Popular Woodworking

[Dave Lehnert]

I have not been following the forum for a few day so this may be old news to the group but have you seen the restructuring going on at Popular Woodworking?

http://www.popularwoodworking(dot)com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/wish-well

Looks like the people that left are going out on their own. 360woodworking dot com. also on Facebook under the same name.

Replace the (dot) above with just a . Don't think we are allowed to post a direct link to another forum.

Hope the magazine continues and gets better over time. The Popular Woodworking shop is local to me here in Cincinnati and always liked what they were doing for the craft.

[Peter Kelly]

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/editors-blog/wish-wellCan add a url to your post without creating a link by enclosing with code (http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Code) tags.

Sucks to hear about people being laid off too. I don't see a bright future for a magazine with a staff of two.

[John Coloccia]

FWIW, Megan seems to be handling this with as much class as possible. The parting shot from the trio was not classy, IMHO.

[paul cottingham]

While I agree with you about Megan, I have to say it can be hard to be classy when you have been laid off to pay for the ineptitude of upper, upper management. Not saying this is what happened for sure, but it sure seems like it.

[Phil Barrett]

I went to 360 and subscribed to their mailing list. I get this email back saying thank you and to follow a link to complete my subscription. The link just takes me back to the same page where I signed up (i.e. no additional information possible). Not a super good start...

[Bob Lang]

Couple of things to clarify.

The 360WoodWorking website is "under construction". The e-mail subscription means you will be notified when it goes live. Please understand that there are only three of us and we were working elsewhere up until one week ago. The site will be launched in a few days with examples of what we intend to do.

We resigned in order to devote all of our time to 360Woodworking. We left steady jobs to pursue what we think is a better way to present the type of content traditionally seen in woodworking magazines. If you read the comments on the PW Editor's blog, we try to clarify what happened a few comments down from the top. We intend to focus our attention on where we're going, and we think there will be an audience for it. There is a podcast online from the Modern Woodworkers Association with about a 45 minute interview with Glen Huey, Chuck Bender and myself that goes into some detail about what we're up to.

Feel free to contact me, Glen or Chuck with any questions or concerns.

Bob Lang

[Jim Matthews]

I will subscribe. Do I get a T-shirt or 360 coffee mug? Best of luck, I always enjoy your articles.

[Jim Matthews]

Considering the open request for articles from readers, my gut says they're dumping overhead. I have read enough workbench articles. Maybe 360 will focus on intermediate projects.

[Doug Ladendorf]

I'd like to see all sides take the high road, including the Peanut Gallery. Best wishes to all. I like to think there is room to grow the craft and different approaches and champions will be a good thing.

[Frederick Skelly]

All I've seen is Megan's blog and the comments Mr Lang has posted here (in both today's thread and last week's). I didn't pickup anything that seemed unreasonable or "sour" in any of those places. Maybe I missed something?

My $0.02, FWIW - We've had several threads over the last few months about the decreasing quality/content in WW mags. I agree - every mag I pick up seems stale - Wood, FWW, PWW, etc. But I don't begrudge the companies trying to find a way to balance everything and still turn a profit. IMO, they haven't found a successful new paradigm yet or there'd be subscribers. But I say, give PWW a chance and maybe they'll be the first to find it. (Dear Publishers: I'll gladly pay significantly more money for a subscription that gives me more and better content. You don't have to hold the price low and reduce content to make ends meet. That's why I stopped buying today's product. Why not try a high quality boutique magazine priced such that it can survive with fewer subscribers?)

Mr. Lang, I wish you and your partners great success. I look forward to seeing your new approach and hope you teach all of us a thing or two about using media successfully in the 21st century!

(OK. Rant over now.)

Fred

[lowell holmes]

Woodwork met the description you just gave. It didn't make it. There has been so much written and so many plans shown, it's difficult to have fresh material.

[HANK METZ]

Woodwork met the description you just gave. It didn't make it. There has been so much written and so many plans shown, it's difficult to have fresh material.

And that is the long and the short of it folks. FWW started doing what they called "revisits" as far back as the '90's; the well was running dry even then.

[Phil Barrett]

I agree that the mags seem a bit stale but frankly, on the internet, I can find all sorts of new and interesting ideas and projects. What I like to see are tool reviews - not the surface skimming ones we see so often but in depth ones where they build something with the new tool and comment on how it went. Or tool shootouts. The guy that did the track saw shoot out is a perfect example. I'd also pay to see how a master builds something or teaches about a specific technique. Sort of "apprenticeship" features. FWW probably does the best

[Frederick Skelly]

I'd also pay to see how a master builds something or teaches about a specific technique. Sort of "apprenticeship" features. FWW probably does the best
I agree. I wish theyd do a lot more of it. Id subscribe again.

Lowell, Ive never seen a copy of Woodwork. Thanks for that tip - Im going to look for some old issues.

