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Has anyone recieved their January issue of Garden Railways? I got the December issue back in mid-November but haven't seen the new one yet.
January issue of Garden Railways
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3,912 Posts
Actually we are all awaiting the FEBRUARY issue. I figure that I'll receive mine about January 6th.
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Grrrr, thanks Gary and RJD, not sure why they missed me. I'd better give them a call. Marty... behave yourself or I'll tell Charles Ro never to talk to you again HAHA! ;-P
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Yep, got my months mixed up, now I see the light!
-Will
-Will
Many of you will just skip this post, but here goes anyway.
Speaking as someone who spent 40 years in the magazine business, the cover dates of monthly and bi-monthly magazines are advanced because it takes roughly a month or more to get a nationally circulated, newstand magazine written, proofed, laid out, and printed. This means that an issue put together in December, and labeled "December," would appear to be one month old by the time it reached the newstand in January. Therefore, everyone sets an advance date on the cover, which really gets confusing when you are working on 'em. I've never worked on one, but I suspect bi-monthlies such as GR, use the second month (i.e. February) rather than the first (January) to give ther magazine some additional shelf life. I guess the way to get around all of this is to just label each issue, "Number 1, number 2, " etc, but if you were just a casual reader who happened to pick up, say GR, for the first time, how would you know when it came out?
Kapish?!
Speaking as someone who spent 40 years in the magazine business, the cover dates of monthly and bi-monthly magazines are advanced because it takes roughly a month or more to get a nationally circulated, newstand magazine written, proofed, laid out, and printed. This means that an issue put together in December, and labeled "December," would appear to be one month old by the time it reached the newstand in January. Therefore, everyone sets an advance date on the cover, which really gets confusing when you are working on 'em. I've never worked on one, but I suspect bi-monthlies such as GR, use the second month (i.e. February) rather than the first (January) to give ther magazine some additional shelf life. I guess the way to get around all of this is to just label each issue, "Number 1, number 2, " etc, but if you were just a casual reader who happened to pick up, say GR, for the first time, how would you know when it came out?
Kapish?!
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5,578 Posts
Posted By joe rusz on 12/28/2008 9:22 PM
Many of you will just skip this post, but here goes anyway.
Speaking as someone who spent 40 years in the magazine business, the cover dates of monthly and bi-monthly magazines are advanced because it takes roughly a month or more to get a nationally circulated, newstand magazine written, proofed, laid out, and printed. This means that an issue put together in December, and labeled "December," would appear to be one month old by the time it reached the newstand in January. Therefore, everyone sets an advance date on the cover, which really gets confusing when you are working on 'em. I've never worked on one, but I suspect bi-monthlies such as GR, use the second month (i.e. February) rather than the first (January) to give ther magazine some additional shelf life. I guess the way to get around all of this is to just label each issue, "Number 1, number 2, " etc, but if you were just a casual reader who happened to pick up, say GR, for the first time, how would you know when it came out?
Kapish?!" src="http://www.mylargescale.com/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/smile.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" />
Well, not really....
If you are working on an issue that will hit the newstands in January, regardless of what month it is when you are working on it, why can you not just label it for "January", the month it hits the news stands. I can understand a subscriber receiving the issue a week or two earlier as a courtesy or perk for being one who supports the magazine as a subscriber, but I get some magazines in early November that are labeled for February! It appears that the publisher is assuming that the distribution will take a whole month more than it really does, AND they have decided to extend that "early issue courtesy" to the non-subscriber and then furthermore must meet the subscribers expectation of getting the magazine a month before the early issue will hit the news stands.
You can decide on the "theme" of the January issue in June, let writer contracts in July, receive submissions in August, layout in September, proof in October, print in November, ship/mail in December so the subscriber gets the magazine in mid to late December and the news stands put it out on January 1st. and the cover is labeled: "January", because you knew in June that is when the issue was to be on the news stands. If your distribution network is faster or slower than that, you can shift the critical dates as necessary to get the magazine to the news stands at the end of the month before the issue is to be made available and it can still have the correctt month name on the cover.
