Hot Rods The State of The Rodder's Journal - a note from Steve Coonan

I think it's because the remaining magazines are owned by large corpglomerations with dozens of magazines to spread the gains and losses over. Probably many non-car magazines on their list as well.

TRJ is owned by (I think) three guys, and it's the only magazine they produce. It's like "why can't the mom and pop hardware store survive, but Home Depot is doing just fine"?

 

TRJ has evaporated as the number of hotrodders is drying up. !. No, I think it is cost of production coupled with bad luck in a number of directions. I hope for survival but the longer things go on with nothing happening, the more likely it is that nothing will happen. I find it sad that there have been offers of help both labor and crowd funding and there has been no reply from TRJ.

 

Hardware store vs Home Depot is sort of like TRJ vs Hotrod. $15/issue vs $10/year. People want cheap, damn the quality.

 

No need for help if you don't have any money to do anything with.
I did some quick calculations based on circulation numbers I found online from more than 10 years ago and being conservative with numbers I bet they need close to $100,000 just to ship what they already owe. They would basically need to void everyone subscriptions and start over to get the money they need from current readers to keep this thing afloat. I doubt there are that many*****ers out there.

 

I’m just really disappointed that there is lip service and no elbo
Rationalization minimalize etc again lip service cmon Steve ! Do something

 

Comparing Hot Rod magazine to The Rodders' Journal is absurd. The only thing they share is being printed on paper the content is the difference. As far as the comparison of local hardware to Home Depot there are some things you can't find at Home Depot.

 

Well, you got the point only 180 degrees wrong. Which was that Hot Rod is commercial, mass produced, widely distributed and has a massive circulation that attracts major advertising money-but the quality may not be what is desired. TRJ, like your local hardware store, is a low volume, high quality operation with a relatively miniscule budget offering things you can't find at the big box store. So, yes you can't, and I wasn't, compare TRJ to a mass market publication.

I subscribe to both. Another difference, sadly, is that only Hot Rod shows up in my mailbox every month.

 

anyone seen anything yet?

 

Yes, bills and advertising junk just nothing from TRJ.
Not even a Christmas catalog from 2019

 

been a long time subscriber. i hate to say it but stick a fork in it. the fat lady is on stage and singing her**** off.

 

You've simultaneously nailed it, and missed the point completely (atleast in my estimation, taking into account Kentucky windage and all). Given the state of things these days, culturally, socially, economically (blah blah blah) I don't think the words "magazine" or "print publication" in your business plan are, in any way whatsoever, compatible with a "successful and workable business model"

Here's the deal with the crowdfunding and all, for those of you that think your one-time payment years ago (and I too am a lifetime subscription holder) covers you to infinity: It should, you're right, that's what was promised. But you have to look at it this way too: The world is changing and there aren't enough of us willing to shell out the bux for an old school print publication of this quality to make it viable. Yes- we all pay for it already through subscriptions etc, but those prices were based on****umptions and projections that never panned out. Either too few bought the lifetime subscriptions or the regular renewals dropped off faster than they could predict. And sure, no matter what, the fault lies with the magazine. But that doesn't change the fact: if you want more magazines, the economics, the real "dollars and cents" cost of producing it have to match the funds available. Like anything (athletes, actors, singers etc), we don't love them for their business prowess, we love them for their ability to captivate us.

And if you want to keep blaming them, that's fine. But I'd ask you, what would you have had them do differently?

-Give up, just stop trying altogether? Close the doors, walk away and pocket what little is leftover?
-Charge more, maybe enough to theoretically make the magazine viable but so much that they ultimately lose more subscribers and go under faster?
-Or maybe reduce the quality of the publication to make the math feasible.... essentially making it irrelevant anyway because it's no longer the publication we all love?
-or better yet, they could have evolved, they could have chased the almighty dollar and put their print past behind them. They could have hired a boat load of millenials (I was born in 1985. Yes, most days, I hang my head in shame) and put TRJ exclusively on youtube, twitter and snapchat... that's what a smart successful management team would have done right? That's what we all want from them, ultra-resolution photos coming to us through our high gloss 3.5"x5.5" iPhone screens.... Why have a bookshelf filled with thousands of pages of art when you can fill your social media profile with their tweets and snaps....

Sure, crowdfunding is probably just delaying the inevitable, to be fair. But the point is that it's not a viable business model, print is dead, it's a thankless (obviously from the anger in many of these post) and profit-free endeavor at this point. If we want to keep this magazine going, it's going to have to be funded by those of us who are willing to pay for it. If it's not worth it to you, fine, let it die. If it is, maybe we get another 8 or 12 issues out of it.

I'm in. Because it is worth it, because they do put out an amazing product and they've continued holding this ship together even though it would be easier and smarter to walk away.

I've got a few hundred to keep the ball rolling, tell me where to sign up.

 

Another wave on the outgoing tide washed up gently along the rocky beach....

