Throw in a couple of rods and I think they call that "session fishing" ;-)
This Week's Angler's Mail
- Thread starter maceo
- Start date
Throw in a couple of rods and I think they call that "session fishing" ;-)
nicepix
Well-known member
As a youngster I used to await the weekly arrival of AM and AT with anticipation. Then AM recruited John Bailey and I cancelled my subscription after the third outpouring of his "Me, me, me" contributions. I wouldn't and still don't believe a word he has written, and place him at the forefront of the reasons why the angling press is now so dire. Too many writers trying to build a reputation on their own say-so.
The other reason why so little good stuff gets into the press is that they don't pay enough or offer writers any security. This is especially so with monthly magazines that are produced two months ahead of their monthly date. So, if a writer were to submit an illustrated article on December grayling he would have to submit it before October. If the article was published the author might be paid three months later.
The fees for a two page article with say four photos would be in the region of £200 - £300 maximum. Given the work involved in writing, editing and preparing the photographs to a high standard you would get £300 between two people (you need a photographer and a subject to photograph). That payment would be received 12 to 13 months after the fishing session if the editor used it and there is no guarantee that they will.
Mostly the magazines rely on sponsored anglers promoting their products or vanity input, i.e. anglers wanting to get their names in print. There is no wonder that the angling press is full of product placements and poor quality articles.
A perfect summary. You could put inverted commas around the word writers otherwise it sums up my own feelings on the subject.
People who can't really write, who are writing about subjects they know little about, for people who don't know any better.
sam vimes
Well-known member
itsfishingnotcatching
Well-known member
sam vimes
Well-known member
You could always do a Shimano advertorial Sam
Perhaps, but at least I've got the good grace to actually buy the stuff with my own money.
itsfishingnotcatching
Well-known member
Opportunity for you "in retirement" Sam, you actually write what you believe, that must guarantee success, if only for the novelty factor :wh
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Just a drive-by quickie...
I find myself in complete agreement with the above.
I was offered a weekly column in said paper a couple of years ago, some months before someone else appeared in the paper.
I declined.
"Very nice of you to think about about me, but I really don't do that sort of thing..."
Same with the old 'Angling' magazine in the 1970s when it was a great paper edited by people I sometimes fished with, got on with and liked.
"... would kill the magic for me, Bruce. I'll do occasionals for you, but never expect them...".
Get the weeklies back on the rails, chaps - if you don't you're going to kill off the sort of Angling that people find themselves doing for a lifetime and not just for a season or two before it all seems so easy, naff or crass.
Anyway, back to the real world.
sam vimes
Well-known member
Mark Wintle
Well-known member
£200 or £300 per article? I wish, £70 to £100 if you're lucky, occasionally more. They do pay up soon afterwards though not a year later.
There's plenty of getting acceptance of an article in concept, submitting the article and then it isn't used. With the loss of Coarse Fisherman there seem to be too many writers chasing too few slots, and one or two that are trying to earn a living at it which is pushing water uphill as far as I'm concerned. Personally, if I can get up to half a dozen articles published a year until my full retirement then it'll pay for a couple of angling permits.
As for the glorious past then a glance through the old magazines soon reveals that rose-tinted specs enable the wearer to see the occasional good article rather than the abundant dross. There are some good articles in the likes of Angling etc. but they are spread more thinly than some believe. I've got almost complete runs of Creel, Angling, Angler's World and Fishing, amongst many others, and have started to find that if there's an issue that seems almost impossible to track down that when you do find it, the reason it's rare is because it's an issue with nothing to make it worth keeping! It's also amazing how some writers that I'd better not name have reused the same material so many times that it beggars belief it got accepted though a few editors eventually tumbled.
My favourite articles from the days of old in AT and AM were Ivan Marks and Kevin Ashurst - Peter Collins and Colin Graham respectively both doing an excellent job in coaxing out tremendous detail when they wrote up the articles.
There's plenty of getting acceptance of an article in concept, submitting the article and then it isn't used. With the loss of Coarse Fisherman there seem to be too many writers chasing too few slots, and one or two that are trying to earn a living at it which is pushing water uphill as far as I'm concerned. Personally, if I can get up to half a dozen articles published a year until my full retirement then it'll pay for a couple of angling permits.
As for the glorious past then a glance through the old magazines soon reveals that rose-tinted specs enable the wearer to see the occasional good article rather than the abundant dross. There are some good articles in the likes of Angling etc. but they are spread more thinly than some believe. I've got almost complete runs of Creel, Angling, Angler's World and Fishing, amongst many others, and have started to find that if there's an issue that seems almost impossible to track down that when you do find it, the reason it's rare is because it's an issue with nothing to make it worth keeping! It's also amazing how some writers that I'd better not name have reused the same material so many times that it beggars belief it got accepted though a few editors eventually tumbled.
