Comments

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  Ed Wetschler December 14, 2009 at 12:11am

  Excellent point, Allan: Patagonia is surely Exhibit A of out-of-touch travel journalism.
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  Allan Lynch December 13, 2009 at 11:55pm

  Buzzy,
  
  Geez, I didn't realize you could get it for $8. At that rate I might have subscribed.
  
  But when I was a publisher, we would offer deals, especially at trade shows where I'd hawk an introductory subscription of five months for five bucks. People always had five bucks in their pocket. It's an amount they don't have to think about. I did this in the firm belief that after they had received five issues they would be hooked and want to buy a regular subscription. We had a 70% conversion rate, so these do work. IF you have content readers want.
  
  I believe in aspirational stories, but I sometimes think publications lose touch with their readers. They describe adventures which are so dangerous or so expensive that very few people could do them. That's not to say you don't run these pieces, but you marry some practically into them.
  
  I suspect that with some magazines, buy the time someone can afford an exotic adventure holiday, your body has rebelled against it or you now have responsibilities (career, family, time, etc.) which make it impractical.
  
  I often think of the number of people I know who have gone to Patagonia. I can think of ten who have been there. Everyone of them is a travel writer. I don't know a single, pay-my-own-way tourist/traveller who has gone to Patagonia. Yet, travel editors are always interested in it. Are readers?
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  Maralyn D Hill December 13, 2009 at 7:55pm

  I've an assignment where I need to get information on different Asian celebrations for the Chinese New Year. I need regional recipes tied into the celebrations with credits for the chef/property and dish history, jpgs are desirable. The article will be on a site that gets 1.6 million visitors a month to food page and will be introduced in a mailing to 250,000 subscribers. If you represent any properties that can assist with this, I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
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  Lana Bortolot December 13, 2009 at 7:22pm

  Thank you, James, for Manduria/Primitivo recommendation. Enjoy Roma.
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  Buzzy Gordon December 13, 2009 at 7:15pm

  Good points, Alan. Of course, like every other business, Zoom was run by people, not prophets, so they can not be faulted for shutting down "prematurely."
  As for NGA, it.only got to 600K circulation cuz they were selling annual subscriptions for a mere $8. That was not sustainable, so NG is better off as a whole incentviizing NGA readers to switch to NG and NGT
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  Allan Lynch December 13, 2009 at 2:06am

  Actually, publications live off circulation income and advertising. In fact, advertising is a new-ish invention. In the old days, newspapers and magazines lived solely off their circulation revenue. A Canadian author - and founding editor of The National Post - has written a book about Hearst and revisited popular myths about how his papers were crap, etc. He makes the point that when publications began to rely on advertising they got lazy and started caring less about what interested readers. It's an interesting discussion.
  
  NGA closure, I think, was premature. A 600,000 circulation is nothing to sneeze at. But I wonder if anyone at NG wanted to do the heavy lifting required to make the title profitable - or more profitable? It's too bad that so many businesses have such short-term focus.
  
  I think back to the closure of Zoom Airlines. Oil was at $150 a barrel (for no reason other than Wall Street speculation), and looked to go to $200. Zoom couldn't sustain their business at $200 a barrel, so they closed. Two months later, oil was $70 a barrel. A price with which Zoom could have thrived.
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  Kat Morgenstern December 13, 2009 at 12:45am

  Well - National Geographic Adventure Magazine is closing. What does that tell you? Magazines sell because of their content, but they live off advertising dollars. If the two don't match, they die.
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  Allan Lynch December 13, 2009 at 12:22am

  Ah, but is it selling advertising space now?
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  Kat Morgenstern December 12, 2009 at 11:58pm

  I think it would be good to differentiate a little bit. Travel writing for the armchair traveler who enjoys a good story is one thing, perhaps best delivered in a book format. When it comes to travel writing for magazines unfortunately editors often think about potential advertisers first, which means they are looking for 'drop your credit card here' stories rather than actual grits - the good, the bad and the ugly of travel that all real people who are out there exploring the world inevitably encounter. Paradise only exists in brochures, but it sells advertising space.
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  David G. Molyneaux December 12, 2009 at 7:38pm

  Mary Alice,
  I recommend travel writing to everyone. Of course what they really mean is how to I get published? And paid. Well, tell them to forget that. Instead, take advantage of what travel teaches us about our world and ourselves. And write it, in the spirit of those who traveled before us. You might start with Homer. Don't forget a few of my favorites, Steinbeck, Twain and Stevenson.