I urge newsagents to read the important and timely editorial from Lisa Mora in Vintage Caravan Magazine as she discusses whether to publish a digital version of the delightful and engaging magazine.
Lisa’s thoughtfulness about the reader experience is compelling. For me, her reasoning for commitment to print is a call-out to newsagents, especially those newsagents who do see magazines as a continuing point of difference for their newsagency business. It is special interest titles like Vintage Caravan Magazine that provide us with a point of difference on which we can rely for valuable traffic to our stores.
My view is that magazines continue to offer us a point of difference. Yes, we need to manage range to ensure it is efficient and viable. However, we need to be careful to not cut range too deeply and damage our point of difference.
Lisa regularly comments on posts here and actively engages in discussion with newsagents as she see us as playing an important role in getting her magazine into the hands of people interested in vintage caravans.
Read the editorial.
WOW!!! What a great article. The last paragraph sums up exactly what a Magazine experience should be. Well done Lisa!!!
Lisa, beautifully written. Your sense, sensibility and sentiments mirror mine exactly.
As a newsagent that is great to hear that Publishers still see a future in print. We hear too much negative press on print and it is hard to remain positive even though you can see in your store that a large percentage of people still love the experience of a physical magazine or newspaper.
It would be great if our distributors or Associations highlighted these supportive Publishers so we could support them (through waterfalls, promotions, premium spots etc) as not everyone reads these blogs.
Lisa I loved your rave! Great decision.
We don’t sell many copies of Vintage Magazine but I always place it in a couple of different locations hoping that a customer not looking for this title will spot the (always) beautiful cover and purchase a copy.
Lisa,
I don’t stock your magazine – infact didnt know about it at all. But as a thank you for a great article and dedication to print – I am going to order it into my store.
Hi Jenny (and others)
Thanks for your support and kind words.
With regards to placement of VCM, that has actually been the subject of one of my earlier raves. I have noticed that every newsagent I have been into places “women’s interest” magazines on one side of the store, and “mens’s interests” such as auto mags etc on the other – with one side often completely invisible to the other. Vintage Caravan Magazine is quite different in that it appeals to both men and women, but newsagents tend to put it straight into the “caravans” section in the mens’s interest side where it gets lost in amongst the newer caravan magazines.
A recent readership survey showed that 87% of our readers are actually women who would probably never look in that section at all.
In one newsagent in NZ we deliberately moved Vintage Magazine over to the women’s section and it sold out within the day.
Men have enough car magazines and boat magazines and truck magazines to choose from and the fact that this is an “auto” type magazine that women also love is quite novel I think and I would dearly love to see my target market more exposed to my product.
I have asked my distributors to request that of newsagents, but I am not sure if it has actually ever happened or not.
I prefer print editions for the same reasons mentioned in the article. But due to newsagents no longer stocking the mags, I went digital. Same for my friends. As I found that the digital readers are not much more than crippleware, I swapped to printed subs. Yet I can’t even win on that as the freebies such as DVDs are only produced for sale by the major chains like WHSmiths. I know a few editors working for o/s mag publishers and have worked in marketing for the #1 Australian retailer and looking at the state of local newsagents, I’d say that as an industry (including bookstores) you’ve shot yourself in the foot, several times.
Maurice, sounds like you need to find a GOOD Newsagent, I would stock any mag any customer requested without any hesitation whatsoever.
Lisa, I can’t recall being asked to locate your mag in particular areas by the distributor but will be putting them where you have suggested……thanks for the tip.
Al
Lisa we did that some time ago off our own bat and it worked. I now only sell 3 or 4 but they go from both areas. Blokes from Caravans and women from the women’s area. As to going digital I support your comments on look and feel but will this work with the younger ones. I suspect you will have to do a digital edition eventually. As a niche mag it is now performing for me a lot better than a lot of other stuff I get sent.
Lisa excellent article. Food for thought and at last – something positive for newsagents on the ground.
I, sadly, have never heard of your mag but
I am just checking the title tracker now to
order it in because I believe we should support those publishers who support us.
Thank you
Im with you June. I had never heard of it either. I am always keen to try new mags to freshen up the range. If I was Lisa, I would be asking the distributor that very question… I too am ordering it in. I will support those that support me.. Good luck Lisa – I wish you on the best of success.
Because of Lisa’s input here and the current weeks deliveries, I have just made a wee block of “retro” covers :
Frankie, Vintage Caravan, AWW Biscuits reissue and AWW Childrens Birthday Cakes reissue, they look fine and it will be interesting to see who notices ( flanked by the Animal Farm parts 1,2 and now 3 in a final effort to get some sales boost!)
Keep the cover fabulous Lisa, the cover draws in the customer in my view, and I loved your editorial by the way, you are a good journo yourself, you could contribute to other mags in your area of expertise and get even more exposure – the readers of Outback for example would love your way with words. Count me in as another supporter.