Decline of Countryside Magazine

Or how about an article on how to get your hens to lay eggs in the winter without electricity or an expensive alternative energy source?

(I used to subscribe to Countryside years ago but I noticed too that they seemed focused on costly alternatives and advertisements)

Well there ya go build your root celler out of tires , ram tires with dirt and burm the sides heavt timber across the roof and cover with a couple ft of dirt theres your root celler.
I see no problem with putting up a wind mill. believe it or not a lot of "oldtimers" had windmills. todays windmills produce power which makes for a good article for those trying to wean them selves off the grid and produce sustainable power.Many states back east will actually cover part of the start up cost and make the power company by power from you. The solar shower also works for those off grid and searching for a simpler life.
I do agree on the need for articles on building the more the better .
I often wonder if anyone else has built rabbit cages out of old window airconditioner covers and refrigerator shelves, or slavaged the netting off round bales to cover fruit bushes and the chicken run. Any one else buy a section of traller net to set up portable freerange pens (mines a 50x75ft with 1.5"mesh got it off ebay for $35 ) Also made a couple hammocks out of it .
how about built a shed for the mini . heres mine took all of 30 minutes and cost about a buck noy bad for a 7x6 stall

or the down falls of this chicken house which is being dismantled and the design changed to keep the coon out

BTW the floor is also made of steel doors makes for easy cleaning, have three coatd of epoxy floorpaint on it .
There is no way for a magazine to only have article everyone is interested in . The problem could well be that people arent sharing articles with them .

There may be small periodicals or newsletter which survive solely on subscriptions, but I suspect there are few and far between.

Take FARM SHOW for example, for six regular issues a year there is no paid advertising in it. However, every so often they come out with a BEST OF FARM SHOW issue and it is virtually all paid for rerunnings of items which appeared originally in FARM SHOW.

Problem with advertisers is they look for bangs for the bucks. If they run advertising there will almost always be some method of tracking responses/inquiries by placement. If they don't feel the cost of the advertising is justified by results, they simply stop advertising.

Countryside had been running a two-page advertising each month from Garden Way Publishing (I believe) for their topic pamphlets, such as on ponds. Jd inserted a notice to the publisher to rerun the previous ad. When it appeared it was two blank pages with jd's notice on them - publisher had overlooked it. It caused the advertiser to make the decision to stop advertising (I assume based on a low response from previous issues) and CS lost two full pages of advertising revenue.

Thus, the publication has to generate results for advertisers and hyping may be part of it.

Advertising rates are mostly set on circulation. The larger the circulation the lower the cost per individual contact. Sort of a vicious cycle. Advertising is generated by circulation but too much advertising crimps circulation which, in turn, decreases potential advertising revenue. A balance has to be found somewhere there.

If CS did not accept any advertising I suspect the subscription rate would have to be about double what it is now.

And, yes, I thing CS should consider extending subscriptions based on the quality and quantity of reader submitted and used items.

Let me get this straight. This magazine does not pay contributors, yet expects to sell their submissions to readers?!

You get what you pay for. No wonder they're losing readers!

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"I love all of this mud," said no one, ever.

You are welcome to express your concerns directly with the editor, Anne-marie, at annemarie@tds.net.

Folks, Countryside has never paid for articles. One of its charms was that it was reader-written. For years and years, it was a terrific magazine. Not paying for articles is not the problem.

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www.glimmercroft.com
The basic message of liberalism is simply: The true measure of a society is how it treats the weak and the needy. A simple Christian message (Matthew 25:40). -Garrison Keillor

I subscribed to MEN, Countryside, Backwoods Home, Back Home, OG, for years. But when I got past the "Golly, I want to live in the country!" stage and actually started doing it, I really didn't need the encouragement anymore. I've kept a few back issues, pick up a few at yard sales and thrift stores, etc for nostalgia sake, but for nuts and bolts, I go to Seymore's book, Emery's book, or figure it out for myself. I think the readership of these magazines is ever-evolving. Personally, I gave up on Belanger when he went Y2K crazy.

I miss the really useful articles that I read in Countryside before 2000. I miss the focus on practical issues and keeping it simple....it just seemed so much "meatier" and I miss that. I do still get the magazine though sometimes hubby and I wonder why. Occasionally there is a good article in there and worth the read but we wonder if it justifies actually subscribing. I don't mind the ads, I just wish that it didn't seem to be the substitute for good quality reading.

