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Autumn Aeroplane Magazine

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Autumn Aeroplane Magazine

Old 13th Aug 2014, 16:17
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Actually I would suggest that we're probably at a fairly high point in specialist publishing. If one takes a look at the numbers, quality and variety of books, magazines and booklets that are available, I don't think there's been a better time. From a reader's viewpoint I think we're at a good stage. One only has to pick-up a book from maybe thirty years ago to see how much better most material now is by comparison (I'm generalising here of course, as there are exceptions).

The problem is for the publisher, as I've explained previously. In the book world, specialist publications do quite well now because they can be produced in small quantities (maybe only a thousand or less in many cases) by small companies - often no more than one-man concerns. They rely on authors who are often retired pilots, industry men, etc., who are happy to write material almost as a hobby, so they don't really care if they only make a few bob for their troubles. This enables these little publishers to survive.

It's nice for readers while the bubble doesn't burst, but one has to wonder what will happen when all these authors have either died, or have written their once-only "tour de force" and have nothing more to offer. What happens then? There is no other source of new material. Worse still, all the professional aerospace authors will all have gone, as they can't survive by writing for specialist publishers who can only pay them peanuts.

Similar things are happening with magazines. Things are okay at the moment, but the respected, professional writers are slowly disappearing (many are already long gone) because they have to make a living, and they simply can't do this by writing for magazine and book publishers any more. Consequently there is undoubtedly a gradual "dumbing-down" of material, and it's a trend that seems difficult (if not impossible) to reverse.

In some respects the rise of the internet has been quite poisonous - and its effects will become even more evident as the years go by. It's just that at present most people see only the benefits.
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Old 14th Aug 2014, 02:29
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In some respects the rise of the internet has been quite poisonous - and its effects will become even more evident as the years go by. It's just that at present most people see only the benefits.
I really do NOT want to sound like one of those think-positive business gurus, but being negative about the net really will spell doom for magazine activity. For good and ill, the internet is the biggest revolution in text delivery since printing with movable type, and it's not going away. Magazine-type operations that want to survive are just going to have to take account of it, and the biggest problem, of course, is getting paid.

As an outsider, but with an interest in publishing, I can see some opportunities. You could probably keep a magazinoid going for a long time on filling in the gaps/errors in Wikipedia. E.g., the Rolls Royce Dart is one of the great aero engines, but the W. article, the last time I looked, is pathetic.

Perhaps also publishing freedoms: how much is it an advantage, how much a cost, to be stuck to a monthly publication date? Is that necessary with on-line publication? Magazines are normally thought of as ephemera--to keep back copies is a special act. But the internet makes us think again about ephemerality, and selling the back catalogue. Paywalls are doubtful, but subscriptions through iTunes, Amazon and so on might work, would allow people to read on their devices (on public transport, for instance) which is probably what they want to do, and might fit in best with existing magazine practice.

I really lament the decline of all those good magazines (in various areas) I remember from my youth, and which have been done in by a combination of profit-maximization and the net; they'll never come back in paper, in the same way, but I'd really like to see a way of keeping what was good about them going. And what they really had that was better than now was largely due to editing.

Good luck.
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Old 14th Aug 2014, 07:11
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I wouldn't disagree with any of your comments. It's really a question of whether one looks at the subject from a reader's viewpoint, or from a publisher's viewpoint. As a reader and enthusiast I'm always grateful for the internet. As an author/editor, I know only too well that the internet (and the rise of "desktop publishing") will ultimately destroy aerospace print publishing. It's already done a pretty good job in that respect.

The simple fact is that all of the internet-based media seem to work very well, but they don't match the commercial success of print media. Conversely, print media no longer enjoys the commercial success that it once did. There doesn't seem to be any realistic prospect of print media ever enjoying the same commercial success through the internet. It just hasn't happened and shows no sign of ever happening. It's just the way it is.
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Old 14th Aug 2014, 11:46
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I used to buy AM occasionally, then after buying a straight run 2nd-hand from issue #1 to 1999 bought every issue till the end of 2010 to 'complete the set' ( about the time I started writing the odd aviation article myself)
Proper books seem much better value than magazines (and these 'specials' on the mag shelves), and there is more price discounting and genuine bargains with books.....I prefer to find photos on the internet, litho paper photo reproduction is inferior....I do prefer to read large panels of text on paper rather than as webpages/ PDFs
The Aviation Historian sounds OK but I can't afford it on my pension.
Wikipedia is potentially a brilliant evolutionary concept but I would say it will always take just one person to steam in and completely rewrite a whole page to give it any shape, style or tolerability instead of an amorphous mess of neurotically plagiaristic references and quotes [and gross errors :-) ]

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Old 14th Aug 2014, 18:39
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WH904,
A good post but I, for one, am not so sure that the 'net' will destroy aerospace print publishing.
Of course it will never be as it was in its heyday but I do feel a profitable symbiotic relationship is possible.

Our publisher used to stress upon us that the three key words to survival in a changing environment were... 'Adapt, Adapt and Adapt' - and if that means getting into bed with the opposition, then so be it.

Interesting times indeed - but that doesn't mean we have to 'strike our colours' in panic. As with water, things will find their own level and a proper balance will be arrived at.
With good people like yourself in the 'wheelhouse', I'm confident that will come about without having to unduly compromise standards.

Cheers.
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Old 14th Aug 2014, 22:13
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Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. (Well, not quite.)

A good thread, and I basically agree with everyone....

I was just sat here thinking about;-
1) The web, and...
2) Spending patterns.

1) As far as the web is concerned;- It's a Godsend for an area of arcane interest. Thanks to the web I've tracked-down more information than I would if I'd have camped-out in the PRO 24/7 for several years.
Added to that, I've tracked down a mountain of parts that twenty years ago I frankly never thought I'd ever even clap eyes on. A lifetime spent at car-boot sales would never have yielded these results. Even Wikipedia, for all it's faults (Some of the supposed 'expert editors on there are complete ijits!) is a handy quick reference to suggest lines of further enquiry.

2) Spending patterns;- I try not to spend too much on printed material, but just recently I had to search-out a forty-year old book. Even s/h ex-libris, it cost me £40.00 plus postage. It didn't disappoint either. On the other hand, I recently spent almost as much on a new reference work, (No names no pack-drill.), by a well known author, and it was tosh. Riddled with errors. I suppose what I'm saying effectively is that folks will spend - if they can justify it.
Several years ago, desperate to reduce the amount to pack and move, I dumped a huge number of magazines down at the tip. In trying to decide what to keep, the criteria was simple....which were topical, so out of date, and which held more reference material - which would be unlikely to date. Here we get back to quality again. I'm loathe to spend on stuff that is more likely to go to the tip.

I don't share WH904's pessimism, but am cautiously optimistic. There is no way that we are on some sort of journalistic high. The preservation scene itself is doing very well. Yes the mags are glossy and technically brilliant, and yes, they are rather dumbed-down. Therein-perhaps lies the biggest danger - that they morph into some kind of red-top tabloid equivalent in a downwards race. Do I think that will happen? No. Commercial pressures will tend to push them back towards their prime market. Natural-Selection - thankfully...!

As far as the writers are concerned - I don't think there was ever any real money in it. Most people did - and do write for this market out of interest and a sense of duty to history in some cases. Same-old same-old. If people really want to make money from writing, it's got to be sex, scandal or a craze, but certainly not aviation....! I suppose a book on NATO camouflage might have been entitled 'Fifty Shades of Grey' though.....!

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Old 15th Aug 2014, 10:51
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One further thought, starting from Wikipedia as an obvious example. In some areas, it's very good, in others bad; the bad bits could be brought up to a decent standard. But the crowd-sourcing model will never get one thing: the coherent, consistent approach and style you get from an editor.

Two things in particular:

1. Consistency of approach and level. Some Wikipedia articles, in areas I know about, are excellent. Others reprint the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. But in anything mathematical, they are useless to me, because the introduction gives a verbal description of the formal kind you'd get in a textbook, and then it's straight into deriving the equations. Technically it may be very good, but useless for someone innumerate, but trying to grasp what can be grasped of the ideas in a general way. An editor would ensure that all articles have at least a reference to what can be said to the ignorant seeking clues, as well as technical discussions.

2. Point of view. Crowd-sourcing tends to either a neutral pov which stops a lot of things being really discussed, or produces really quirky or extreme irrelevances (I think of a site I've seen a couple of times: an invaluable resource on German motorcycles, but consumed with hatred for the Brits).

What would make an internet publication stand out is a consistent tone, and a reasoned set of opinions/judgements (though not too intrusive), and this could be done by rather a small team responsible for putting the thing together. Hard to make much money on the net, but perhaps not too much money is needed, as it would only have to support the full-time editorial team: as people say, nobody has expected to make a living writing for special interest mags.

And perhaps it would be possible to try parallel print and online publication, as a way of testing the water. I can remember when I spent a lot of time in magazine sections of big newsagents (good grief, that seems a long time ago), but to be honest I wouldn't seek out a print copy of Aeroplane now: but I might quite well risk an online subscription.
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Old 17th Aug 2014, 13:32
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WH904,
Thank you for this information.
As my current subscription runs out in November I look forward to the coming issues with much interest.
Good luck! and fingers crossed.
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Old 18th Aug 2014, 12:35
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I'm a newbie on the forum, although I've kept an eye on it from outside for many years.

First thing to say is, the comments especially in the first and third posts on this thread are very flattering (and indeed are the main reason I decided to jump in and join the discussion)!

Beyond that, there are some very interesting views about how the internet is killing the print magazine industry. To a large extent they're absolutely right, but the full picture is actually more complicated.

The internet can be a superb source of information, but magazines have an advantage in that they "curate" material and present it to the reader as a package of "concentrated goodness" — i.e. a quality magazine or journal will (a) save the consumer time because he/she will not have to trawl through multiple online sources for information and will (b) provide information that has been filtered through an editorial team and can therefore expected to be accurate and trustworthy. One of the biggest questions we should all ask ourselves when looking at apparently factual information on websites is, "can I trust this?".

The main threat to magazines from the internet is not so much that the internet can provide the same information for free (there's lots of info, especially historical material, that is not on the internet and is never likely to be), but that the internet competes with magazines for people's time and attention. The same can be said of the proliferation of TV channels — in the days when in the UK we only had four channels, we probably had a lot more time to read magazines.

On the upside for magazines/journals, the internet is a godsend in that specialist titles can reach far into special-interest communities without having to spend a fortune on advertising — if enthusiasts all round the world can find us by Googling etc, we can get our message out there much more efficiently, quickly and cheaply, which is an enormous aid to the growth and survival of such titles.

So the internet is killing some magazines, but for specialist niche titles it is usually doing much more good than harm.

