If you were the Editor

[Ron Clay]

If you were the editor of a newspaper like Angling Times, what would you do to:
1: Improve its readability.
2: Increase circulation.

For my part I would set aside at least two pages for the incorporation of unsolicited articles, just like they did in the 60s. There are a lot of good potential fishing writers about who would have something interesting to say. A few of them are already cotributing to this web site bute have perhaps never been published in a paper or magazine.
How would you improve AT etc?

 

[Chris Bishop]

As food for thought, the latest ABC figures suggest that only around one in ten anglers currently buys either the Angling Times or Angler?s Mail, meaning there are potentially massive gains there for whoever manages to press the right buttons with the 900,000 or so people who don't currently buy them.

Their respective weekly sales for the year ending Dec 31, 2000 were 60,487 (AT) and 42,341 (AM).

That makes a combined figure of just under 103,000, against an estimated 1m anglers.

 

[GrahamM]

Not too many years ago just one title was selling that number of copies.

The underlying reason is that there just aren't as many anglers. Then internet sites such as this have made a hole in their figures. And I've always thought that the old style, that Ron mentioned, of allowing so many free-lance articles was best.

How they do it now makes it a closed shop, which means that potential new talent (and some of the older guys with a wealth of experience going to waste) haven't got an outlet.

Current styles of many angling publications is very sterile, with such a set regime there is no room for creativity and inventiveness.

Instant this and instant that comes to mind.

It's a good job FISHINGmagic is here where everybody can have their say, either in the forum or by sending an article!

It may come as a surprise to some, but very few submissions are refused. So if there are any budding writers out there we're here for you with plenty of readers waiting to read what you have to say.

 

[sam oddy]

I would welcome part serialistion of angling books, similar to the way the national papers do the potted versions> If authors of current works objected there is a huge back list to go at!

 

[Ron Clay]

How about serialising angling books Graham?

 

[GrahamM]

Given the permission of the author and publisher, why not? Contact me on <a href=mailto:graham@fishingmagic.com>graham@fishingmagic.com