 

With X amount of pre-paid, lifetime subscriptions, a logical****umption of future, dwindling, incoming cash flow would be easy to project. And my projection based on that****umption may have panned out. With the X amount of pre-paid lifetime subscriptions, plus the offerings of 2 for 1 subscription enticements, the impending negative cash flow problem would be accelerated! The 2 for 1 gig is a trap into which greedy I fell! I believe I am paid in advance for 4 years!

 

Maybe a registered charity could be set up to "Save TRJ", with tax deductible donations.

By many standards, it is a cultural treasure.

 

Yes, good point. I am only re-opening the thread to see if there is another response.

 

Or.........you have misinterpreted my post entirely. A "successful and workable business model" is a multifaceted concept. It is dependent on not only the approach and decisions of the business entity, but also on the prevailing 'environment and climate' the enterprise operates within. Simply put, one part controlable, the other part.........not so much. As we all know, the stars seldom align perfectly, especially, as you say, "given the state of things".
Survival is key.

I point out again, TRJ may or may not have had any valid and reasonable options to persue. We don't know the inner workings that got them to his point, and it is largely irrelevent in any case. As has been said previously, the crowdfunding concept has already been implemented through lifetime subscriptions and the like. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have been a success. One thing I think could be improved upon is the flow of information to the faithful.
Communication is key.

 

Hey Beanscoot, I already donated and got NOTHING. (I repeat nothing from the crooks because I didn't know that they hadn't sent out any thing for a year. ) Do you think I could get a tax deduction?

 

crooks you say.. huh...

 

This Thread Will Have History Worthy Of The Peterson Just For Longevity...Thanks Steve...

 

June 2026....
Covid is still around but is as annoying as the 24 hour flu, 73% of the worlds population has converted to electric vehicles so OPEC has an overabundance of crude but little demand so they slash fuel prices as they beg for money, a very large country in the east has mended its ways an is now is a fully democratic and cooperative nation and trading partner, Ford decides to produce new '32s in all body styles with a huge sales discount if you donate an old clunker to recycling, along with other great HAMB likeable events.... then we check this forum and someone asks, "Any news on The Rodder's Journal?". LOL

Perhaps the name should be changed to The Rodger's Journal as I think a lot of us have been "rodgered"!

 

I'm certainly a little slow on the uptake, but can we all****ume TRJ's is done?

I'm still hoping they can make it happen, but I also wish they would just come on and put an end to all of this speculation; either good or bad.

 

They say no news is good news but in this case I think we are all screwed
BUT I did get my Hop Up annual today and it is killer

 

I couldn’t agree more. I was just hoping to highlight the idea that you can’t blame them for the changing times. Better communication is always appreciated but it may also speed the decline. IE the run on banks that lead to the market crash in ‘29. You tell people that things aren’t going well and you scare off the few willing customers you have left.

I don’t care if it’s economically viable, it’s a great magazine that I’d like to keep receiving for as many more issues as I can. I say again, they don’t have too many options when it comes to keeping this ball rolling and I for one want it to roll as long as possible. Even if that means I have to pay for another lifetime subscription, or simply return to paying per year.

Everyone is so hung up in what they are owed and the perceived injustice of it all. It’s a business trying to survive. Just because the end is obvious doesn’t mean they should roll over and die.

Also, my apologies for the slightly*****ish opening salvo in my earlier post , I may have just been hangry as I had skipped lunch . That being said, I do appreciate your insight and response. I wasn’t trying to tell you or anyone off, just to cut TRJ some slack. After all, this isn’t some great fraud, no one is “laughing all the way to the bank”, it’s just business trying to survive, trying to stave off what is ultimately inevitable.

 

They certainly cannot be blamed for the times we live in today. The onslaught of the digital world has been giving print media a beating for many years now. Sad, but a fact of life that is obvious for all to see. TRJ bravely continued with their brilliant product, but it may just not be enough. To live in hope is a valiant stance, but common sense should eventually prevail.

I will say that there are many businesses doing it tough at the moment. If you really want to make a difference, look locally, and give support to the little guys in your immediate area. There has never been a more apt time for us to get back to a sense of community.

 

I really wonder sometimes if the "I will pay more guys" realise that even if they are whole (other than not getting future issues) there are 1000's of customers who are owed current merchandise and need to be made whole before any consideration of anything new is undertaken. So they would be paying TRJ to ship me and 1000's of others the stuff we have already paid for not ensuring they get another issue. Not to mention settling any other business debts they have.

 

^^^ Very true.^^^
I also wonder if the guys that signed up for getting magazines delivered direct to their doors realise that it contributes to the demise of their local newsagent..........................
It's a funny old world, heh? At least we still have hot rodding...

 

This whole*****ing TRJ thing just makes me sad

 

Yeah i don't subscribe, but i went back and read the original post from March. They were gonna be shut down 2 weeks to prepare to ship out merchandise. Looks like that wasn't the case. Anybody wanna send me some money? I've got an ocean front lot here in Kentucky, great investment. Help out a fellow car guy, you can trust me