I work here in Burlington, Colorado at the local newspaper. While stuffing the paper last week in the back room, I came up with the idea to create a weekly "hotrod and custom" newspaper. Would anyone subscribe to something like that? I bleed motor oil and I am a graphic designer. I figured it would be a good way to put the two "hobbies" together. Tell me what you think. Remington
The cost would outweigh the benefit if you are thinking of a print newspaper. As someone stated above, print is obsolete. However, a digital weekley would be cheaper and you could offer it for free but sell advertising. Kind of like Deadend Magazine, but not.
We got the HAMB for minute by minute news and AutoWeek for a weekly already. It would have to be as good as AutoWeek, in it's own nitch of course, to survive.
Print is in no way dying – there are more magazines and books on the stands than ever before. Because folks are buying them. BUT – and this is the most important thing to keep in mind – if you want to get into print, you have to produce something that can't be replaced by something more immediate and easier to consume online. Newspapers are being shut down by their online competitors and magazines that don't feature compelling, professional work (read between the lines here: titles that fill their pages with reader-generated content or content that's not as good as what their readers COULD generate) will ultimately be replaced by online communities where members can see their own work immediately without an annoying editor or layout to get in the way. And guess what? If these print mediums can be replaced, THEY SHOULD BE. Successful print possesses qualities that online can't offer: portability, user-controlled access (read it whenever and wherever w/o worrying about your computer working), tactile experience, value (subs typically cost less than $1.00 per issue – how many truckloads of your Hot Rod magazine subscription would it take to equal the price of your computer, maintenance and annual internet fees?), collectibility and access to a combination of great photography, writing and graphic design that noone's been able to figure out how to beat yet. The magazine "experts" predict that ink on paper will probably be replaced by or augmented with some sort of portable digital device that periodicals can be downloaded onto and read – sort of like a magazine – with virtual pages that can be turned or something like that. Maybe so. But I really believe that this kind of thing will only make real print even more valuable and collectible. Can you imagine replacing The Rodders Journal with an online chat or some sort of digital download? Right – I didn't think so. So, figure out a newspaper for us that we can't live without or easily replace with online stuff. You do that, and you got yourself something that Rupert Murdoch would pay you handsomely for and we'd all come over and drink your beer and eat your kobe steaks and ride your private go-kart track and help you spend all that money you're gonna get for such a brilliant idea. STONER
Already HERE in Japan.....people doing everything on their "Nintendo DS".....as soon as someone with more soul than the everyday Japanese (read....about 2 ounces) starts actually creating the downloaded content, what you're describing aint THAT far-fetched The Manga guys are SERIOUSLY worried ! Shit, they even display the screens sideways so you open it like a book (thats why they invented that stupid techy trick to automatically rotate your camera phone pic 90degrees when you turn it) and turn the pages with the plastic pencil thingy, including the fake page turning noise.....turds! then again....modern toilets here also have a fake flushing sound to camoflage the sound of your fart !