Please, those of you with a knack for writing and something useful to say....submit the article! I guess you could grump and fuss that you don't directly benefit from having done so but I have some kids coming up in this world with a tremendous interest in all things practical, simple and related to homesteading and they would greatly appreciate your time in putting your experiences and knowledge on paper for them!!

Their is another BIG thing that is affecting Countryside. This website/internet facts. How many of us found this website thru Countryside or vis/versa. We put out huge amounts of practical info. and even larger amounts of fluff here. We don't need to wait for a magazine. We can come here for answers or "heart string tugging stories" right away.
This is happening to all print media. Soon it will be a thing of the past.

The net is the place to go for info. You can get info from the most "respected" to the most "insane" with a simple word search. Instantly.

If you want the magazine experience in the format that you're describing--written by readers, yet chosen with some editorial oversight, then I suggest an experiment.

Ask Chuck for a forum here that will be a 'magazine' forum. Have a panel of moderator/editors come up with submission guidelines--what they're looking for in terms of content and style--just like a real magazine. People submit their articles to the moderator/editors. Nobody else can start a thread in the forum. Every week (month?) that group posts the articles of that week's (month's?) "magazine", each with its own thread.

There would have to be a consistent place for illustrations to be archived and linked to, probably run by the 'editors' as well.

This would allow people to showcase their ideas in a more thoughtful way than the usual off-the-cuff post, and would put a filter over what was presented so that only things meeting the 'editorial standards' would be put up for discussion. (people could always post their 'rejects' elsewhere on HT). I would say few posts here if printed would go over 3 pages; in this format, longer articles with more complex subjects could be dealt with.

Now, nobody *needs* any such construct here at HT to post longer, detailed essays. It is just that for those craving a magazine format with some editorial filtration of content, this community could create that as a sub-area for people who find value added in the filtering of editorial selection.

Its just a thought, feel free to modify or ignore it as you wish.

1. Do people think there is a market for an "advanced homesteading magazine"? Or, would something like that really be more along the lines of a "farming" magazine? Do the lines between "homesteading" and "farming" have a definitive mark, or are they blurred in many shades of gray?

2. Am I right in thinking there is a "backhome" magazine, and a "backwoods" magazine? Or am I cornfuzed as usual? Which one of these is better?

3. I wonder if what we are seeing is simply the gradual but consistent decline of print magazines as the world moves more toward online information. Online information has the benefit of being able to pinpoint and select those specific topics a reader may want at any given time. You don't have to wade through a bunch of articles on fence building, septic tank repair and the like when all you are really looking for at the time is articles on chickens...

That will be enough pontificating from me the morning. Happy new year by the way!

I'd be a little surprised if Anne-Marie didn't know about this thread already. But just in case, I've emailed her the link. She is certainly welcome to read the thread and see what we have to say. Heck, she's even welcome to respond, if she has any interest.

I wonder whether the internet might not be part of the problem as well. If we have something to say, we can get it published immediately. If we have a question, we can just Google it, or use the search function on a homesteading board.

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www.glimmercroft.com
The basic message of liberalism is simply: The true measure of a society is how it treats the weak and the needy. A simple Christian message (Matthew 25:40). -Garrison Keillor

As much as I hate to, I have to agree with this. Just as paper did away with stone tablets, so are computers making printed works obsolet. There are more homes with computer than without. Todays youth have learned to turn to the net for up to date info. Magazine are great, I love everyone that comes to my house. But sites like this are making them a part of history. And the magazine owners are seeing it happen and are trying to get ahead of it. I think that if they start to offer a oline only subscription that it will increse there profits and cut down on the amount of paper put in landfields. With articals online, you can print out what you want and save or file them.

I get Countryside. have for about a year. But as I move from wanting land to working the land I find it less helpful. MEN also has gotten less about doing things in detail and more a into to thing. Backwoods home I still like. Back Woods is a little thin.

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Mickey
Small town redneck in NC

Tallpines: I should have been more specific. In our neck of the woods, old chicken houses generally had a shed roof and the east or south east side was the highest side and had a big window in it. It provided solar heat in cold weather and early morning light so the rooster could see to go to work .
My neighbors had one of those old coops and I always thought it would make a great clubhouse.

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FolioMark

Mus uni non fidit antro. ~ A mouse does not rely on just one hole.----Plautus

I guest that's why I expected you to say the "east" side...........Yup-----if the "high" side is the "east" side----then the "big window on the high side" makes a lot of sense.

