Train 'Zine!

[Martijn Meerts]

Companies need to have a good incentive to give out discounts. Smaller clubs, sites and forums aren't likely to give the company a lot in return for their discounts.

 

What could be a possibility, although a very time consuming one, to give them that incentive, is to for example create a free magazine (release 1 every 2 months or so, maybe less initially), downloadable in .pdf, in which you have general articles, talk about prototypes, but especially have product reviews. The products used in the reviews could be supplied by 1 or more online stores, and obviously you'll have "Review sample kindly provided by such-and-so" in the article. You can also have their logo listed on a page here or there.

 

Obviously, there would have to be a few issues out already, and you'd have to be able to show good download statistics on those issues. But like I said, it's a LOT of work, and the question is of course, how popular such a magazine would be outside of Japan in the first place.

 

 

Another advantage of such a magazine though, is that we already have a lot of information on these forums as well as on personal blogs. It would be nice to gather all that and place it all in 1 spot, in a nice readable, printable and especially easily searchable format.

[CaptOblivious]

Just a random thought.

 

And a good one, to be sure!

 

Actually, I like Martijn's idea. I've always wanted to do a 'zine :D The question is how to organize ourselves to actually do that…

I myself have at least a tiny bit of experience doing layout and design (although nothing like Martijn's; I never did design work for a living), and I'm familiar with PageMaker (it's been a few years though) and could probably get up to speed on other layout programs (e.g. Quark) pretty quickly. Of course, I don't exactly own copies of those programs…

 

 

Still doesn't get the group discounts, though (even as it might get some contributors free items to review).

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I do web design, not print design, although I do work for a company which does mainly print design ;)

 

Should the magazine get popular, it could be possible to come to some sort of agreement with some or the other store that regular contributors get discounts in return for advertising and/or writing a review for the item(s) they got discounts on. Should the magazine get really popular, it could start making some money from advertisement, which can then be used to buy a "gift" for regular contributors for example. We might not be able to get a direct discount at a store for everyone, but there are possibilities =)

 

 

As for organizing. As I said, it requires a lot of time to write each issue, not to mention a lot of discipline. It's not impossible though, I happen to know of a free magazine that released quite a few issues. It was all about Z-scale and had plenty great articles and reviews. The magazine was run by mainly 1 guy with a little help from his wife. They lost interest in the hobby though, so the magazine got shut down, but I managed to get all issues downloaded before it disappeared.

 

We'd need 1 or 2 main editors, who are the people working with the actual layout of the magazine, how it looks, in which order content is placed, etc. These need to have at least a bit of an eye for design and especially a good idea of how potential readers would go through the magazine.

 

We'll need as many contributors as possible to write articles, reviews, how-to's etc. We'll likely also need some people who keep track of what the manufacturers are up to. One (in my opinion) good idea would be to make a list of popular releases, and keep track of when those are re-issued by the various manufacturers (for example, Kato is doing production runs of the E4 Max, 500 series, Narita Express, etc. in the upcoming 3-4 months. This is good info to have.)

 

Very important, we'll need someone with a good grasp on English and English grammar for spell checking and such. Should be working together with the editors (the editors obviously need to do spell checking to the best of their abilities) and able to do a lot of reading and re-reading of articles.

 

We'll also need to take lots of pictures, so someone with a good eye for color is good to have as well. Color correction and image retouching etc.

 

Possibly a translator to translate texts from Japanese to English. This can be prototype information, important news items from the manufacturers, possibly translations of fact sheets/manuals that come included with loco's/train sets.

 

Next we'd need to figure out how often to release, magazine name, should it be Japanese trains only, should it be N-scale only, should it be models only or prototype info as well, how many pages, what kind of features should be in it (reader mail, "ask an expert" type columns, ads, sell/buy etc.)

 

 

As for which program to use, those on a Mac might want to grab a trial version of iWork '09, pages '09 allows you to create magazines quite easily, and they look good. Best of all though, you can share drafts online (via iwork.com) with people who can than make comments etc. in real time. It's still in beta, but I have to say it looks very promising. iWork is also very affordable ;)

 

 

 

(And yes, I've actually already been considering doing a magazine, or at least a 10-20 page newsletter or something for quite a while. With the model train hobby not always the easiest to get into, especially not with the Japanese prototype, it would be great to have as much info as possible easily accessible ;))

[Guest ___]

Why does this feel like something I'm either going to get suckered into or just volunteered for. My education is in photojournalism, with fifteen years i print media. My last job was the senior technical writer for bp Solar, NA responsible for publications. I also spent 2 years as a publications officer for the US Coast Guard Aux.

