Is it me or . . . .

[lowell holmes]

do you agree. I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading woodworking magazines, but the subject matter recently written by two that I take has left me cold.

I have current issues from two different publications and there is not anything of interest. I know it is difficult to stay fresh, but I'm a bit disappointed.
I used to wait on the new issues and would read, re-read, and then make something as a result. I've made chairs, tables, and shop devices.
Some of the woodworkers that did how to do it articles are not doing it now. I miss their articles.

[Jim Koepke]

We are in a period of transition with some upheaval in our publishing industry.

Printed media is in a slow spiral toward disappearance.

More and more is appearing on line.

Does anyone subscribe to FWW on line? Is it as disappointing as the printed magazine is at times?

jtk

[James Pallas]

I started with FWW with issue 1 and kept subscribing for a long time and gave up when it went to trying to appeal to all. I then tried again a few years back had the same feelings and gave up again last year. I know the business requires sales to keep going and expand and it's not a technical publication for professionals. I just don't have a need for cutting dovetails by fifty different authors trying to say that they have a new way. It is sad that the printed word is mostly gone.
Jim

[Pete Taran]

My favorite was back in the 90s when American Woodworker was still around. I think Popular Woodworking has become what that magazine was. A little power tool stuff, but mostly hand tool content. Seems like most of the guys who published in that magazine like Frank Klausz and others got upset and just quit contributing.

On a related note, did anyone see the article by Christian Becksvoort in the latest FWW? On page 41 there is a picture of him using an original Independence Tool dovetail saw (cutting cross grain no less). There were a handful of professionals who bought them back in 1996 when we started making them. Makes me smile when I see a tool I sold 22 years ago still in service by a professional. Tells me we did something right. :)

[Frederick Skelly]

Pete, you oughta smile and also be proud. As I understand it, you and your partner started the tool revolution from which all of us are still benefitting! Hats off to you!

Fred

[Justin Ludwig]

Order Mortise & Tenon (https://www.mortiseandtenonmag.com/) and when you finish those 4 issues, order Woodworking in Estonia (https://lostartpress.com/products/woodworking-in-estonia).

[steven c newman]

I gave up on FWW, about the time their "Knots" section on-line went downhill....
WOOD went to a different sort of format....didn't like it. Never bought another one..

Now a days, IF something in a magazine catches my interest, I might buy that issue....

[lowell holmes]

Popular Woodworking used to read this forum. Maybe they will do something. I used to subscribe to their website.

[John C Cox]

The trouble is that you need good writers who also have the knowledge and tool chops... And often those two vectors don't converge... So you have to pay the fellows good money to do it... Because there is PLENTY of money in pontificating about Cars, Sports, and partisan political commentary in the USA

There just aren't many Chris Swartz's in the world. And guys like Derek Cohen (who can do a good job at both) already have "real life" paying day jobs...

You will generally find one or the other... A fellow who has tremendous tool and fabrication chops with *NO* professional writing ability or you find professional writers and photographers with NO tool skills...

And so if you want good articles and good writing and good photography - you have to pay for that.... And right now - nobody wants to pay for that.... And so you see the guys like Chris doing a lot of obscure projects like translation of Ruobo as a way to make enough money to pay for writing chisel reviews for the website. ;) ;) ...

[Simon MacGowen]

do you agree. I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading woodworking magazines, but the subject matter recently written by two that I take has left me cold.

I have current issues from two different publications and there is not anything of interest. I know it is difficult to stay fresh, but I'm a bit disappointed.
I used to wait on the new issues and would read, re-read, and then make something as a result. I've made chairs, tables, and shop devices.
Some of the woodworkers that did how to do it articles are not doing it now. I miss their articles.

I have access to almost all ww magazines through the club and I can find a "bad" article no matter what the magazine is or what timeframe is it in. Like their old cousins, modern articles, some written by the same people in the 80s, have their share of good and poor stories.

I can still learn some good methods of work now and then after all these years, but not everybody learns the same way. I only have FW and the readers gallery gives me ideas to build similar fancy pieces.

Simon

[Wade Holloway]

I agree that a lot of the content has gone downhill along with some of the publishing companies. I have been a subscriber to FWW for years with either print or online. Not to long ago i got a new IPad Pro and FWW changed their app so all of the books that I had bought have disappeared and does not even show up that I had bought them. Been on the phone with them several times with no resolution. I am about ready to tell them to go take a hike. I can deal with the issues not being what I like all of the time but when something like this happens and you are made to feel like they don’t care at all if you are happy or not make me want to go down the road. Lately I have been reading some of the magazines put together in England and they seem to be pretty good.

[Matthew Springer]

I still do FWW and PW online and just picked up Woodsmith. I read a lot on my tablet, so the fact it's online and takes up no space or weight is a big deal for me. For me the best thing is the archive and index. When i want to build something I'll sit down and search and look for 8 or 9 different implementations of the same thing and then see what's common and what's not.

I enjoy the study of the craft almost as much as the craft.

[Simon MacGowen]

I Been on the phone with them several times with no resolution. I am about ready to tell them to go take a hike. I can deal with the issues not being what I like all of the time but when something like this happens and you are made to feel like they don’t care at all if you are happy or not make me want to go down the road. Lately I have been reading some of the magazines put together in England and they seem to be pretty good.

Lodge a complaint and let them know. I give vendors opportunities to make good and if they still fail, I vote with my feet. Good contents with poor customer service or support still get my boot.