Isn't Old Cars Weekly still around? More toward the restorers but it's got a classifieds. How are they doing? I used to subscribe, haven't picked one up in years. Frank
Alas, a kindred spirit. This sounds all too familiar. I too am a graphic designer at the big local newspaper here in Maine. I'm well aware that newspapers are dwindling and losing the battle with online services. I can't help but understand why - who wants to wait 24 hours to get news that I could get instantly on the internet, from multiple sources, for free, in color, wherever I want, whenever I want? That's some stiff competition. Sure, we all like the tactile feel of a paper or book or magazine, and that's something techies will have a hard time "reproducing". I don't know about you guys, but aside form the HAMB, I have a hard time staring at a screen for hours on end. I'd rather immerse myself in a book and smell the glue, turn the page and feel the paper between my fingertips, all the while perched at akward angles that just feels right, on the couch, on the deck, in bed, or on the shitter. But I digress. I have been racking my brain to come up with a way to combine two hobbies (graphic design, and cars) in a way that will generate revenue for the paper, thus ensuring my livelihood and doing somehting I love to boot. I haven't considered your idea, mainly for the above reasons many have mentioned. However, I have been kicking around a couploe ideas I'm seriously considering proposing to the brass upstairs. The emphasis of our paper, basically the only thing we CAN offer that the internet doesn't scratch the surface of is LOCAL news and events, stuff that affects US. So, that being said, my question is woudl there be enough LOCAL interest around here to follow along on a total car restoration/customization? It would be weekly installments, I'll write the articles, take the pictures, do 90% of the work etc. The paper funds the project (here's where I'm reaching, assuring the brass that this would be a BUDGET build, something our average neighbors could do too, not like those TV shows where we all now they dump way more money into one car than many of us see in several years). There could be a weekly tech project, interviews with local knowledeable sources and old grey beards, and ALSO provide an excellent opportunity for ADVERTISNING REVENUE (what really matters around this place) from local businesses that sell the products and services typically used during the project build and maintenance. Maybe, and this is a big maybe, it would generate some enthusiasm from the public and increase readership, since you're probably in the same boat as a lot of papers where we are totally reliant on advertising revenue since our circulation numbers are dwindling rapidly. I also considered doing the same thing with not only a car restoration/hot rod/custom, but the construction of a vintage stock car. Stock car racing is big around here (the home made kind, not NASCAR) and the vintage circuit is growing, alos there are TONS of great stories that could be featured weekly. The finished car(s) could be used in parades and festivals where we normally set up a kiosk or booth ... I don't know, it's a new idea and this paper needs all the new ideas it can get, especially to attract new, younger readers. Anyway, this is just some stuff that has been bouncing around my head for over a year now. I'm trying to get the balls to put a propsal together and trying to figure out how to word it so they see all the things they need to see to salivate. Particularly the advertising revenue part. What do you guys think?
hey man id subscribe ... ive read some old isues of...is it cars and parts? ...that newspapere based magazine.i liked it and i think that you should bttt this a couple of times before you give up Troy
Couple of ideas for you. There's a bi-monthly 'zine that I USED TO subscribe to called "Mountain West Street News". I did a quick search and they don't seem to have anything on the internet. It's basicly a list of all the upcoming carshows, cruise-ins, swapmeets, etc. in the intermountain west and includes copies of the registration forms for all of them. Then they have letters/articles submitted by carclubs in the region and advertising. Its a good rag for keeping updated on local events, but I can get all or most of the info from the internet, so I dropped my subscription. The local newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, has a saturday section called "Utah Rides". They run some interesting articles on automotive pioneers. A column by Courtney Hansen, Click and Clack, and a feature on a celebrity's car collection. Its all very mainstream, but might be helpful.
Old cars weekly has been doing this for years. I used to subscribe, but it changed or was bought out and I quit subscribing. The size went down over the years and I felt it didn't offer as much content. For one person to try and fill a good sized weekly, you would soon run out of content and energy. Try sitting down and writing the articles that it would take to fill say five weeks of issues and you will see what I mean. You should have that back up anyway.
Turn that idea to something online. A blog? Then you mave have something. If you are looking to make money at it, that's a whole 'nother ball-o-wax.
For a tangent idea, I'm surprised no one has started up a regular podcast on traditional rods & customs. (At least I haven't found one yet...) Something like a radio show, with interviews with builders (backyard and pros), artists, people who have been-there-done-that, etc. Tech talk from tire pressure to tig welding; maybe some news, etc.
I've worked for the Majors and started a couple of magazines my self. I still produce newsletters for clients. Print isn't quite dead yet. But you are probably kidding yourself about the amount of work it takes to write or just harvest enough real news and info for a monthly, much less weekly publication. Then, you have to physically distribute the thing far enough to reach the number of subscribers needed just to pay you peanuts. I love the print medium and it has served me well for 30 years. But if I was gonna do my own pub now I would only consider web publication. Go back to school and get serious on web technology - even if you never do a publication the knowledge will pay back.
The Jalopy Journal