That's so true. But it still isn't the same as looking forward to a new issue in the mailbox. Or taking it along to the tub, or curling up with it just before lights out... love the computer but the laptop is still too fragile for some of my favorite reading spots....

I would still pay for print if there were something out there that filled that laptop void.

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Hut on the Hill Farm
http://www.hutonthehill.org

Alrighty, I’m gonna jump head first into this one. Countryside is what it is…people sharing ideas. Some might complain that you get what you pay for meaning what do you expect if you don’t pay your contributors. I’m too dense to be offended so I won’t take an attitude even though I’ve contributed a couple of articles over the past few years. Some folks write better than others…I’ll be the first to admit that I’ll never be mistaken for Hemingway…good thing cause I think that I’m much better looking.

Now, where was I??? Oh yeah, writing…I still enjoy reading the articles in Countryside. Not all of them mind you as sometimes I’m just not interested in the topic. Go figure. On the flip side, there are others I read over & over again. As example, there was a series of articles by a nice lady regarding growing up during the depression (I believe her name was Irene). Wonderful, thought provoking, first hand accounts of growing up during a tough time. Literary prose worth a Pulitzer? Hardly. Most magazines would never publish such an article without extensive edits & rewrites. Countryside published in their original form which, IMHO, added to the charm of the piece.

Like many of the articles in the magazine, each piece has a style all its’ own…kind of like us as each is different. I enjoy the casual attitude & freeform style which is like leaning on the fence post have a down to earth conversation with a neighbor. Maybe I don’t come away with as many ideas as when I first subscribed. I like to think it’s because I’ve learned ‘stuff’ over the past few years. Regardless, I still do the happy dance when I find a copy in the mailbox.

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CJ

Irene posted on HT for a while and maybe still does. My conclusion regarding Countryside and Small Stock Journal is - "they" wanted to change, perhaps "they" didn't like their image. I know JD often remarked on how things were sort of tough sometimes - but I felt some mistakes that were made regarding the magazine would cost him in the long run. JD revived an old publication and did a fantastic job then slowly moved into the MEN venue. Perhaps there are not enough subscribers who appreciated the old magazine to support it - or there are more mouths to feed now depending on the ad revenue. I don't know - I do not think that the internet is or should be a problem for them. I just hope that they succeed with their "new" format. Yes, I do think it's a new format and has moved away from what I fell in love with - AND, they have always been very professional and kind to me.

When life gives you lemons, you throw them at people and call them filthy names!

Oh wait .... maybe I don't have that quite right ....

When life give you horse potatoes, you .....

I'm gonna let that part go ...

So there is mountains of fun stuff on the internet. It seems like that would be a great place to collect info. I suspect that if the CSM folks wanted to fill their magazine with good stuff, I think a person could spend ten hours a week cruising this forum and exercising google a bit so come up with a lot of content. Then spend an extra two hours a week asking for permission to republish and link back to the respective sites. Half of CSM might then become a place to regurgitate stuff from the internet. By printing the links, they'll help drive traffic to those sites that are posting good stuff.

Yeah, the internet has a lot of first class info that just isn't available elsewhere. Rather than closing up shop, work with it!

If the owner/publisher/editor/wahtever of CSM doesn't have the time, surely there is somebody here who would be willing to come up with 12 hours per week at ten bucks an hour to put that sort of thing together. $500 per month could make for a far better mag (read: $$$) and go a long ways to supporting one of us over the net.

Wouldn't it be cool to have such a person come on to this forum once a week and say "I need to fill out the 'bits and bobs' column with some one liner tricks for the barn." or "100 uses for baling twine" or "100 uses for rusty barbed wire." or whatever. We have some excellent threads in this forum that get 150 responses and after reading the 150 responses I think that I would much rather have read the top 50 condensed to 10 times smaller. A magazine could do something like that. And I would subscribe to something like that.

I must be on a roll ....

I think that each issue could have a web page dedicated to it. Something with links to all of the resources and a link to a thread for each column to this forum. After all, these forums started off as the CSM forums. I would think that Chuck would be happy to get such links, and I would think that the current CSM people would be happy to link to these forums. I think that developing a relationship together would help both parties and all of us (readers of the mag and/or forum participants).

It just seems like a giant win/win to me.