 

EDIT: Sadly I don't proof while on the nite quil

[CaptOblivious]

I have Pages, I know how to use it, and I write for a living. Moreover, my subject matter (philosophy) is such that a large part of my writing consists in rendering the occult manifest---one of the ostensive goals of this proposed publication.

 

I also do amateur photography (albeit black and white), but the lighting conditions in my apartment are abysmal and the one digital camera we have can't drive a flash head. I blame the bad lighting for the rotten photos on my blog. I'll have to fix that.

[CaptOblivious]

I've split this topic. The post you are looking for might be here:

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,622.0.html

[Darren Jeffries]

Well I have qualifications in english (and I am english :P), albeit some 15 years old now. I used to edit the company newsletter which was released twice a year. I dont run Mac utilities but i do have microsoft works and Openoffice on one of my PC's.

 

I would be more than happy to contribute as much as i can.

 

I would like to make one thing very clear though. I noted that somebody mentioned trying to clear cash to cover bandwidth and hosting fees, and while I looked into this on Don's suggestion some time ago, it did not work out a viable option. I am not interested in recouping my costs to run this forum, quite honestly it costs me about £4.50 ($6-7) a month on the current bandwidth allocation which hardly breaks the bank! As forums are not high bandwidth utilities, i cannot forsee the need to increase the allocation until we get either a heavy gallery load or more than 1000 active members.

 

My gift to our group is to provide this place for us all to exchange information and learn. All i ask is the help i already get from the other admins. Besides, it is not entirely selfless, as i plan to steal all your ideas as soon as i get the attic finished to start my new layout!!!!!!

[CaptOblivious]

Darren, you are indeed very generous.* Thank you  :D

 

*Although the context of what Darren just said may imply otherwise, this is not sarcasm.

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, it looks like we have quite a bit of experience, could be fun to give it a try, see what we can come up with ;)

 

I do some amateur photography as well, and have the equipment to make good pictures (I have a Sony Alpha 100 and 700, tripod, various lenses including a macro lenses, ring light, and 2 sizes of Lastolite's product tent thingy. I'm just not very good at taking pictures just yet =)

 

I do have Pages as well, looks like a nice tool especially combined with iWork.com.

 

 

Darren, Pages is fully compatible with Word, and you can actually download a word version of a pages file from iwork.com. You can also comment on texts and such online. It might be better to use a program that all of us have access to, but on the other hand, I believe you can make something with Pages that looks good without having to dig deep into how the program works.

 

As for bandwidth, you may need some more of that should the magazine get big. But if we do go on with this, we'll probably need a specific domain and hosting just for the magazine though.

[Darren Jeffries]

 

 

As for bandwidth, you may need some more of that should the magazine get big. But if we do go on with this, we'll probably need a specific domain and hosting just for the magazine though.

 

This is simple enough, i can have as many domains as i need on this package.

[Guest ___]

Maybe this is the nite-quil still talking and I'm sure to get slammed by everyone on here for this, but before really putting a whole hell of a lot of thought into this, maybe a gauge study should be conducted both on forums and maybe the Yahoo groups to see how feasible this endeavor really is. While we have a vast talent pool to create a zine, is the market there at this time to bare it?

 

The numbers of active members on here is pretty limited, and those who are active on the Yahoo groups are equally matched in this regard. While there are a lot of lurkers out there, potential hobbyists, and those who just are into it but not in to it", demographically speaking even globally we're a small group.

[Martijn Meerts]

Maybe this is the nite-quil still talking and I'm sure to get slammed by everyone on here for this, but before really putting a whole hell of a lot of thought into this, maybe a gauge study should be conducted both on forums and maybe the Yahoo groups to see how feasible this endeavor really is. While we have a vast talent pool to create a zine, is the market there at this time to bare it?

 

The numbers of active members on here is pretty limited, and those who are active on the Yahoo groups are equally matched in this regard. While there are a lot of lurkers out there, potential hobbyists, and those who just are into it but not in to it", demographically speaking even globally we're a small group.

 

As I mentioned in the original post, the question is how popular such a magazine would be. But it works 2 ways.. Without making any ideas, we won't be able to tell possibly interested people what the contents of the magazine would be, which might mean they won't show any interest. On the other hand, if we do come up with ideas and make some really rough examples, we might waste a lot of time...

