They just announced the end of the print magazine. It’s a sad day. GUNS is the oldest non-organization published magazine. I am honored to have been a part of it for the last eight years.
Agarbers
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5,631 Posts
If you watch the podcast, they are not retiring to Bermuda with a stack of cash. They have been struggling to stay afloat for years. It was either go digital or close the doors permanently. People are loosing their jobs as it is. It used to be 40 people were on staff. The last few years it been 10 or less. Paper costs 400% more than it did a few years ago. Keep in mind publications with advertising can’t use USPS media rate so shipping has gone way up and is going up again for the Holidays.
It used to mean something to write for a print magazine but now advertisers want to reach more than print subscribers. If I write a gun review, it’s in a magazine for a month and then most go in the trash. If the review is online, it’s there until the website is taken down, which could be decades later. Which gets more views?
Where does it go from here? I have no idea. I’m still struggling to find my compass. When I got the news, it was devastating. I have thousands invested in books for researching specific guns. I have made trips to photograph guns that I want to write about. I have written articles that most likely will never get published.
I have been a writer for other publications since 1987. Most are gone. Some kept dropping the pay as times got tough until they finally said it was the end. I wrote for a website that required I find my own sponsors to get paid. One magazine gave me impossible deadlines that required an extreme amount of research into deer and turkey trending each year. If I counted all my hours, I was getting less than $5 an hour. When I was offered a position at FMG, it was a breath of fresh air and it kills me to think it might be ending.
It used to mean something to write for a print magazine but now advertisers want to reach more than print subscribers. If I write a gun review, it’s in a magazine for a month and then most go in the trash. If the review is online, it’s there until the website is taken down, which could be decades later. Which gets more views?
Where does it go from here? I have no idea. I’m still struggling to find my compass. When I got the news, it was devastating. I have thousands invested in books for researching specific guns. I have made trips to photograph guns that I want to write about. I have written articles that most likely will never get published.
I have been a writer for other publications since 1987. Most are gone. Some kept dropping the pay as times got tough until they finally said it was the end. I wrote for a website that required I find my own sponsors to get paid. One magazine gave me impossible deadlines that required an extreme amount of research into deer and turkey trending each year. If I counted all my hours, I was getting less than $5 an hour. When I was offered a position at FMG, it was a breath of fresh air and it kills me to think it might be ending.
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5,631 Posts
From what Roy said, most likely not coming back, which is frustrating.
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5,631 Posts
If you read the comments with the video, they say they are working on it.
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My understanding is that the articles already published will still be found online, which will make it easier to find a topic using keywords. I am told future articles will all be online. As far as bathroom reading, my iPad resides in the bathroom unless I’m using it otherwise.
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