Stickbow Hunter EMAG Questions and hopefully answers.

[excelpoint]

G,day Guys and Girls. Please feel free to use this thread to ask any questions or throw any ideas into the ring about the Stikbow Hunter Emag. I will do my best to answer them ASAP.

[piggy]

Is it remaining trad only?

[excelpoint]

Is it remaining trad only?

Yes mate absolutley. Trad is all I shoot and I couldnt see myself editing any other type of mag.

[g_r]

Hi,

I was always thinking about the big difference between the "written" part of the page and the page itself. I do not mean to reduce the amount of pictures, they are brilliant, and i also know that a good layout needs some space but perhaps it is manageable to put some more letters on one page, especially as people print them out themselves (perhaps) and that could reduce the cost for printing.

Just a thought.

Cheers

[gundy]

Hi,

I was always thinking about the big difference between the "written" part of the page and the page itself. I do not mean to reduce the amount of pictures, they are brilliant, and i also know that a good layout needs some space but perhaps it is manageable to put some more letters on one page, especially as people print them out themselves (perhaps) and that could reduce the cost for printing.

Just a thought.

Cheers

GR, good point and this is something that Matt and I have already discussed. Same amount of content, but designed in a better way to utilise less pages for print capability.

[excelpoint]

Yep g_r as Gundy said we are going to tackle that. This is the type of feedback that will help make the mag even better.

[excelpoint]

Maybe we can get the members to chime in here and give us a list of what they like and dont like about the mag, that way we can get a good base for further improvements.

[g_r]

I dont like that i always read it in 2 hours completly...but i cant blame you for that!

[excelpoint]

LOL g_r I will see if I can change that.

[jurdy]

hey guys.. love trad, always will, love the mag... but, lol, is the magazine just on the net or is it actually published? because it doesn't look like it (well i cant find it anywhere).. have have great love of archery mags( but most include little trad material)...it would be great if you guys got to publish it... i would defiantly subscribe. if possible....just a thought

[muntries]

Hey Matt,

A beginners section giving tips etc for numpties like me
Good mag by the way, keep it up!

Simon

[sterlo11]

mate i enjoy your emagazine. will your magazine ever be put into gloss paper magazines on the shelves in news agencies? cheers

you never know...

[excelpoint]

mate i enjoy your emagazine. will your magazine ever be put into gloss paper magazines on the shelves in news agencies? cheers

you never know...

G,day mate. I would love to head that way and have started making moves that way but it is still a ways off.

[rodlonq]

Gidday Excelpoint,

I reckon your online concept is great. It is good to have hard copy to take for a read at times when the computer is not practical, however it is only a matter of time before glossy mags get too pricey for most. For my part, I am happy to print out the tech tips and just leave the rest on the hard drive (and backed up on CD in case a folder gets MIA). Anyway, great emag, I have enjoyed reading every issue so far.

Cheers..... Rod

[excelpoint]

Thanks for the kind words Rod.

[dmm]

I think you've made a good e-zine there. I've really enjoyed reading it.

Best thing about it for me, and I think your advertisers will like this, was finding a number of local suppliers that I didn't know about. Advertising in your mag gave them a credibility that set them apart from the multitude of online stores. TradBits received an order from me, that they wouldn't have if I didn't download your pdf.

Worst thing, is that while I found it an interesting read, as long as the online forums, stay online, there really isn't anything I'd miss if you stopped publishing. The web contains hunting stories, lots of pictures, gear reviews, technical tips and articles. I get enough time in-front of a computer that I don't need to print things to read later. So while it would be sad to have one less source, it wouldn't make a great difference.

When you move to the $20/year subscription model, you'll be competing with all these sites who also appreciate contributions. Ozbow for example, Tradtalk is another. Suddenly your asking for your readers to put a higher value on your publication than others who don't ask for money.

Now my publishing editing experience is zero, but I think you need to find a way to co-exist with the free online sources, especially if you're not planning to remain a free magazine. I'd point you toward Atomic PC magazine, who does seem to have found a model where they have a published magazine and thriving web based community. http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/.

Piggy asked earlier if you would remain trad only. I hope you'll consider widening that to everything that isn't compound. I recently joined the ABA, and I'd be interested in pretty much everything that barebow or recurve classes. So reviews of ILF rigs, stabilizers, arrow rests, limb and string silencers would be of interest.

I wish you every success with moving to a more commercially rewarding model.

[excelpoint]

Thanks dmm. I appreciate your comments. The magazine will stay trad only but I am edevouring to include more and more aspects of "Trad bows" hence hopefully in the next issue if my bits get here on time there will be a build along of a Hoyt TD3 riser getting Warfed into an ILF bow along with a review on some soon to be commercially available ILF adapter plates. I would be happy to include reviews on the things you mentioned but not having experience with them I will need to rely on others to supply the reviews. I would still like the main focus of the magazine to hunting based but can see a need to expand to other facets of trad archery as well as including material that is not Australia orientated.

[Stickbow Hunter]

as well as including material that is not Australia orientated.

I know you might be short on local material but for me non Aussie orientated material is not what is needed, Aussie stuff is! There is so much overseas stuff already available online and in mags we hardly need more. Anyway just another opinion.

Jeff

[excelpoint]

as well as including material that is not Australia orientated.

I know you might be short on local material but for me non Aussie orientated material is not what is needed, Aussie stuff is! There is so much overseas stuff already available online and in mags we hardly need more. Anyway just another opinion.

Jeff

Jeff, you are right. There is a lot of OS material available on the net and in OS mags. The reason to want to include a little OS material is geared toward the majority of Aussie readers who email me etc saying how they enjoy those articles. Yes it does help bulk up the mag as well.

As for the lack of Aussie material, that is another ongoing battle. I know there are people hunting and the other paying mags seem to do quite well. I would love to be able to offer some sort of remuneration to authors and am hopefully heading that way down the track. There in lies the problem. In order for the mag to survive and prosper and be in a position to do that I need content but am at a bit of a loss on how to encourage people to submit, hence the request for idea's in the latest editorial.

The Aussie material I get is first class but its a struggle every issue to get enough without having to include OS articles. The other side of the coin also is that the mag does have a fairly large OS readership and support base so catering to them is also important.

[aroadik]

Great stuff Matt, good to see you are including alternative Trad, like metal riser's and warfing etc, it all compliments what we do. cheers and good luck, Pete.

[TomMcDonald]

Maybe you could get the Game Council on board to participate some how

[excelpoint]

That's a good idea. Maybe some annual reports etc.

[stringnstik]

All i can say is keep up the good work

[excelpoint]

Thanks mate.

[jonow]

As a full on novice to the world of archery and trad archery I stumbled across "stickbow hunter magazine" in an online search for trad things. It was so good to flick through the archived issues and the fact that it was mostly aussie content was awesome.
yes there are a few printed magazines out there that cover the same stuff more or less but as someone who lives remote and doesn't often get to a newsagent the instant access was great.
Just wanted to let you know that it has been a great introduction to traditional archery!
Sadly it won't be free next year, but you need to do what you need to do.
Keep up the good work!

Jono

[adam]

It's a great asset to traditional bowhunting in Australia, I hope it grows larger with Aussie content.