If the independents step up, I'll try my best to step in. I just hope they're able to do it without sacrificing their souls. I'm reminded of a few musical acts in the 60's, that swore they'd never go commercial, yet eventually yielded to the all mighty dollar.
Well stated. I look forward to a section of indie magazines since I live 60 miles from the nearest book store.
Ryan , your bright , why didn't you buy them out...that logo itself has got to be worth a fortune...I loved R & C...I'm very surprised it died before Hot Rod.To me it was a realistic price point unlike some others that still survive. I think Hot Rod shot themselves when they brought out H R Deluxe. Continue reading the Original Blog Post[/QUOTE] n
No one has broached the subject of why corporations started buying speed equipment companies and publishing outfits starting in the late seventies, early eighties. Very simply, it was profitable! A couple of MBA's attended a SEMA Show or two and decided that if these guys with nothing more than high school education could make big money building stuff kids would pay money for, they (the MBA's) could show these hicks how it was done right. The rest is history. Interestingly enough, some of the speed equipment guys that sold out for big bucks, ended up buying their companies back for pennies on the dollar and undoing the damge done by the. MBA's. Ryan is right about the passion thing. I've yet to see an MBA tooling around in a '32 highboy!
Ryan, well Boss you are really opening Pandora's box and I salute you for having the guts to take on the publishing world. OMFG...Accept unsolicited manuscripts...and you may actually publish one? Possibly offer unpublished works for sale and take no cut. Hot damn! I am with you on the lack of faith the corporate beancounters have in the hobby-lifestyle. So focused on the bottom line they see no value in loyalty or passion. What Wall St pinstriped pinhead decided that the written word on paper is no different than a few pixels on a keyboard? That the magazine has no soul, no monetary value in it's followers, to hell with tradition. As a amateur wordsmith I may pen a few lines in the future and submit them. Feel free to beat them up or throw them in the round file. But in the off chance you may like them I am intrigued. I'm writing up technical stuff every day, now I can put on paper a little fiction.
Ryan, I knew that! Quite frankly, you make my case based on the fact that you do have the passion while those MBA's that bought into the speed equipment industry did not.
Inspiration and greatness are inspired by passion for what you do and the need to work with limited resources. The best cars are typically not the ones built with unlimited funds and resources, but instead the ones built on passion and the need to innovate. I assume that is true for magazines- paper or digital. Case in point- The Jalopy Journal and the passion behind it. Thanks Ryan!
Fostering the D.I.Y. ethic and giving wordsmiths a platform to practice their craft, gratis? That's a mighty powerful opportunity you are offering up, Ryan.
An added observation to all this: Back when Steve Coonan was still talking to me and I still lived in NYC, he asked me to help him document the day the N.Y. Stock Exchange "honored" the suits that bought the Hot Rod Magazine empire. We were outside the Exchange building for a photo op after the bell ringing by the suits inside. There were several hot rods out side including Ken Posey's 50's Ford convertible with the top down. When Grasso (the boss at the time who got famous for his LARGE golden parachute) and the two suits that bought Hot Rod came out someone thought it would be a great photo op if they all piled in Posey's car and drove it away. Well low and behold, it was a stick and not an automatic. After several awkward moments when it was discovered none of them knew how to drive a stick, Posey came over and got behind the wheel with the 3 clowns in the back seat and pulled away with Steve shooting away. The only good thing that happened that day was Steve asked a guy from N.J. with a bad ass flamed black coupe to do a serious burn out. This was before 9/11 and the street wasn't full of bomb barriers. It was getting close to noon and there were plenty of civilians in the street. I'm sorry I don't know the fellow who owned the coupe's name, but he did a real proper burnout that filled that canyon with so much smoke, that he had people running in every direction. At least Hot Rod Magazine went down in style.
Most things change over time. Some get better, some worse. I dropped my R&C subscription a few years ago due to my getting bored with the magazine. On the other hand, I believe Hot Rod is better than its ever been. I subscribe to it, as well as six other titles.
Ryan Nice article it really shows the difference between passion and profit and yes i know profit is important.I spend more time on here than i do reading Mags. I believe that is because the articles are written to draw us in and we can interact with the person writing them. I will miss R&C but hopefully some of their writers will post some stuff on here for us to enjoy.
I am anxious to see how you integrate this new concept into the H.A.M.B. format, Ryan. Perhaps the creation of a new sub-catagory, "Traditional Journalism", to accompany Traditional Customs and Traditional Hot Rods would do the trick. Or, perhaps you have a more aggressive approach in mind...?
No. Nothing like that... I'm looking to hire some bruisers to help write feature pieces on jalopyjournal.com.
Back in the mid-1990s a famous designer, David Carson, published a book titled "The End of Print"...ironic. Print will live on as an art form. Those who appreciate its history and tactile quality will keep it going. Myself included!
I was kinda saddened looking through the stacks of R&C's last night, knowing I won't be getting any more of the most tastefully executed, niche-satisfying magazine. At least, not for a little while. Ryan, I'll be happy to help contribute to the resurrection of R&C in whatever form suits it best. What will it take to remove that corporation's grimy hands of the brand? If it can be done, I'M THERE!!
The beauty of the internet is that you can tailor a site to the exact audience and reach that target audience for products to be sold.You can also pre-sell art mags,calendars,and any other printed item without having to sit on pallets of old product.Also,writers want to write and most young writers have a day job while they perfect their craft,so you don't have to pay them much while they gain an audience.And you don't have to put up with corporate suits trying to water down the message in the name of profit.Although profit isn't a dirty six letter word,there needs to be more motivation than beans.
So, which one of you entrepreneur's is going to fill this obvious void? I know there are a couple members, who have put out some issues, but who's going to start a national magazine to take Rod & Customs place? Ryan's giving new writers and probably photographers, a chance to show their talent. So, who's going to give these folks a job? I'd buy into it.
Just how much profit is enough? Enough to print the magazine and that's it? Or maybe that and enough to have a staff? Or enough to have a building to house the staff and equipment? See where I'm going? How much is too much? I think it would be the rare individual, who could own the golden goose and only ask for one egg a year, when he could have more. Rare indeed.