South African aircooled magazine?

[altus]

I buy the volksworld every month.I live on the north coust & for some reason the magazine is only available at the balito cna!And it costs R90.
So i have been thinking about starting a sa edition.
What ya'll think?

[Blitzkrieg]

Market is not big enough to sustain it

[keke bug]

sounds like a good idea, id love to write for it when you do decide to go ahead with the idea. its true what Blitz says but you could start with it as a subscription based mag or as an online mag initially until the readership picks up then go to print. something similar to http://studio83.co.za/mags where people could download the mag.

[fig]

Yes, I think it could only work as an online mag, or a pdf mailer, compiled by volunteer (unpaid) staff.

Having worked in media most of my life, I've seen how difficult it is to turn a profit on magazines. The first thing is the production infrastructure, even with everything desktop based, costs too much for a single publication; you need to produce multiple publications off the same infrastructure and staff. IIRC, you need a steady circulation of at least 8,000 to generate a profit. The other thing is most print publications are sold at a loss (ie, the cover price is less than it costs to produce) and you make your money with advertising. To sell advertising you need proven circulation. To build circulation you need money, ie, advertising or DEEEEEP pockets.

I would buy a local ACVW mag if the quality of writing, photography and repro were good enough, but quality costs.

I don't buy imported ACVW mags because they're expensive and I find the articles full of factual inaccuracies. I love the pics, though.

[fig]

There seems to be a problem with the poll. It won't let me vote and it doesn't look like anyone else has voted.

[bugspray]

Yup the poll is kaput

[keke bug]

yeah i tried voting too.

[eben]

There seems to be a problem with the poll. It won't let me vote and it doesn't look like anyone else has voted.

Thanks for the heads-up. Its fixed now..

[Mr9A]

yeaaaaa now that will be awesome ill even post abt it on the vw club of sa if thats ok and or also have a poll on there what you guys think?

[altus]

Thanks man,we need all the input we can get.

[ChrisG]

I think it could definately work. But like with most business startups turning a profit is probably not likely in the begining. So like an acvw project, make sure u got some bucks hidden around. I was looking into this just for interest sake a few months ago

[Barry]

A guy I know with a relatively new special interest car publication is apparently R400K+ in the hole after six issues......
Sure there may be ways he could have kept costs down, but the moral of the story is research, research, research.
Then work your as off for little or no return (or worse).....

Not saying it can't be done, but you need to keep your eyes open going in. I considered doing a hotrod mag (and haven't totally shelved the idea) but know it would absolutely be a labour of love that would eat up a lot of time & money. I'm also too much of a purist in terms of what I'd want for content....
The quickest "solution" to a small market however is simply to broaden your appeal by covering other fields of interest. Unfortunately this dilutes your exclusivity and appeal and makes you just another title on the crowded shelves.

Online mags offer a lot of potential. Check this out (not ACVW but damn coool nevertheless):
http://www.eldiablomagazine.com/

[Blitzkrieg]

A guy I know with a relatively new special interest car publication is apparently R400K+ in the hole after six issues......

SA Hotrods?

[Farhaad]

hey barry
i saw u in one of those sa hotrod mags a few issues back

[bugspray]

What Barry said is right. I chatted with the owner of Speed and Sound magazine, and he said they went broke before the broke even, years later.