Publishing a magazine is major work; I think they're just tired.

The amount of work that goes into proof-reading, picture editing and cropping, communicating with authors, and all other duties of layout artistry, along with publication deadlines, requires quite a bit more than simply the love of ‘your’ work and the satisfaction of a quality finished product…

It all requires a certain number of subscribers to make it all worth it. The end result must be able to support the owners/editors (Daniel & Joanna) in some sort of lifestyle that they deem acceptable. And at this stage of their lives they would like to not be tied to their desks and keyboards.
I personally have no problem with their decision to close the doors of DGJ.

But like everyone else, I will surely miss the best magazine ever published on the guns we all love so much.

Hopefully the void will someday be filled.





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I am questioning the motivation of this post.

Does this post sound like that of a vintage gun person or of someone pushing an unrelated product?

Has Artificial Intelligence (AI) found its way to the PGCA Forum?

Hase anyone herd when the last reader will be available? SXS Ohio

Russell you are spot on. When I see a person that joins and then the first posting is to try and get you to open a link it runs up a red flag to me also.

Kenny, their note said they’d hope to have the Vol. III Index and Reader available by Christmas 2023.

True, and from a Forum Associate no less.
This is not to say a Forum Associate is any less legitimate, but it does raise ‘that’ flag…





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Bill,

I agree with you about writing and photography. When I write something, I have to write it out long hand at least twice. And while it is in long hand, I have words crossed out and replaced, phrases circled with arrows pointing out where it might fit better. After that, I can type it in a word program and do further editing with cut and paste with additional help from spell check. Then it still needs help from an editor. Somewhere in my house is a digital camera, (I rhink the wife hid it) that I had used years ago, so now I have a friend whose hobby is photography and he takes the photos and sends them to me by e-mail.

I know Dean has done the leg work for PP in the past and now, as your advertising manager, I can tell you the amount of work to produce ONE issue of a magazine is astounding. I have told our publishing/printing company, and editors Mike and Sam, that they have convinced me that being a publisher or editor is work for which there is NOT enough pay. And this is all done by volunteers. There is not one job, editor, printer, treasurer, etc... that is easy with producing Parker Pages. I can't imagine doing what Daniel and Joanna did all those years with such high quality and attention to detail. But yes, lack of subscribers is a huge problem and costs to produce a periodical like that must have been just staggering.

Spot on!!

I once took a job as the advertising manager for a small local magazine. The publisher told me, “you don’t make money from subscriptions, you make money from advertising.” I found it to be a “chicken/egg” sort of thing: it’s hard to sell advertising when you don’t have circulation/readers data to show potential advertisers. I became more of a circulation manager trying to increase readership, and that didn’t align with the publisher’s philosophy so I moved on. The magazine was a nice idea but it folded after a few issues. The Cotes were operating in a very narrow niche market, and while I expect their advertising revenue was fairly constant, I’d guess that increasing that revenue and the circulation revenue to keep ahead of increasing costs was difficult. JMO.

Richard,

I actually had my 870's, 1100's, and black gun before I had a Parker. Maybe looking back to a different era is the romantic in me. Then again, maybe it was the fact that there were far fewer birds to hunt, and I had a greater appreciation for the hunt. Maybe it was the maturity of the hunter.

Exactly. And our reverence for culture, tradition, craft and civilized sport is also going extinct. Hence, the sad decline of readership and close of DGJ...

Apparently, you guys didn't look at the results of this auction :)

Guyette & Deeter Auction

Maybe the Cotes just wanted to retire and could not find a buyer to continue the magazine. Lots of work

I suspect Ed is closest to the truth. It is the fate of every Mom and Pop business. Especially those with no generational opportunities to pass it on to.

They have their son Josh but the job actually requires at LEAST two dedicated people to fill their shoes.





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