Question for the Editor of Wood Magazine

[Douglas Robinson]

I got the idea to collect people's questions for, Marlen Kemmet, the Editor of Wood magazine, from the following thread:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=35845

So, give me your questions about Wood magazine and try to be polite. Marlen will provide me with his answers and I will post them back in this thread. We are talking question about the magazine, e.g., what is it's target audience, (age, skill, etc.) Why is the layout the way it is, why has the finish quality of the magazine changed, etc...

Doug

 

[MarkE]

Ok. I'll go first.

Many of us here on NCWW purchased the Wood Magazine DVD last year. I see that the new edition including 2010 is now out.

Is there (or will there be) some way to add the new content to what we already have? It would be nice if the contents of the DVD could be installed to a hard drive and then just add new content to it as it becomes available.

 

[hockey1]

First I would like to say thanks for affording the opportunity to ask such questions. As stated from previous posters in another thread, people feel as though they have sort of outgrown what Wood has to offer due to what seems to be a targeted audience. Would it be possisble for them to include one complex project per edition? In their research department do they have people that scour the internet forums to find trends on what people are doing and create magazines accordingly? (outside of seasonal projects and typical tool questions ie....... what table saw should I buy).

I realize manufacturers pay for advertising on these pages and that helps keep the price of the magazine down. It feels as though every other page when I open up any magazine not just Wood is an advertisment. Can they do anything about that? (more of a personal complaint...sorry)

Although I don't feel as though my questions are of good quality I hope that this thead invokes others with better questions who are willing to speak up as this could potentially affect the outcome of the magazine.

 

[JimmyC]

I also would like to se one advanced type of column in each issue, it could be a project, or a skill ( anything from a jig, to finishing, to even usage of hand tools, or even renovation of old ones). I've enjoyed the magazine for years and I've always said that I'm happy as long as I can get one new, fresh, useful article out of each issue.

Thanks Doug :icon_thum.

 

[ScottM]

I keeping with another tread currently on the site I would like to see a piece every issue dedicated to hand tools. It be how to using them, restoring them, tuning them, making your own or even a project made exclusively using hand tools.

 

[froglips]

I stopped subscribing to Wood quite a few years ago. It was for a simple reason, the content was not useful to me.

I don't feel I get a good value from "tool tests" and "projects you can build this in a weekend". I don't learn from reading "measure this, cut that, glue this".

From time to time I leaf through a copy at the magazine stand, it just doesn't grab me.

While it might seem to be a criticism, my question is (and feel free to rephrase it) who does Wood see as their target market?

Jim

 

[BKind2Anmls]

Wood Magazine seems to post more corrections to articles and plans than any other magazine. Are they working on better procedures so that they can post accurate plans the first time?

 

[JimmyC]

Wood Magazine seems to post more corrections to articles and plans than any other magazine. Are they working on better procedures so that they can post accurate plans the first time?

In all fairness to Wood, at least the print corrections because alot of other magazines have misprints, give misinformation and don't make corrections.

I give Wood a big hand for this.

 

[sawduster]

As a woodworker-wannabe i actually get quite a bit from the magazine. not that i've built anything yet, but at least they make it seem possible :gar-Bi i can see how it would not be interesting for most of you veteran craftsmen as the projects do seem pretty basic ( not to me of course ) . There does seem to be an awful lot of ads as opposed to interesting content but I suppose that is a matter of taking the chaff with the wheat .
I signed up for a pretty good 2 yr + deal that included ( supposedly ) a bonus book on shop tips ...or was it shop jigs ....or shop somethings . Obviously I never recieved the book :wsad: I am constantly bombarded with " time to renew " notices :realmad: These irritate me to no end for, like the little boy who cried wolf , I am not sure exactly when I really need to renew so will probably miss an issue just to be sure and may or may not actually renew depending on the circumstances :dontknow:
I'm sure unaware folks have acted on these and overlapped their subscriptions ....maybe that is the intent, can't say for sure
To their credit, I actually re-organized my shop based on a recent article about doing just that . The included drawing was of a 12 x 20 ( like what i have ) and borrowing ideas from that layout I actually made my shop a little more user-friendly :icon_thum i read the tips and tricks with great interest as I have so little actual experience with much of it
the magazine works pretty well for me and i would highly reccomend it for beginners like myself.
If the subscription dept was on the ball a bit more then i would give it pretty high marks indeed