Fred

[Mark Carlson]

I'm sitting here looking at stacks and stacks of FWW and Popular Woodworking and others. I can never find anything in them. I cancelled all mag subscriptions and now just pay for FWW online access. That is great because I can get to everything and can search for it easily. The videos are also good. The Popular Woodworking site is not well designed in comparison.

~mark

[Jon Nuckles]

It must be very difficult to publish a woodworking magazine that makes all subscribers happy. Readers work in many different styles, from rustic to traditional to studio contemporary. We work by hand, power and hybrid. Some prefer solid wood, others sheetgoods. Some want weekend projects while others want to create an heirloom. Maybe the most difficult problem is keeping the experienced woodworker and longtime subscriber satisfied while bringing in new readers with easily accessible material.
My own favorite is Fine Woodworking, because the project articles typically focus on a particular technique used in the project rather than simply being a step-by-step build. I can learn a new technique that I will be able to use even if I don't want to build the project in the article. I may skip the beginner articles and reviews of tools I already own or am not planning to buy, but I recognize why they need to be there and I may go back and read the tool reviews when I am in the market again. (I do wish the online index were better!) My bottom line is that I am always happy to see a new issue in my mailbox and I have no plans to let my subscription lapse.

[Curt Harms]

Considering the open request for articles from readers, my gut says they're dumping overhead. I have read enough workbench articles. Maybe 360 will focus on intermediate projects.

That's my feeling as well. Maintain a slim staff and outsource at least some content creation.

[ian maybury]

Good luck to the guys. I don't think that it's possible to make everybody happy all of the time, but if I had to suggest a focus that might prove attractive to many it'd be a highly focused return to a relatively pure and high integrity emphasis on the 'how to' of making/doing. i.e. write for those actually making and with real problems to solve rather to produce eye candy/light reading for the wannabee but never will strata.

The big issue for me with the mags as they stand is that they have come to be too driven by advertisers and accountants hell bent on forcing short term sales and to hell with the bigger picture, with one result being that advertisers have got far too powerful - another that as a result e.g. tool and machine reviews get fudged and don't truly bring out the real world differences and standing relative to other options. Also to attract browsers/light readers rather than doers. The perceived need to cater for short attention spans means that fancy graphics and sound bites have shoved aside clear writing - with the result that important details and the relatively high work content/reality of some tasks is often glossed over. Much of the editorial control if not the writing is by relatively inexperienced/technically limited (and hence malleable/potentially unaware and lower cost) staff members focued on other issues - the product values are usually excellent, but the content is consequently not always of the highest quality.

Not sure how the project is to be funded, but advertising if taken has to be clearly separated from and not influence editorial content. A forum for smaller and more specialised advertisers might be useful too. Keeping overheads down has to be a key enabler of the required independence.

I'd prefer to see topics handled in an actual project context, and at a reasonably high level. No reason not to spread a project over an extended period with diversions into some of the techniques involved...

[Moses Yoder]

Just now there were 1430 views on this thread, basically 500 people looked at it three times. That is about the number of dedicated woodworkers interested in detailed how to articles about woodworking; 500. The rest of the people that will occasionally buy a magazine have woodworking as a second or third interest, not their primary hobby interest. There is also a group of people in it solely for the physical return; making stuff to use in their house so they can show people they built something; I think this is the largest group and is the person most likely to buy a magazine, if it has a project in it that they want to build for their house. If they can build it in a weekend, bonus.

[Earl McLain]

As a weekend/week night warrior, i'm just barely out of that "wannabee but never will strata" that Ian speaks of. Most of what i've learned has come from this and another forum, along with making some really stupid mistakes!! I've also done a few magazine subscriptions that have helped, but after a few years i'm finding that it's already getting repetitious. Best thing i get from them is inspiration for a new "design". I'll say that i've made a few things from plans with cut lists--but don't find that nearly as gratifying creating something to fit a space or a need. When starting, i felt i needed detailed plans, now i'm gravitating more to shop drawings and adapting to fit my wants.

All of that is background for my agreement with Ian Maybury's concept of of "topics handled in an actual project context". From what inspired the project, material selection, methods, challenges & solutions met, mistakes overcome and finishing with lessons learned. No way to fit that in 3 to 6 pages of a magazine--nor to condense it to 30 minutes of DVD time. And, like a good novel, i need to enjoy it over time.

On advertising--i've learned to take some editorial content with a grain of salt, along with product placement and "methods" used in "projects" to promote an advertiser's product. I appreciate the advertisers' contributions keeping my cost down, but my product decisions are far more heavily weighted by the opinions of real-world users in places like SMC. (that said--i'd rather see a shameless plug for a pocket hole system in an article than a 3 page ad for a prescription medication i don't yet have a problem for. Yet.)

earl