After all, newspapers don't label today's news stand issue with tomorrow's date and the home delivery issue does not have the day after tomorrow's date. If newspapers can do it, why can't magazines?
Many of you will just skip this post, but here goes anyway.
Speaking as someone who spent 40 years in the magazine business, the cover dates of monthly and bi-monthly magazines are advanced because it takes roughly a month or more to get a nationally circulated, newstand magazine written, proofed, laid out, and printed. This means that an issue put together in December, and labeled "December," would appear to be one month old by the time it reached the newstand in January. Therefore, everyone sets an advance date on the cover, which really gets confusing when you are working on 'em. I've never worked on one, but I suspect bi-monthlies such as GR, use the second month (i.e. February) rather than the first (January) to give ther magazine some additional shelf life. I guess the way to get around all of this is to just label each issue, "Number 1, number 2, " etc, but if you were just a casual reader who happened to pick up, say GR, for the first time, how would you know when it came out?
Kapish?!
" src="http://www.mylargescale.com/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/smile.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /> Well, not really....
If you are working on an issue that will hit the newstands in January, regardless of what month it is when you are working on it, why can you not just label it for "January", the month it hits the news stands. I can understand a subscriber receiving the issue a week or two earlier as a courtesy or perk for being one who supports the magazine as a subscriber, but I get some magazines in early November that are labeled for February! It appears that the publisher is assuming that the distribution will take a whole month more than it really does, AND they have decided to extend that "early issue courtesy" to the non-subscriber and then furthermore must meet the subscribers expectation of getting the magazine a month before the early issue will hit the news stands.
You can decide on the "theme" of the January issue in June, let writer contracts in July, receive submissions in August, layout in September, proof in October, print in November, ship/mail in December so the subscriber gets the magazine in mid to late December and the news stands put it out on January 1st. and the cover is labeled: "January", because you knew in June that is when the issue was to be on the news stands. If your distribution network is faster or slower than that, you can shift the critical dates as necessary to get the magazine to the news stands at the end of the month before the issue is to be made available and it can still have the correctt month name on the cover.
After all, newspapers don't label today's news stand issue with tomorrow's date and the home delivery issue does not have the day after tomorrow's date. If newspapers can do it, why can't magazines?
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thanks for the laff ... that sign is just great ........
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Guys,
There are a lot of goofie issues with magazines.. How about the quartley 1's, or the 10 month 1's, or the 9 month 1's.. How about the 1's that come out 3 times a year.. A friend got a 9 month 1 & wondered why his subscription ended in a month when he got no magazine..
BulletBob
There are a lot of goofie issues with magazines.. How about the quartley 1's, or the 10 month 1's, or the 9 month 1's.. How about the 1's that come out 3 times a year.. A friend got a 9 month 1 & wondered why his subscription ended in a month when he got no magazine..
BulletBob
C.T.
Dang it, now you're making me work harder than I wanted. OK, the process I explained relates to Road & Track, a car magazine where I worked for 30 years before semi-retiring. Although there are some evergreen items (stories that are not time sensitive) most of what we report on are new cars, products, and racing news. You can't plan an issue when the car hasn't been released yet. Nor can you say, in February, how so-and-so won the Indy 500, which was to take place three months later. We try to review new models as soon as we get our hands on them, but the process of putting the whole package together--with a relatively small staff--takes time.
One other factor which I didn't mention: most major magazines such as Road & Track and probably GR, are printed at a plant that's generally not near the homes of subscribers (unless you happen to live there). For example, R&T is printed Tennesse and the magazine is distributed from there to the rest of the country. This explains why some folks get their copy before others.
