WHAT HAS HAPPENED to Varmint Hunters Association??

[Cold Bore]

How big of a desire is this to come back.

I am more than proficient in Adobe Creative Cloud and would be more than willing to put in the time to write articles on reloading, varmint weapons, gunsmithing, and "featured hunts" with some members / advertisers if the subscriber base was decent enough. It could be print or digital, i can do either through my website.

How many of you guys are "gung-hoe" about this kinda thing?

Your vote is lodged. If I could get to 30-50 votes I would do a issue for the community to review before taking it to the next level.

Could you let me know how much the VHA charged per issue or per year subscription?

Obviously digital issues are the cheapest delivery method but also open to the most "sharing" illegally. Not saying this community would do that but it should be mentioned

I'm only commenting because you asked....

Personally, I wouldn't pay anything for a "home brew subscription".

You may be a very talented writer, but a 30-50 person base is just not going to generate enough variety or interest.

VHA, Precision Shooting, etc were popular because they covered a wide variety of topics, within a certain field, written by a whole bunch of talented (and nationally recognized) writers. They had hard core, heavy hitters for advertisers. You are not going to get any of the major, semi-major, or even small companies to pay for advertising in a homemade collection of amateur stories.

They could do what they did because they were professionally written, edited, and assembled publications, with a subscription base numbered in the thousands. And, in the end, even they couldn't keep it going.

Or, another way to look at it is..... what can you offer, in a closed environment, on a paid basis, that I can't get here (or dozens of other forums), for free, in real time, and tailored specifically to a question or topic that I am interested in, with thousands of people able to offer near-instantaneous answers/feedback/comments?

The internet is killing hard copy subscriptions, and even e-publications, unless you are filling a very specific need that can't be filled elsewhere. The times they are a-changing.

Sorry for the candor, but you asked. :-[

 

[Gary in MD]

Cold Bore..... Well said and spot on.
Gary

 

[GT Accuracy]

Absolutely. Thanks for the candor. I just see this topic pop up quite often and if the need / wishes were high enough then move it to the next level.

Like you mentioned they had some pretty stout names on their writers list which I am sure could be replaced by others in the field if the demand was great enough.

Online forums are full of great info no doubt but it seems many people want something tangible in hand. If we got a draw large enough I am sure we could get a field writer like Mike Dillon or Abner from FoxPro to do something, a gunsmith like Gordy, Speedy, Borden, or Goodling might be willing to contribute for an advertising spot etc. maybe Erik cortina could write about his brass prep and reloading methods.

In no way was I intending to be soul contributor of the content. But before spending 20 hrs on the phone trying to line something up for a test run with some of the networking contacts I have in the industry, I was just trying to get a feel for demand.

Again, as always, thanks for an accurate and valuable outlook - it absolutely could be dead before starting due to the environment like you said

 

[GT Accuracy]

And before someone mentions - I understand many of the people are already contributing members of the forums and have already done some of these things online.

I recognize this, but should still be mentioned as a possibility.

 

[Cold Bore]

Online forums are full of great info no doubt but it seems many people want something tangible in hand.

I'm actually one of those guys.

I *much* prefer to read from paper and ink as opposed to a computer screen (and won't even TRY on a phone!).

However, guys like me are becoming rarer and rarer.

If you are going to start a venture, you need to look at future trends and demands, not live in the past.

And if you do indeed intend to start up this venture, you need to be at 100%, full-sized, ready to go (and ready to KEEP going). With the average Americans attention span, if your e-subscription doesn't draw them in, hard, and hold on tight, they will be gone tomorrow, over to the latest hot forum, and never think twice about coming back to yours.

In other words, you can't start small, scraping by, and hope to "eventually" grow and slowly expand. If you lose their interest, they're gone, and your venture will die a lingering, tortured death.

 

[GT Accuracy]

Cold bore

i completely agree with your statements. There are different avenues one can take when looking at starting any type of business in terms of forecasting, expectation, interest, etc...which it seems you have a very good grasp on.

When I look at that forums and read about the travesty that VHA committed with everyones multi-year subscriptions and not returning any money it makes me morose for the community as a whole. It seems, at least to me, that something else outside of the magazine might have caused their demise.

While this is not the location/forum (pun intended) for business layout conversation it is the location for conjecture on "IF-THEN" statements.

If a guy/gal wanted to contribute to a community and only worry about breaking even on the hard costs, thus donating their time, for the first 1-2 years of the product, which happens in nearly every new start-up anyway, would this shooter/varmint community be grateful enough to help spur it along.

Regardless this whole thing is infantile. Idk maybe i am more of a theorist than i like to be but, in theory, i'd love to at the very least help in whatever ways I can regardless of the need of the venture.

Anyway - i'm heading out to hunt. I'll be interested in following up on this tomorrow night. Good luck to all you guys with seasons opening up today.

 

[sscoyote]

I used to write freelance for PS Publications and VHA mostly. Loved writing for them since they didn't overedit like some of the editors do. I actually have a few pieces i wrote awhile back that i need to find a home for. Might start a new thread here to see what the general consensus is Greg. Often thought if PS could've partnered with the VHA they might just have something marketable...might!

I agree that the internet is taking over print magazines but i wonder if there's a bit of room for one magazine with minimal overhead that encompasses most of what PS Pubs., VHA, SCN, and maybe Shooter's News had to offer?

 

[17VLD]

Good idea Steve,I miss a good magazine about small cal,varmints and precision shooting.
Matt

 

[Tommie]

I also am a hard copy magazine reader and wouldn't subscribe to an online publication.

That said...

Would this very website not be the perfect avenue for member-written articles? The site might get additional traffic (good for advertisers) while some of us wanna-be writers could get the chance to test our chops.

Several years ago Todd Kindler encouraged me to write an article for SCN about a custom rifle I build. I wrote the story but soon after that the magazine died. I'd surely like to publish the story somewhere.

 

[sstkmkrr]

Grey you can count me in if you decide to go with a hard copy subscription. Just let me know! We need a raising from these ashes!

Best Regards

Steve Murphy

 

[Ironworker]

Thumbs up !

 

[sscoyote]

Grey you can count me in if you decide to go with a hard copy subscription. Just let me know! We need a raising from these ashes!

Best Regards

Steve Murphy

Hear, hear...just let me know where to send the $.

 

[GT Accuracy]

glad to see some interest. What kind of size are you all looking for and periodical timeframe. I know VHA was quarterly, if i remember right. Where you all satisfied with 4 issues a year or would you like to see 6?

 

[sstkmkrr]

Greg, personally I would like to see six issues per year.

Thanks, and just let me know if you want to try subscriptions. Because I'm all in!

Steve Murphy

 

[sscoyote]

doesn't make any difference to me