[CaptOblivious]

Maybe this is the nite-quil still talking and I'm sure to get slammed by everyone on here for this, but before really putting a whole hell of a lot of thought into this, maybe a gauge study should be conducted both on forums and maybe the Yahoo groups to see how feasible this endeavor really is. While we have a vast talent pool to create a zine, is the market there at this time to bare it?

 

The numbers of active members on here is pretty limited, and those who are active on the Yahoo groups are equally matched in this regard. While there are a lot of lurkers out there, potential hobbyists, and those who just are into it but not in to it", demographically speaking even globally we're a small group.

 

No, that's not the Ny-Quil, thats the Natural Light of Reason speaking. I accept that membership here and at Yahoo is small, and while I agree that a demographic study would be worthwhile, I can say this much: There are a hell of a lot of people googling things like "Tomix EF81 DCC" and "Micro Ace quality" and "Kato vs. Tomix?". I know this because many of them end up at my blog, and then Google and other stats programs report this fact to me. I think there is a terrificly large audience out there, but that they are, by and large, non-participatory---hence the low membership numbers. But of course, this is largely the audience a magazine-like format caters to, right?

 

I figure, if there's the interest and energy to start this, might as well do it while we've got the momentum. I'm gonna be writing these articles one way or the other anyway :D

[Guest ___]

Maybe this is the nite-quil still talking and I'm sure to get slammed by everyone on here for this, but before really putting a whole hell of a lot of thought into this, maybe a gauge study should be conducted both on forums and maybe the Yahoo groups to see how feasible this endeavor really is. While we have a vast talent pool to create a zine, is the market there at this time to bare it?

 

The numbers of active members on here is pretty limited, and those who are active on the Yahoo groups are equally matched in this regard. While there are a lot of lurkers out there, potential hobbyists, and those who just are into it but not in to it", demographically speaking even globally we're a small group.

 

No, that's not the Ny-Quil, thats the Natural Light of Reason speaking. I accept that membership here and at Yahoo is small, and while I agree that a demographic study would be worthwhile, I can say this much: There are a hell of a lot of people googling things like "Tomix EF81 DCC" and "Micro Ace quality" and "Kato vs. Tomix?". I know this because many of them end up at my blog, and then Google and other stats programs report this fact to me. I think there is a terrificly large audience out there, but that they are, by and large, non-participatory---hence the low membership numbers. But of course, this is largely the audience a magazine-like format caters to, right?

 

I figure, if there's the interest and energy to start this, might as well do it while we've got the momentum. I'm gonna be writing these articles one way or the other anyway :D

 

 

My Gen-X art council consisted of about 8 of us, with 4 of us doing the bulk of the work. 3 of the 4 of us got so overwhelmed so fast with the workload that everyone burned out. I see this a lot with small groups more so than with the larger ones. I have even seen this within my own Coast Guard Flotilla so many times that I always err on the side of caution when big plans are in the planning stages.

 

So groups respond much better than other when I try to nicely put out the ole' "Let's pace ourselves" memo. We have a similar situation right now with the JRM. Once things are all settled, I should have a huge announcement about the club on here. But like here, JRM has a huge aspiring goal that might overwhelm the members.

 

I love the idea of the zine, and personally think it's what is needed to really spark such a niche sub-genre of the hobby. I only fear that the workload burden to payoff ratio may do more to burn people out fast.

[stevenh]

I really do like this idea... I could see myself with a hacky electronics column :)

 

I suppose one good way to start would be to create a new folder in the forum and have people post articles as topics to it.

Replies would be kept to a minimum and it would be up to the author to update the first post and mark it as 'publishable' once they'd seen fit?

Topics would then be locked once used in a newsletter?

There could also then be a gallery of shots (with full descriptions/captions) for usage in an online publication with these also being suitable marked/locked? once used.

 

As for software... online collaboration would be the best way to start with the final collation done in real software.... PDF to distribute but also viewable online?

[CaptOblivious]

My Gen-X art council consisted of about 8 of us, with 4 of us doing the bulk of the work. 3 of the 4 of us got so overwhelmed so fast with the workload that everyone burned out. I see this a lot with small groups more so than with the larger ones. I have even seen this within my own Coast Guard Flotilla so many times that I always err on the side of caution when big plans are in the planning stages.

 

So groups respond much better than other when I try to nicely put out the ole' "Let's pace ourselves" memo. We have a similar situation right now with the JRM. Once things are all settled, I should have a huge announcement about the club on here. But like here, JRM has a huge aspiring goal that might overwhelm the members.