 

[bwat]

I would have to agree that as a subscriber to multiple WW mags the renewal notices are a major nusiance! The renewal notices start coming before the check has cleared on the first renewal. It seems they want you to believe that every issue is your last even if you have 2 years left on the subscription which makes me NOT want to renew!:wmad:

 

[jjalert]

I would have to agree that as a subscriber to multiple WW mags the renewal notices are a major nusiance! The renewal notices start coming before the check has cleared on the first renewal. It seems they want you to believe that every issue is your last even if you have 2 years left on the subscription which makes me NOT want to renew!:wmad:

I second that. I ordered a bunch of magazines from Amazon in May, all 1 or 2 year subscriptions, and I get renewal notices with virtually every issue, in addition to standalone renewal notices in the mail. No wonder publishers are going bankrupt.. can't be cheap to send out all those mailings, and they're annoying the heck out of their customers.

 

[JackLeg]

I totally agree with Robert, Jason, and bwat! Kill the reorder notices!:thumbs_do Get real!:wsmile:Other than that, I too enjoy the magazine.

 

[MarkE]

I too got a little fed up with the subscription notices. I just called the subscription department and asked them to stop sending them. They must have removed my name from the 'list', because I hardly get any anymore. If the notice comes with the magazine, that can't be prevented, but the ones that come separately in the mail have about stopped.

If you need to know when the subscription expires, that is on the mailing label on each copy of the magazine.

 

[Douglas Robinson]

I let this slip by me and for that I apologize. However, I just had a call from the editor of WOOD magazine and after talking about a number of things we decided to set aside time next monday to go through your questions. Therefore, if you have a question that is not addressed in this thread please post it here by Monday 4/4/11.

Thanks,

Doug

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

After getting today's Wood e-newsletter I thought it would be nice if Wood (actually all the magazines) created their own (or a joint) searchable tip library for woodworkers AND the magazines. I wish the editors would then search these tip libraries to see what has already been published- I really get tired of seeing the same tips over and over.

If they want, at the end of the "New" tip section in the magazine have a short "Golden Oldies Tips" section with one great tip from the past. Most of the tip contracts from the various magazines give them perpetual rights to reprint tips.

 

[Joe Scharle]

I dropped FWW because they charged for the mag AND on-line access.

I feel that if one is a subscriber and the mag references on-line content, it should be available. FREE!

 

[manfre]

He's a minor rant. Why are cut out coupons printed with the backing page being actual content? This means the readers must sacrifice the archival value of the issue to use the coupon.

 

[CrealBilly]

I gave up my subscription a few years ago because there was more advertisement than there was content. Those "blow-ins"... were the last straw for me, there was so many... the magazine came in a plastic wrapper :roll:. Seemed to me I was paying for an opportunity to pick up a bunch of blow-ins off the floor, than I was actual content. My question to the Editor of Wood Magazine, are there plans to add more content than advertisements in the future?

 

[junquecol]

I admire Wood for publishing corrections. I wish I could say the same for Woodsmith and ShopNotes, both of whom I have noted errors to. My favorite thing about Wood is their never ending supply of ideas for jigs. I like their tips, especially the Top Tip. (See July 2010, #198, page 8, and you will see why I think that way.) I really like the fact that if they aren't going to use a tip, they send you a "rejection" right away, instead of just sitting on it for months (years in the case of AWW and FWW.) I appreciate them sponsoring Jim Heavey at the Woodworking Show. His presentations are worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, adds pay the freight in the publishing world. But I also pick up ideas and the like from adds.

 

[Glennbear]

I subscribe to many publications and WOOD is amongst them. I seem to get value from each issue of WOOD but as others have said I could do without the constant barrage of individually mailed renewal offers. :wsmile: