This a thread that has obviously sparked my interest, as I am sure it has sparked DaveM’s from Classic Wings as well. I am going to step out on the limb here and give some comments from the other side of the fence. Please forgive my indulgence.
I am no expert on the magazine publishing business, I started Warbird Digest literally on a whim, but I believe my thoughts on the internet’s affect on the publishing business are proven true by some of the comments on this board. When I started WD, I was convinced that the news end of business was not going to be where we should put our focus. Instead we chose to do in depth features that you wouldn’t necessarily take the time to read on a computer. Stories you may want to revisit over and over again over time and have portability to take to the ‘library’ etc. That being said, we still try to cover news on a limited basis, because a lot of our readers don’t frequent the internet. The WIX guys (and gals) are only a small (albeit growing) portion of the interested warbird folks. So we have a difficult task to balance the needs of our readers. We are always open to feedback, and I love hearing both the good and the bad (well I don’t exactly love hearing the bad, but it is still valuable
).
To give my friends at Classic Wings a few kudos, I have to say, they do a masterful job of collecting news from around the globe. They have even managed to scoop the internet a time or two. That is particularly tough.
The other tough part about news is that is important for me to be very careful about when we publish it. We are entrusted with information well before it becomes public knowledge, and will never publish it until we are given the okay. Not all publications have the same principal. A couple of recent examples are the CAF F-82 deal in which the details were published in another unnamed warbird magazine, even though I was told the CAF specifically requested it not be published. The recent sale of Glacier Girl and Rare Bear were well known here at WD long before they even broke on the internet, but we have an obligation to preserve the confidentiality of these transactions until the principals are ready. This is our obligation to help the warbird movement grow. I don’t like all the secrecy that surrounds so many collections and projects these days, but that is the way it is, and we have a duty to respect that.
I will step out a bit here and attempt to speak for the folks at Classic Wings as well. Subscribers are the lifeblood of a specialty magazine. While newsstand sales are great, the profit margin is slim to none, nevertheless it is important to be there not only for marketing purposes, but also because it promotes the warbird movement as a whole. Who knows when some casual newsstand browser will pick up a copy of WD or CW and have their interest sparked? Maybe they have the means to start a warbird project or become a collector. I wrote an editorial when we started the magazine about how a small start up publication called Aero News sparked my interest in the warbird movement in a deep way. Twenty years later, that magazine is long gone, a fate many specialty magazines suffer, but the impact that it had on the warbird movement is still being felt. Graham and Dave at Classic Wings, nor myself, are going to get rich publishing a warbird magazine. It is a labor of love, and while I can’t speak for the CW guys, in my case it done out of the pure passion for the growth of the movement. It is pretty likely that if I put as much time and effort into running my "other" business, the one that actually pays the bills, as I do the magazine, I would probably be flying a fighter instead of a T-6.
I have a particular concern that we involve younger folks, which is why many of our articles center on the nuts and bolts of a project. I guess you could say we are trying to capture the “American Chopper” audience.
I am also going to give credit where credit is due. I believe that the consistent publication of Air Classics for the last forty or so years helped drive the movement. Yes, I know they are my competitor, but they have had a profound impact. The simple truth is that all of the specialty warbird magazines need the diehards to subscriber if we are going to hang in there and be a voice for the growth of the movement. This may sound like a shameless plug for subscriptions and maybe it is, but it is also the truth of the business.
Mike is right when he mentions that we are ‘parochially” American. I confess we are, just as CW covers the NZ and AUS movement heavily and Flypast and Aeroplane are heavy on Europe. We also cover Mustangs a lot. Not necessarily by choice, but on this side of the pond, it is where the majority of the warbird activity is. We would be remiss to not give credit where credit is due to those folks who are putting their hard earned money into Mustangs. ( That being said, I wish there were more Thunderbolts myself
)
While I would love to have you all subscribe to Warbird Digest, I also encourage you to support Classic Wings. I think the magazines are purposely different enough that they are both worth reading. I am a big fan of their work I look forward to my CW every two months, just like you guys do. After all, I am an enthusiast first, and a magazine guy second.
Thanks for hearing me out on this. I have enjoyed all your posts, and enjoy WIX each day. I have met a lot of great folks because of WIX and the magazine, several have become close friends. Thanks to all of you who have supported WD. It has been a lot of fun, and Lord willing we will be able to continue it for many more years.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
