Are Sailing Mags Dead?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by dpons

... read forums like this one, with it wild mix of generalizations, truth, idiocy, geniality, lethal ideas, priceless info and uninformed drivel.

At least you didn't specifically cite me by name.

[Intentional Drifter]

Originally Posted by dpons

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.

I especially enjoy the idiocy, lethal ideas and uninformed drivel.

ID

[Joli]

Here I thought I was helping them make a buck. Oh well.

Originally Posted by 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

[Joli]

It was probably me Gord.

Originally Posted by GordMay

At least you didn't specifically cite me by name.

[Healer52]

Originally Posted by Anzo

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

Yeah, pretty much. If I want to know something about a product, I go to the mfg's website. There don't seem to be a lot of new products to learn, but the various blogs and fora do a good job of keeping me up to date on them. They also introduce me to products and manufacturers that might not advertise in the US.

[Ishmael]

I agree with most of what's been said. Although I do still like to occasionally pick up one or another at a news stand, I have no more subscriptions. I just got my last issue of Soundings, and I'm hard-pressed to find any part of me that really cares. Web sites like this and blogs just seem much more current/dynamic.

I still really like Good Old Boat and as I get closer to buying my next boat, I'll probably start getting that again. Lat's & Att's has always been a fun read, but I've noticed both Bob Bitchin and Tania Aebi both seem to be struggling to find much else to write about - they practically admit it every month.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Not familiar with the US mags - but over here the principal boat mags (PBO / YM / YW) are waiting to see if the internet will catch on

Would be funny if it wasn't so sad to watch 40 years of brand loyalty be frittered away - when the existing paper based mags are / were in the pole position to make money via the web. Just need to accept a different business model - and not the Rupert Murdoch idea (charging for the info that folk can get elsewhere for free - and better ).

Electricity may have put a lot of (gas) lamp lighters out of a job / business - but the gas industry itself went from strength to strength. Same with the information / entertainment industry.

[Hydra]

The real "target" of many sailing magazines isn't yacht owners but those who *do not* own a yacht and dream of it. To these people, the magazines don't sell information but dream on glossy paper.

When one is looking for information, it can be found elsewhere, e. g. on this forum.

Alain

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by dpons

the reasons to pay money for something that only provides, at most, a good 30 minutes of reading get scarce.

Since many of the magazines are now either free or < $1 an issue, 30 minutes is plenty. I still get a few just to keep in the car to read in waiting rooms, etc. As long as they can continue to make a profit without charging much, I think they will do pretty well.

The few expensive magazines (PS, GOB) I think may have less of a future. GOB is my favorite, bug I cannot justify the price any more since similar information is available elsewhere for much cheaper. Over $7 an issue is a bitter pill to swallow. Practical Sailor is in a similar situation. Thesre are probably the best two magazines out there, but since they are so expensive I am not sure they can sustain their business model in the internet age.

This is pretty much they way of it for now - there is so much free crappy material available online, we are less willing to pay for things of quality. Lest you think I am a Luddite, I am 100% sure tha In the long run the quality of the material online will be far greater than anything ever put in a magazine. Just takes a while to get there.

[AnchorageGuy]

For over 15 years, Susan and I have been writing for Soundings, Southern Boating, Sail, Bluewater Sailing, Lats and Atts, Nor' Easter, MarinaLife Magazine, Living Aboard and Good Old Boat, plus a number of online sites. We find that getting articles published as written is getting more and more difficult and many of the large circulation magazines will only publish what their in house writers put together, so that is a loss for a fresh look or new perspective. There is a lot of information on line, some very good and some suspect. Many publications are now heavily slanted toward the high end boat market and have long ago decided for whatever reason to ignore the average boaters. Not all have gone this route and the few that have not are still worth reading and subscribing to and they will probably not only survive but prosper. I still enjoy reading a good book or magazine on a lazy rainy day aboard. And as a friend emailed me in a response to another posting somewhere about print being dead,"It is too difficult and too much trouble to drag the laptop into the head every morning". Chuck

[rgscpat]

There are a bunch of regional magazines and those to me seem a bit more interesting than the glossies -- even with a bunch of who won what race stuff. I think a lot of these regionals are going to an Internet distribution model, with many of them being mostly free to readers. Maybe someone can come up with a good list of all these regionals.

[mys]

I can identify new business opportunities here.

Now I just need the money, the writers, the printer, and the subscribers.

[speciald@ocens.]

Then buy an ipad. I read my online mags on my laptop but I read books on my Kindle.

[SaltyMonkey]

Honestly, as much as I like the iPad, the sailing magazine and book repertoire that is available is very lacking and small via apps - Kindle, Zinio, iBooks, or Barnes and Noble.

[SkiprJohn]

I think Waterwayguy has something there.

I don't see any fresh ideas in the Sail, CW or other high gloss mags. Practical Sailor lost me when they started evaluating sunglasses. Good Old Boat lost me when it became a family social mag.

I saved Sail and CW for 30 years and have gone through the old ones that had some great articles. Now I see new authors writing about the same things with the same ideas. I know it is not plagarism and I think it is just that the new authors are new to sailing and didn't know there were old articles out there.

I've pretty much given up on mag subscription.

regards,