Another magazine bites the dust

World of Rods magazine apparently is no more. Couldn't find it on the news stands------any where. Went on line to Beckett Media, the parent company, and it says the magazine is "out of publication". Sign of the times, I guess. BILL RINALDI

 

I found the latest issue on the newstands...it's been combined with their muscle car pub...can't remember the name of it...but when that happens, it usually portends the end of both pubs...Court Hallowell, the editor, is here on the HAMB, maybe he'll chime in...

R-

 

When it first came out, seemed to be geared more to the high end Rods and as time went by, more towards the traditional side. They had exelent coverage of Salina KKOA show laST year.

 

It's a trend. Borders Books is going bankrupt supposedly because print media cannot effectively compete with digital media.

 

I wouldn't say it's a trend, it's a sign of the times. Print media can't compete with digital media. I only have one subscription right now and I don't see myself renewing it when it comes up.

 

Magazines are driven by advertisers, not subscribers or newstand sales...when advertisers pull out because of the economy, or any other factor, the cost of printing and mailing takes a big hit...and printers don't work for nothing...neither do the mailing and distribution companies...no advertising-no mag...!!!

As for Borders, Kindle and other electronic readers make paper books nearly obsolete...it's the "electronic" generation...how many of you have a cell phone...??? Wall mounted phones are going obsolete...when's the last time you saw a pay telephone on the streets...those are nearly gone as well.

There's simply not enuff of old timers that'd rather hold a mag or book intheir hands and look at pictures or use our imagination when reading...

R-

 

Despite being a techno-phile and living in a world where technology holds tremendous promise, I still really like the feel of paper for a lot of things, including car magazines. Granted, I hold several subscriptions to e-zines, too...

 

a world without car magazines is simply not worth living in

 

S.O.T.T. sign of the times

 

That ****s that is the only magazine I have ever had a picture of my car in. Maybe that's why they went out of business.

 

I'll second that everyday!!! I do not get get the e-reader kinda ****... Doesn't make one bit of sense to me. Just seems like another piece of electronic **** for everybody under 30 to stare at! Techno zombies!!!

 

I have one subscription at present, Hot Rod for $10 for 36 issues. You know that is a death spiral price. Cheaper than kleenex and it gets p***ed on to my son to read after me. I decided this year to join the Alliance, lots more pics per day, tons of relevant info, and good people. I can save pics to hard drive or to CD for reference, same with information. And my wife doesn't crab about "musty smelly" old magazines in the family room. The only magazines I have are a few select ones that are historical for me, such as the small format Rod and Custom shoebox Ford issue that I keep on the package tray of my chopped '50 Crestliner.
And from one louver purveryor to another, I guess Need Louvers? I could give you a great reason for an ereader. I spend a lot of time tending to my wife, and as a result a lot of time in medical waiting rooms. Got a Nook for my birthday and I like it. Don't have to touch germ infested reading materials in doctor's office, can always find (1,300,000 books) a book I like, and downloads anyplace I have a cellphone signal.

 

There are some horrible magazines out there that need to eleminate the words hot rod, and kustom from thier vocabulary because what they feature and find cool is completely opposite of what hot rods and kustom cars really are. Maybe they will go away....to bad for World of Rods though, they had taste.

 

And advertisers are driven by subscribers. If there are no people to reach, there are no advertisers.

 

As long as The Rodder's Journal continues, I'll survive. I've got thousands of car magazines from the '40s through the '70s, and they're the ones I keep going back to.

 

Not necessarily true...mag stand sales make more money than subs...from "Newstand statistics" (New York Times):

"Newsstand sales tend to be driven by the economy and are a more timely indicator of a magazine’s vitality than subscriptions, which tend to lag and which can be driven by heavy discounting. While newsstand sales are a small percentage of most magazines’ circulation, they are a profitable part of it — publishers typically charge only a fraction of the newsstand price for a subscription copy."

R-

 

I agree so much.

I drop $20+ a month at the news stand sometimes, not to mention my subscriptions.

