Paul Plant, the editor of Sub Tropical Gardening Magazine has advised readers in the latest issue that his special interest title will no longer be available in newsagencies. Plant blames higher production costs and lower advertising revenue as the reason for the move.
In his note, Plant says that wastage per issue is between 40% and 60%. It’s good to see a magazine editor writing about this wastage. However, since they set their print run size the wastage is up to them.
Plant also says We will save you not only time but also money and fuel in avoiding having to source our title from newsagents. Seriously? – as if the only reason people who purchase the magazine from a newsagency only purchase this one item. Of course, that’s not true.
I expect there would be people who discovered this title when browsing in a newsagency. Some of those would have become subscribers as a result of the introduction from our channel. Others would have purchased the title regularly from a newsagency.
Thinking people only come to us to purchase Sub Tropical Gardening Magazine and nothing else is ignorant.
By all means Paul Plant make business decisions which are right for your business. But own your decisions. Don’t put down your retail partners who have served you well. Don’t say things that don’t pass a fact check.
All the best for the future of Sub Tropical Gardening Magazine. Australians interested in browsing interesting garden magazines will still come to newsagencies – as we the the magazine specialists of Australia.
I’m gobsmacked by the direction this publisher is taking. I’m guessing he also supports Woolies & Coles selling Lottery Tix??
Awarded best selling gardening magazine for 2014 so they take it out of the very place that won them that award .
Have early returned the last couple of issues, sub-tropical and frost do not go together that well.
All i wonder is how many newsagents they spoke to before making this decision?
Pity. We always sell several copies but we kept getting increasing supplies well beyond what we would sell thanks to the usual oversupply from the distributors. I wonder if this is really what killed the current distribution viability.
I also wonder how many readers they’ll lose who won’t take up subscriptions but were happy buying individual copies.
thank you for not supplying to newsagency anymore , we do need oversupplies.
So they still want me to support their last issue?
Sad to read that Feast magazine is finishing after next issue, didn’t sell many copies but personally thought it’s one of the best food magazines ever.
I supported this magazine and am now left with a sour taste wondering why? It seems to be a common theme coming from publishers, to blame the newsagency chanel for their demise.
No thanks to newsagents for their support in getting this magazine up and running, and providing a retail platform for the title to be launched nationwide. No thanks to newsagents for their constant support in displaying this title for sale in their stores. No thanks to newsagents for encouraging consumers to support this title because it is an Australian product. Because let’s face it, without newsagents, this title would not have got off the ground.
And to blame newsagents for a broken distribution system, wow!
Goodbye and good riddance Sub Tropical Gardening Magazine… you won’t be welcome back!
So Paul Plant is going to forge into the future, I don’t think so. Forge into oblivion is closer to the mark.
Bad decision and no way back now.
Plant needs to do what he thinks is best for his business and I thin we need to respect that. We could think about his decision and consider this as we contemplate some decisions of our own.