Newpapers are essentially printed right in their own back yard. The Long Beach Press Telegram, where my wife was managing editor, was once printed right below the newsroom, but since they were bought out by Media News a few years ago, all of the printing for the P/T and Media News other LA area papers is done in Valencia (where Magic Mountain is located). Presses roll probably around midnight, and the papers are then trucked to Long Beach where the carriers deliver them to your door. The process is pretty direct and immediate: news happens, story gets written (ASAP) typeset (kinda), printed and delivered. Distance from printing plant to the average subscriber's home is up to 60 miles.
Weekly news magazines like Time and Newsweek with huge a circulation base and deep pockets, print issues in several major cities (LA, New York, etc), so getting the publication into the readers' hands quickly is not a huge problem. Unfortunately, R&T and GR don't have those luxuries.
As for the date that's on the cover, I guess you could put anything on there. But when I guy wandering through O'Hare or Borders is looking for magazines, he/she wants to know that he is buying the latest issue.
Verstehen sie?
Dang it, now you're making me work harder than I wanted. OK, the process I explained relates to Road & Track, a car magazine where I worked for 30 years before semi-retiring. Although there are some evergreen items (stories that are not time sensitive) most of what we report on are new cars, products, and racing news. You can't plan an issue when the car hasn't been released yet. Nor can you say, in February, how so-and-so won the Indy 500, which was to take place three months later. We try to review new models as soon as we get our hands on them, but the process of putting the whole package together--with a relatively small staff--takes time.
One other factor which I didn't mention: most major magazines such as Road & Track and probably GR, are printed at a plant that's generally not near the homes of subscribers (unless you happen to live there). For example, R&T is printed Tennesse and the magazine is distributed from there to the rest of the country. This explains why some folks get their copy before others.
Newpapers are essentially printed right in their own back yard. The Long Beach Press Telegram, where my wife was managing editor, was once printed right below the newsroom, but since they were bought out by Media News a few years ago, all of the printing for the P/T and Media News other LA area papers is done in Valencia (where Magic Mountain is located). Presses roll probably around midnight, and the papers are then trucked to Long Beach where the carriers deliver them to your door. The process is pretty direct and immediate: news happens, story gets written (ASAP) typeset (kinda), printed and delivered. Distance from printing plant to the average subscriber's home is up to 60 miles.
Weekly news magazines like Time and Newsweek with huge a circulation base and deep pockets, print issues in several major cities (LA, New York, etc), so getting the publication into the readers' hands quickly is not a huge problem. Unfortunately, R&T and GR don't have those luxuries.
As for the date that's on the cover, I guess you could put anything on there. But when I guy wandering through O'Hare or Borders is looking for magazines, he/she wants to know that he is buying the latest issue.
Verstehen sie?
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2,852 Posts
Many "Technical" journal type periodicals have "Volume XXIV, Issue 2" or the like, because as "Joe" points out, "freshness" in this case does not matter.
But do you really want Newsweek from two weeks back?
Joe, I see you worked for R&T, I have a question for you via PM when I have more time if you do not mind (back to the Automobili Cyclops SpA days).....thanks!
But do you really want Newsweek from two weeks back?
Joe, I see you worked for R&T, I have a question for you via PM when I have more time if you do not mind (back to the Automobili Cyclops SpA days).....thanks!
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5,578 Posts
Posted By joe rusz on 12/29/2008 9:19 PM
C.T.
Dang it, now you're making me work harder than I wanted. OK, the process I explained relates to Road & Track, a car magazine where I worked for 30 years before semi-retiring. Although there are some evergreen items (stories that are not time sensitive) most of what we report on are new cars, products, and racing news. You can't plan an issue when the car hasn't been released yet. Nor can you say, in February, how so-and-so won the Indy 500, which was to take place three months later. We try to review new models as soon as we get our hands on them, but the process of putting the whole package together--with a relatively small staff--takes time.
One other factor which I didn't mention: most major magazines such as Road & Track and probably GR, are printed at a plant that's generally not near the homes of subscribers (unless you happen to live there). For example, R&T is printed Tennesse and the magazine is distributed from there to the rest of the country. This explains why some folks get their copy before others.