I hope the above ramblings might offer a fresh perspective!
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Old 18th Aug 2014, 15:05
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Well, when I started this thread I never thought it would elicit such a response, however I have found it all very interesting.
Does anyone have a rough idea of circulation figures for AM,FP and AH?
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Old 26th Aug 2014, 08:41
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I still take AM and FP but most of the news I find on the internet . Biggest loss to me was Air Enthusiast journal,full of interesting stuff,Spanish Air Force He111s,etc.
I had to give all my FP to the local museum too much space. However I have retained the early AM full of interesting articles. I do not give" Flight" a look as the archive is on line. I subscribe to "Propliner" quality articles and photos.
I just wonder where we will be in 5 years time as so much is instant on the web.
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Old 26th Aug 2014, 09:06
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Yes, there's no doubt about it, the monthly magazines have a hard time keeping up with the internet when it comes to news — with the odd exception of carefully-hoarded exclusives, with which they still have considerable success thanks to their hard-won contacts. But for historical articles, although there is a lot on the net, there is an awful lot which is unlikely ever to appear there in the same depth or quality. I can certainly recommend the new(ish) quarterly The Aviation Historian for that, although I must declare an interest!
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Old 26th Aug 2014, 10:49
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I subscribed to both AM and FP for years until a few years back when I realised that AM new subscribers were being given deals that loyal long time subscribers were not getting on renewal. I wrote and voiced my dissatisfaction and said I wouldn't renew again next time if they repeated this policy. They repeated it so I didn't renew and haven't glanced at a copy since. Maybe that coincided with the change in editor, I can't remember, but I suppose that policy wasn't an editor's remit.

I like FP and couldn't tell you for how many years I have been a subscriber. The quality of the magazine IMHO is superb. I admit I don't read every article - for instance I might not read an article about historical Japanese or Russian aircraft - but that is because of my personal aviation interests rather than poor articles. Everyone has their niche interests so it's difficult to cater for all tastes.

I do agree with John Eacott though - as a retired helicopter pilot I'd like to see more articles on rotary aviation....but again it's a niche interest and early helicopters, or even relatively modern ones, cannot compete with the beauty of a Spitfire, Lancaster, Canberra, Sabre, Hunter, Gnat, Lightning and their like.
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Old 26th Aug 2014, 13:26
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Democritus, Total agreement yes more articles on early helicopters like the S-51,Skeeter,Sycamore and the Cierva Air Horse.
The beauty of Facebook is that I'am seeing USAAF 8TH AF photos that have never been published from private sources as it is so easy to place them on there instead of using Photobucket ,etc
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Old 28th Aug 2014, 00:24
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As someone that has once (or twice) worked in the industry....


Lets hope the current tour by VeRA kicks of more interest within a new generation.

I hear on the old birdy network that there maybe trouble ahead


V1
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Old 28th Aug 2014, 08:37
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Why Autumn?

Could somebody please explain why a Monthly magazine, such as is the case with AM, occasionally over the last year or so has lapsed in to titling itself by season?
For example July 2013 ( Summer), December 2013 ( Winter), June 2014 ( Summer) and now September 2014 ( Autumn) .

I wondered when it first happened if it was a portent of future events.
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Old 28th Aug 2014, 18:38
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Haraka

Jets went the same way about 2 years ago, although I broadly know what the other magazines the company does are, I suspect resorting to printing it on lower quality paper has effectively put the nail in the coffin??

I haven't even bothered to look at it for at least a year, as even if they have a good article with stunning pics that have never seen the light of day, its pointless as even Andrex is better quality paper

V1
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Old 29th Aug 2014, 05:12
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Some years back, it was decided that a magazine titled "Australian Women's Weekly" would be published only monthly.
The title of the mag remained unchanged, though.


I suspect that was because changing the name to - "Australian Women's Monthly" might have caused a few titters.
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Old 29th Aug 2014, 05:38
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Smile Newspaper

Back in the mid to late sixties I used to buy what looked like a newspaper with about twelve pages in black&white which I think was called "Aeroplane monthly"?It was very informative ,was it the forerunner of the"Aeroplane" magazine?
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Old 29th Aug 2014, 08:04
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...but an 'Australian Women's Monthly' magazine could still be registered by post as a periodical.

'Aeroplane' published my letter some years ago now requesting information regarding an antique aircraft restoration (de Havilland) that I was starting. It achieved a very satisfactory result in regard to obtaining a very rare instrument panel for the project.

I am forever grateful to the magazine, I often still buy it and have kept many back-issues.

Last edited by Captain Dart; 29th Aug 2014 at 09:26. Reason: Bloody iPad.
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