World of Rods seemed promising, but there just wasn't enough there to get me to buy it. The market is flooded with hot rod mags and WOR had no edge.

 

World of Rods ceased Production about 1-13 (at least that is when the employees were told). The truth on this one is that the ad money wasn't coming in, they just weren't selling enough ads.
Courtney has moved over to Muscle Car Power, another Beckett mag.

 

God bless you.

 

I have two subscriptions now and I will probably let them lapse. Before discovering H.A.M.B. and some other sites, I couldn't wait for my magazines to arrive in the mail! The problem was, I would read the whole mag cover to cover in a day or two! I prefer the hands on info I get from the H.A.M.B. and almost instant answers to my questions. Tons of pics of all kinds of traditional cars built by garage mechanics instead of coverage of professionally built, high buck cars for rich collectors. As for E-readers, I don't see giving up my books anytime soon! The batteries don't go dead in the middle of the chapter! It does make sense to read an E-reader in medical waiting rooms though. (I subscribe to "Rod and Custom" and "Streetrodder".)

 

written on an internet message board ...

I will miss the printed word, but it's kinda like a supply and demand thing in my opinion. I read a handful of rags on all different subjects, but I'll be damned if I'm going to buy every single one just because. I like to thumb through em and decide if there's anything worth reading first.
Besides that, It gets annoying to have to hunt them down every month. Suddenly the store you've been buying from for years doesn't have it anymore, or only has it sporadically. Bah.
It'll all be online soon...

 

I don't think print mags will ever fully die. My buddy is the photo editor of the best selling motocross magazine, and they are no where near going under. Like someone said earlier, they make their money off advertisers and news stand sales. The weak will collapse and the strong will survive.

 

Oh, and another thing. I'll be damned if I am going to take some digital book to the ****ter...

 

I work for a publishing company and we're holding tight with only a few of our ***les showing signs of the times....but now by much. Other ***les are up in subs and news stand purchases so it's tough to gauge. I know eventually we're going to need to look into more of an online presence but for right now we're working and that's all I can ask for.

 

Yep! The one by me on Ford Rd. in Dearborn is getting the axe.... Sad! That's one of the 4 in s.e. Michigan that's going to shut down...

 

There are far more automotive publications available now than there have ever been, so people are buying them. But if a magazine is not that great, it's not gonna stay in publication. I browsed World of Rods at the newsstand, and nothing in it ever prompted me to part with my money.

The Barnes & Noble stores and Hastings stores around here are always full of people, and the magazine sections usually have a crowd. Borders is going under because of poor management, not because of the switch to the digital age.

I have three twenty-something children, all of whom buy lots of magazines and lots of books. They, too, like to hold a magazine or book in their hands, lean back on the the couch, and enjoy the read.

 

Borders went out of business because of ****ty customer service. A friend gave me a $25 gift card for Xmas the year before and the local one refused to honor it as I live in Montana and it was bought in Ohio. I said its all the same company isnt it and was told they are independent franchises. I hope they all go ***s up ! I threw the card at the manager & left telling him the future and what was in store for them and here its happening.

 

Pretty ironic this thread came up today, since I spent about an hour yesterday trying to find out if WOW had indeed gone under, as I hadn't seen it any of the spots I usually picked it up. A gal at the Barnes and Noble looked it up for me, and told me the same thing.....out of publication!
I feel bad for Cortney, as he seemed to be doing a good job steering the magazine in a more traditional direction, without making it a rat-*** type book.

 

Print media is an archive of our hot rod history. Many of us have magazines that were meant to be read and thrown away that are over 50 years old. The electronic media is great, we need to utilize it's advantages ,but also realize it has limitations. Old guys like me remember technologies that are obsolete and no longer able to be accessed for the information that they contain. Unless I convert that stored info onto a new platform it will be lost. I cannot even imagine what my grandkids may be using. Indy

 

My wife of 43 years long ago gave up on trying to understand why I still have magazines I bought in 7th grade.