Simon

[Dave Anderson NH]

Even though none of us know it all and there is always something new to learn, reading magazine articles slowly becomes a study in diminishing returns. Over the years I subscribed to American Woodworker, FWW, Pop WW, and Fine Tool Journal. I eventually stopped subscriptions to each of them. For me personally belonging to an active guild and the content available on the net have provided me all I need. After all, there is only so much time in the day and some of should be devoted to actually working wood. I have no beef with any of the publications, the just don't meet my needs any more.

[Pete Taran]

Dave,

You bring up a good point. Woodworking magazines are not meant for folks that have been actively progressing their skills over many decades. I subscribe to FWW and Pop Woodworking, mostly to keep up with what's new by way of tools, not the techniques shown.

Your other point is also spot on. The online presence has had a HUGE impact on print media. Back when I got started in woodworking in 1991 as a young Army 2LT, every time I could get to the bookstore I would scour the racks for new books on WW. That was all there was at the time. I still look, but the reality is that when people have time to devote to writing something, they do it online in a blog or forum. There are very few new content books published anymore, which in a way is sad. I know everything changes and nothing stays the same, but seems like we have lost something if people stop writing books and only post content online.

FWIW

[Bill Houghton]

Part of it, Lowell, may be that you now know enough that subjects that were once important are now routine.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I too bemoan the dearth of new books in print Pete. I like to have hard copy references like DAT, Salaman, Walter on Stanley tools, Pollak on American planes, and so forth. Very few people will be able or willing to spend the time to do all of the research and then either self-publish or put all of their work on-line without some form of compensation. They might not be interested in a profit, but most would like to at least cover their expenses. Most people using the web have a great resistance to paying for content. Just look at the minuscule percentage of users here at SMC who will even fork over $5 a year to become a contributor and help defray the costs Keith absorbs for the server and the bandwidth. It is a disincentive for anyone to publish any content on the web.

[lowell holmes]

Part of it, Lowell, may be that you now know enough that subjects that were once important are now routine.

That is a good point.

[John Sanford]

We are in a period of transition with some upheaval in our publishing industry.
Yup, been going on for 20 years now.


Printed media is in a slow spiral toward disappearance.
Nope. A slow spiral toward boutique status. This is what Chris and the folks over at Lost Art Press have recognized, and, AFAIK, nobody else in the craft publishing realm has figured out yet. The Internet is the power tool of the woodworking publishing world. There will be a horrid (if you're employed in the field) shaking out, and just like Millers Falls and Disston and Sargent and so many other hand tool makers disappeared or abandoned the market in the shake out, the same thing is happening with WW publishing. Then there will be a bit of languishing, and finally a rebirth on a much smaller scale. See "Lie-Nielsen", "Veritas", "Bad Axe", etc.

This understanding, btw, is one reason why LAP is using such high quality bindery practices and such. They are selling into a boutique market, one where the story OF the product, the uniqueness and the quality of the product are equally important.

As long as people can read, we are going to have print media. It simply won't be THE way of transmitting knowledge between people separated across space and/or time like it was for the last century.

[lowell holmes]

Also, I enjoy seeing the pictures and the articles in Fine Wood Working. I don't know if Popular Woodworking is still around or not.
I know I don't get it anymore.

[Norman Pirollo]

I've also read about the demise of print magazines over the past few years. It makes sense... having recently launched a woodworking magazine ( total contrarian move) available in Digital or Print. I was surprised to find that orders for the print version far outweigh the digital version. I'm old school and appreciate book, magazines, etc. I like to be able to glean through a magazine at my leisure away from the computer, especially in summer. So maybe print magazines are not in a death spiral but holding their own for this reason?

Norman
WOODSKILLS

[Simon MacGowen]

I am for both options, though seeming to get more out of a print copy in terms of absorption, probably due to the scanning habit when in front of a screen (blame it on the day time job).

However, if we revisit this tread in 20 years, a different story might be told and print issues may only exist for a very small market. Why? The current and future generations are already dropping print anything in favor of a digital format.

Google for Education is a free tool being used by more and more schools, targeting grades 1 to 8 kids. My neighbor's 11 years old has been using a digital device or the like for 4 years now and her reading skill is probably in the top 1% group, but all her current reading materials are almost all digital. She still reads hardcopy books suitable for her level, only because they are given to her by my daughter. Her family doesn't buy books at all.

Together with the global trend towards conservation, paper books or magazines have a dim future. Newspapers? Almost all newspaper empires today have to rely on digital subscriptions and/or advertising to support their traditional business model. So, print magazines still have a life until most of us between ages 40 and 80 are gone for good, or when the paper model is financially unsustainable, whichever comes first.

Simon

[Charlie Hinton]

I used to subscribe to lots of different home improvement and wood working magazines.
Theres only so much that can be written about and then it gets regurgitated.
Now there's so much content online and immediate help through sites like this that the printed magazines are at a real disadvantage.

[Bill McDermott]

I smile every time FWW or PW arrive. I enjoy both of them. I save them when finished and pass them along to a nephew with a budding interest in building. No complaints - and I've been reading FWW since it was black & white. Beats the heck out of what happened to Time, Life and even National Geographic (still read that too).

[Carlos Alvarez]

We recently subscribed to FWW online mainly for the plans, because the wife is getting into dovetails and small boxes. If you send us paper, that's a great way to guarantee it will never be read. I dropped my membership to a niche market organization because they aggressively refuse to put their precious magazine and articles online (the national .50 BMG association). I had the magazines piled up for almost a year, and just never remembered them when it was reading time. I might be sitting on my boat, or camping, or even just upstairs when the reading mood/time hit me. I always have my electronics, but never paper.

[Zach Dillinger]

I'm back in the saddle with PW and will have a hand-tool only project article coming out soon. Some of the others, Cherubini included, are just coming back as well. So don't give up!