Creative Leisure News - Category Reports

What's new in various product categories; monthly update.

The Value of a Trade Magazine

... And the value of a hard copy.

by Karin Strom, Yarn Market News (October 20, 2008)

As the editor of Yarn Market News (which as you know is a print-format trade magazine focused on the hand knitting yarn industry), I read with great interest your recent essay on the demise of the craft industry�s trade magazines. (Note: To read the original essay, click on Business-Wise in the left-hand column, then click on "What Happened to Our Trade Magazines?" in the right-hand column.) Since reading it, I've been mulling the subject over and discussing it with my colleagues at YMN and wanted to share a few thoughts.

In a funny coincidence, "What Happened to Our Trade Magazines?" was published just as we finished going through old copies of Yarn Market News for an article celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of our magazine's first incarnation. While it's true that economic and publishing trends are no friend to this crucial business tool, it's also true that in such times trade magazines are needed more than ever.

We feel fortunate that Yarn Market News is continuing to serve the fiber arts business community � from manufacturer to designer to retailer to distributor � acting as trade show for those who can't afford to travel right now, offering solidarity and support to yarn professionals during this difficult time. We also feel fortunate that our advertisers, pinched though they may be, continue to understand the importance of visibility in a print publication that can be read at the shop, in transit, at home, and not just in front of a computer screen.

Interestingly, the results of our last survey on the subject of readers� preference: print vs. online were overwhelmingly in favor of retaining the print format. We know this is in part due to the fact that many shop owners keep back issues as reference and pass the current ones along to store employees, who take them home to read. The May/June issue and the January issue are preferred on-plane reading for shopowners traveling to TNNA shows -- we plan the timing of our two pre-show issues so that folks will get their issues right before they leave for the show. (I've personally witnessed this in action on several occasions while traveling incognito!)

Also notable is the success of the Yarn Market News Smart Business Conference last March in Chicago. The independent shop owners who attended have told us the conference brought to life for them the magazine and the issues it addresses. "Yarn Market News Live," as it were, was so well-received that we are planning the next one, to be held in Chicago, March 15-17.

Thanks for providing such a thoughtful (online) forum!

(Note: To read previous Category Reports, click on the titles in the right-hand column.)

xxx