Newpapers are essentially printed right in their own back yard. The Long Beach Press Telegram, where my wife was managing editor, was once printed right below the newsroom, but since they were bought out by Media News a few years ago, all of the printing for the P/T and Media News other LA area papers is done in Valencia (where Magic Mountain is located). Presses roll probably around midnight, and the papers are then trucked to Long Beach where the carriers deliver them to your door. The process is pretty direct and immediate: news happens, story gets written (ASAP) typeset (kinda), printed and delivered. Distance from printing plant to the average subscriber's home is up to 60 miles.
Weekly news magazines like Time and Newsweek with huge a circulation base and deep pockets, print issues in several major cities (LA, New York, etc), so getting the publication into the readers' hands quickly is not a huge problem. Unfortunately, R&T and GR don't have those luxuries.
As for the date that's on the cover, I guess you could put anything on there. But when I guy wandering through O'Hare or Borders is looking for magazines, he/she wants to know that he is buying the latest issue.
Verstehen sie?
jIyajbe' (-- No I don't understand.)
Oh boy! I never been able to get someone to work harder than they wanted... I'm so proud.... uh-oh I'd better be careful, I might fall down ("Pride goeth before a fall", ya know!)
Anyway, I said that the situation may require one to shift critical dates. I could add that they should also know their process and how long it takes, whether it is hours, days, weeks or months and make allowances for it in knowning when the magazine is being delivered, and label it accordingly.
It is my experience that magazine issues delivered before, or in the early days of, one month tend to be labeled for the month yet 2 or 3 months into the future and that strikes me as being a bit silly AND a reflection on the intellegence of the publisher or the publsher's idea of MY intellegence. I would not trust a newspaper with the day after tomorrow's date on it... or I'd be looking mighty hard at the lottery numbers and stock quotes! (What was that TV show about the fellow that got "tomorrow's newspaper today" and went around changing events?)
As it is, if I am wandering though O'Hare or past a newstand someplace in January, I have no idea what issue is the "latest", it might be February, or maybe March, or even April... If I am seeking the "latest" news that the magazine covers I have to seach the rack for all issues and pick the newest date, but that is no guarantee that it is the "latest"... maybe that issue is sold out and the one I find is "last months" (even though it is labeled for "next month").
If I wish to refer to an old magazine to find something I have read, I have to say, "Let's see, I was reading it in January so it must have been in, hmmmm... the March or April issue."
To compound the questions of journalistic integrity that the confusing issue dates causes, I sometimes get notifications that my subscription will end with the March issue delivered in January. Doesn't that sound "silly" to you? It makes me question whether I am getting all the issues I paid for. It is bad enough to get renewal notices 9 or 10 months in advance... on a one year subscription!... but, I have gotten a renewal notice on a new subscription to a quarterly magazine BEFORE I ever got the first issue!... "Your subscription will end with the Winter issue to be delivered in July or August." What do the publishers think I do, leave the magazine in the plain brown wrapper until the Winter Solstice?
I'm sorry, if a newspaper can deliver today's paper with today's date then a magazine should be able to deliver this month's issue with this month's date on it... and just think, that all the confusion (you mentioned in your first post) with what issue you are working on would be reduced by, well, one or two months!
C.T.
Dang it, now you're making me work harder than I wanted. OK, the process I explained relates to Road & Track, a car magazine where I worked for 30 years before semi-retiring. Although there are some evergreen items (stories that are not time sensitive) most of what we report on are new cars, products, and racing news. You can't plan an issue when the car hasn't been released yet. Nor can you say, in February, how so-and-so won the Indy 500, which was to take place three months later. We try to review new models as soon as we get our hands on them, but the process of putting the whole package together--with a relatively small staff--takes time.
One other factor which I didn't mention: most major magazines such as Road & Track and probably GR, are printed at a plant that's generally not near the homes of subscribers (unless you happen to live there). For example, R&T is printed Tennesse and the magazine is distributed from there to the rest of the country. This explains why some folks get their copy before others.
