magazines over the years, but I've only subscribed to Practical Sailor. Like mentioned the over abundance of ads turned me off from subscribing to them. It reminds me of cable TV where I have to pay a monthly fee to the cable company, where ads consume a fairly large chunk of viewing time. The lone magazine that I do subscribe to has an online version, but I prefer to actually hold the material I'm reading.