My favourite articles from the days of old in AT and AM were Ivan Marks and Kevin Ashurst - Peter Collins and Colin Graham respectively both doing an excellent job in coaxing out tremendous detail when they wrote up the articles.
I have some sympathy (yet don't buy) the AT and AM but there only so much to be said, a writer working on a 'labour of love' won't be writing to fill the pages of the AM and AT. If, as has been punted, they are mainly bought by beginners then these guys are not going to be over critical of the content, nor harping back to a 'golden age'.
FM seems like a decent compromise where articles can be written as a hobby, with care and warmth for the wider membership to read - with no deadlines to be met.
FM seems like a decent compromise where articles can be written as a hobby, with care and warmth for the wider membership to read - with no deadlines to be met.
cg74
Well-known member
The missus bought me copies of both the AT and AM (not by my request). On reading through them it rapidly became obvious that yes it is the same old rehashed articles.
But back in their heyday (80's and 90's) what was so different; me, I was a younger, less experienced angler desperately trying to learn and learn fast.
I think if many were truly honest; since the mid/late 80's what has really changed - I'd suggest not much really.
Chub fishing in winter using bread and cheese paste was the norm and it still is - I used to love reading Des Taylor's instructionals, as that's basically what they were.
If I read an article written by Martin Bowler on the same subject, I more often than not get bored before even reaching halfway, why; because I don't want a lesson on how to catch chub!
Could I write an interesting article, NO, an instructional, yes!
On watching a couple videos on catching barbel this week, it enforced my opinion further, angling literature is predominantly aimed at aspiring beginners. I sat through the first one continually shaking my head at what I perceived as mistakes and ignoring product placements.
The second video was aiming at a slightly more competent angler but was pretty dull but that's because apart from a quick summary of the swim and baiting approach, what's left to say without pushing products?
So how is a publication supposed to succeed - TBH they ain't going to, I'd reckon in the next 10 years we'll be down to two weekly and perhaps two or three monthlies.
chub_on_the_block
Well-known member
I agree with cg74. For me, the main reason i was buying AT/AM back in the day, after i had already learned the basics and collected the full set of Fishermans Handbook etc etc, was for the match results and the Clubman results. Not that i was match fishing, but it gave me an idea of the form local river stretches were in and ideas on other places to try. Now i have to trawl various club sites on the net for the results - if they can be bothered to update them, and in general of course theres far fewer matches fished in places of interest.
nicepix
Well-known member
Is this for real or should I take a trip to Specsavers?
Look more closely and you'll see it's a quick drive-by self promotion.
Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)
Moderator
Now, now! Play nicely
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
Look more closely and you'll see it's a quick drive-by self promotion.
You don't have to look closely - it jumps of the page at you
simon dunbar
Well-known member
I still by the Anglers Mail , I like Gary Newmans fishing adventures where he fishes abroad , he's done some good write ups on fishing in South America and in India . I like to keep up a bit with what's happening in the angling world too.
My favourite fishing magazine , as I have said before on here , was Coarse Angler when Colin Dyson was editor. I 've always preffered fishing accounts rather than instructional pieces and Coarse Angler had some good articles.
My favourite fishing magazine , as I have said before on here , was Coarse Angler when Colin Dyson was editor. I 've always preffered fishing accounts rather than instructional pieces and Coarse Angler had some good articles.
dangermouse
Well-known member
Now, now! Play nicely
Yes, apparently even when Paul agrees with someone he can spark an incident.
mark barrett 2
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Have to say that I feel exactly the same about Mr Bailey, the same guy that not so long ago was telling us to cut the point off flies to experience the "take" etc. Likewise his recent story about putting back a record rudd and going back and measuring the length etc......hmmmm.
As to Mr Bottle rocket you are of course entitled to your opinion, however book sales would suggest that perhaps below average is not a widely held opinion. :x
---------- Post added at 00:31 ---------- Previous post was at 00:25 ----------
One other thing that I would add is that after twenty or thirty years at the sport there will be many that believe, rightly or wrongly that they have pretty much seen it all and the chances that you would still see the arrival of the mail or times as the weeks highlight are very slim. But hbaving a nephew thats now getting right into his fishing I see exactly the same in him and his copy of the mail thast has replaced his teenage mutant turtles or whatever it was he used to have. He cant wait to get it and reads through it every week.
its the old circle of life etc etc.
This doesn't make sense, are you saying that below average book sales indicate that an opinion of mine is not widely held?