 

I love the idea of the zine, and personally think it's what is needed to really spark such a niche sub-genre of the hobby. I only fear that the workload burden to payoff ratio may do more to burn people out fast.

 

Fair enough.

 

Let me preface my comments with this, that I am no stranger to organizing large and complex events. I have at least some inkling of the amount of work it can take to get a complex project off the ground, especially when there's just two of you doing everything. In other words, Shashinka's warning doesn't fall on deaf ears.

 

Indeed, as it is, I have limited time that I could allocate to this; and all of it would be at the expense of my modeling and blogging activities. It is entirely possible that I am being overly optimistic about how much work this would be (although this is not something I'm often guilty of).

 

That said, the question of workload strikes me as what we philosophers call an "empirical question": There is a simple test we can perform to find out the answer. We can do an issue, as an experiment. If we keep our expectations about the future prospects low (i.e., we recognize the experimental nature of the enterprise), we might learn just what early burnout is, and whether it could be avoided. If it starts to be too much, we abandon it before the experimental issue is finished, no hard feelings. We might finish the issue and yet realize that it would be too much. But we might find that there is a team of us that works well together, and find that if we keep a sufficiently long timeline (not loose! but lengthy.) that it is doable. We'll never know unless we try :D

 

So that's my 2-pence: Duly warned by Shashinka, who has valid concerns, let's take a small team and see how much work it's really going to be. Would this be sufficient pacing ourselves?

[Darren Jeffries]

Ok, I think we have good points in both opinion camps here. I think now is the time to put something into action. I say we should go with the idea on a "trial basis" (maybe one or two issues).

 

Firstly we should decide who will be involved and what their general area should be. So I am going to now ask you all to "raise a hand" if you would like to be involved in this, and in what capacity. Don't forget that the ultimate goal here is to create something that could be a great information resource to all JR modellers regardless of whether they are members here, at yahoo or elsewhere. Second to this is the prospect of retailer and manufacturer recognition which could ultimately lead to some "perks" for our members.

 

So have a show of hands, who wants to be involved here?

 

I will put my aye in first which no particular preference to position but would say at this stage, reviews are something probably best left to somebody with a working track!!!!

[Martijn Meerts]

We'd definitely need to be careful and start small. Making 1 or 2 trial magazines with a limited amount of pages sounds like a good idea.

 

Obviously, I'd be happy to help out. Due to limited space I guess I won't be able to do much along the lines of how-to's and reviews, but I would love to help out on the editing, layout and design parts, as well as take pictures.

 

I guess we'll have to make a separate section on the forum for "Magazine staff" where people can post ideas, pictures, drafts etc, so that the articles in the magazine would show up in the magazine first, and then later on this forum or the blog of the person who wrote the article. People interested in submitting an occasional article could just send it to a specific email address or something.

 

But I'll leave the specifics to people with organizational and project management skills =)

[Guest ___]

I feel my concerns were validated :) Ok, with that all said, I'd raise my hand and would like to work on the project.

[CaptOblivious]

Oh, oh, me, me!

I volunteer to, in order of priority, contribute, edit, and do design and layout work.

[stevenh]

I guess we'll have to make a separate section on the forum for "Magazine staff" where people can post ideas, pictures, drafts etc, so that the articles in the magazine would show up in the magazine first, and then later on this forum or the blog of the person who wrote the article. People interested in submitting an occasional article could just send it to a specific email address or something.

 

I take it my post got completely overlooked....

 

Will be watching this thread closely with the objective to jump in with materials as soon as possible.

[Martijn Meerts]

Steven, not overlooked at all, just figured we'd need to keep it closed off at first, so at least some of the magazine's content hasn't been read a billion times by everyone on the forum =)

[CaptOblivious]

stevenh, trust me, you get the electronics column :D Although nothing has even been discussed yet, we'll certainly be needing content soon, if you want to whip out the typewriter…

[stevenh]

I'll put my thinking cap on for new data.... maybe as I installed a decoder in my new Hikari RailStar and watch it zoooooom on the layout to be retrieved tomorrow  ;D

 

And I didn't mean to bitch... I just want in.  :P

[Bernard]

Sorry guys that I haven't posted in the 'Zine thread. I think it's a good idea and I like Don's suggestion of a trial issue. If I can help, count me in.

Right now I'm under a deadline which involves travel time to do some interviews, but I will try and help out.