Newpapers are essentially printed right in their own back yard. The Long Beach Press Telegram, where my wife was managing editor, was once printed right below the newsroom, but since they were bought out by Media News a few years ago, all of the printing for the P/T and Media News other LA area papers is done in Valencia (where Magic Mountain is located). Presses roll probably around midnight, and the papers are then trucked to Long Beach where the carriers deliver them to your door. The process is pretty direct and immediate: news happens, story gets written (ASAP) typeset (kinda), printed and delivered. Distance from printing plant to the average subscriber's home is up to 60 miles.
Weekly news magazines like Time and Newsweek with huge a circulation base and deep pockets, print issues in several major cities (LA, New York, etc), so getting the publication into the readers' hands quickly is not a huge problem. Unfortunately, R&T and GR don't have those luxuries.
As for the date that's on the cover, I guess you could put anything on there. But when I guy wandering through O'Hare or Borders is looking for magazines, he/she wants to know that he is buying the latest issue.
Verstehen sie?
jIyajbe' (-- No I don't understand.)
Oh boy! I never been able to get someone to work harder than they wanted... I'm so proud.... uh-oh I'd better be careful, I might fall down ("Pride goeth before a fall", ya know!)
Anyway, I said that the situation may require one to shift critical dates.
I could add that they should also know their process and how long it takes, whether it is hours, days, weeks or months and make allowances for it in knowning when the magazine is being delivered, and label it accordingly.It is my experience that magazine issues delivered before, or in the early days of, one month tend to be labeled for the month yet 2 or 3 months into the future and that strikes me as being a bit silly AND a reflection on the intellegence of the publisher or the publsher's idea of MY intellegence. I would not trust a newspaper with the day after tomorrow's date on it... or I'd be looking mighty hard at the lottery numbers and stock quotes! (What was that TV show about the fellow that got "tomorrow's newspaper today" and went around changing events?)
As it is, if I am wandering though O'Hare or past a newstand someplace in January, I have no idea what issue is the "latest", it might be February, or maybe March, or even April... If I am seeking the "latest" news that the magazine covers I have to seach the rack for all issues and pick the newest date, but that is no guarantee that it is the "latest"... maybe that issue is sold out and the one I find is "last months" (even though it is labeled for "next month").
If I wish to refer to an old magazine to find something I have read, I have to say, "Let's see, I was reading it in January so it must have been in, hmmmm... the March or April issue."
To compound the questions of journalistic integrity that the confusing issue dates causes, I sometimes get notifications that my subscription will end with the March issue delivered in January. Doesn't that sound "silly" to you? It makes me question whether I am getting all the issues I paid for. It is bad enough to get renewal notices 9 or 10 months in advance... on a one year subscription!... but, I have gotten a renewal notice on a new subscription to a quarterly magazine BEFORE I ever got the first issue!... "Your subscription will end with the Winter issue to be delivered in July or August." What do the publishers think I do, leave the magazine in the plain brown wrapper until the Winter Solstice?
I'm sorry, if a newspaper can deliver today's paper with today's date then a magazine should be able to deliver this month's issue with this month's date on it... and just think, that all the confusion (you mentioned in your first post) with what issue you are working on would be reduced by, well, one or two months!
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5,870 Posts
Only thing I can tell you about Magazines is..... When they miss thier deadline and are behind the 8 ball that is when the Press Breaks.
Then I get a call that starts
"The press is down, I have a job that takes three hours to print, It needs to be in the bindery in 30 minutes to meeet deadline which was yesterday."
" I will be there as soon as if put this one back together"
"We have been fighting this problem for three weeks."
"OH?"
"Didn't anyone call you?"
"No"
"Why Not?"
"I give up.....Why hot?"
Then I get a call that starts
"The press is down, I have a job that takes three hours to print, It needs to be in the bindery in 30 minutes to meeet deadline which was yesterday."
" I will be there as soon as if put this one back together"
"We have been fighting this problem for three weeks."
"OH?"
"Didn't anyone call you?"
"No"
"Why Not?"
"I give up.....Why hot?"
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49 Posts
Rec'd mine on Tuesday (today). Which prompts this observation. How long will it be fore Kalmbach follows the lead of other magazine publishers into the wilds of internet publishing? An increasing number of magazines I normally receive--some trade and some PC & electronics--are all disappearing in favor of a web site. Not sure I like the idea but the most current edition of GR suggests that a web site would have made many trees very happy because it is wasted tree pulp.
Bob
Bob
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1,738 Posts
I'm sorry, if a newspaper can deliver today's paper with today's date then a magazine should be able to deliver this month's issue with this month's date on it... and just think, that all the confusion (you mentioned in your first post) with what issue you are working on would be reduced by, well, one or two months!
I was gonna stay out of this, but....
I once was a technical writer until I found honest work. There's a HUGE difference between 'small' hobby magazines like GR and daily newspapers and big-circulation rags like Newsweek. (Though I hear Newsweek is laying off. Something about falling cirulation due to partisan news coverage, or somesuch). Mostly it is staffing. Or, more accurately, the number of staffers (bodies) to get the magazine out. Newsweek has no sweat: they can hire the pick of the yearly journalism crop for mailboys. I don't think MH has that option, over at GR.
Personally, I've never minded slipped delivery dates on 'niche' mags. I think if truth were told, many of 'em are a labor of love on the part of the editor & helpers--both of 'em. I doubt GR has their own printer, I bet they have to get in line at some job printer's to get their magazine out. Perhaps not, with the new technology.
I also can't understand why--besides the anticipation of getting the next month's issue--a hobbyist would be upset if his issue slipped in its printing date. To me, a late issue with excellent content is better than spot-on delivery with mediocre articles.
Another thing I've noticed is the lack of pulp mags, as used to exist in the 60s and 70s. Now, all are 'slicks', even the quarterly ones. That costs more, you realize. I've enjoyed reading my auction-buy of 70's era NMRA Bulletins, pulps every one, but full of good info. (Of course, a few typos, the occasional picture printed backwards, minor stuff I'd gladly put up with to save money and thus be able to buy more of them on different subjects). I don't recall ever seeing a typo in a GR, and I long ago developed the eye for that. I wrote before word processors.
It's human nature to complain. After all, it's free.
Les
I was gonna stay out of this, but....
I once was a technical writer until I found honest work. There's a HUGE difference between 'small' hobby magazines like GR and daily newspapers and big-circulation rags like Newsweek. (Though I hear Newsweek is laying off. Something about falling cirulation due to partisan news coverage, or somesuch). Mostly it is staffing. Or, more accurately, the number of staffers (bodies) to get the magazine out. Newsweek has no sweat: they can hire the pick of the yearly journalism crop for mailboys. I don't think MH has that option, over at GR.
Personally, I've never minded slipped delivery dates on 'niche' mags. I think if truth were told, many of 'em are a labor of love on the part of the editor & helpers--both of 'em. I doubt GR has their own printer, I bet they have to get in line at some job printer's to get their magazine out. Perhaps not, with the new technology.
I also can't understand why--besides the anticipation of getting the next month's issue--a hobbyist would be upset if his issue slipped in its printing date. To me, a late issue with excellent content is better than spot-on delivery with mediocre articles.
Another thing I've noticed is the lack of pulp mags, as used to exist in the 60s and 70s. Now, all are 'slicks', even the quarterly ones. That costs more, you realize. I've enjoyed reading my auction-buy of 70's era NMRA Bulletins, pulps every one, but full of good info. (Of course, a few typos, the occasional picture printed backwards, minor stuff I'd gladly put up with to save money and thus be able to buy more of them on different subjects). I don't recall ever seeing a typo in a GR, and I long ago developed the eye for that. I wrote before word processors.
It's human nature to complain. After all, it's free.
Les
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