Chris Schwarz is leaving PWW

[Handplanesandmore]

I mean, how many articles can you read on the perfect router table setup, or the best way to operate a table saw????

They recycle not for you or me or those who have seen it all. Their target is the new generation of woodworkers. I have FW Issue #1 to the Oct. issue 2018. But many current readers or new subscribers never know what has been covered two years before, let alone in Issue #15. Wood has been successful in "modernizing" their projects to suit the taste of the power tool readers. Lots of nice power tools, tools reviews etc. If you want a power tool review, you have only either FW or Wood to choose. Tool vendors love them.

Simon

[Handplanesandmore]

Not disagreeing. I knew a couple FWW editors. FWW has a core of contributing editors who write as I did (I was a contributing editor for many years). The editors I knew helped the other authors quite a bit. They wanted woodworkers and passionate people. If you are not a great author, that’s okay, they help you. And that takes time.

Did these contributing editors get paid by FW for helping the other authors directly or indirectly (e.g. higher rates for their own assignments)?

Simon

[Handplanesandmore]

Now that I think of it, FWW accepted a submission of mine many years ago and assigned me an editor who tried to edit my article into a different article (tool review). Looking back, I was stupid to refuse. Dumb. But whatever. I never did it for money or fame. It was fun for me and I hoped to help and inspire others.

That is the style of FW. A skilled tradesperson had a great client project done and pitched FW. His idea was accepted and an editor was assigned, but with a catch: they wanted his project to be featured on their web site, not in the magazine. Web site? No deal was the outcome.

Simon

[Admiral]

They recycle not for you or me or those who have seen it all. Their target is the new generation of woodworkers. I have FW Issue #1 to the Oct. issue 2018. But many current readers or new subscribers never know what has been covered two years before, let alone in Issue #15. Wood has been successful in "modernizing" their projects to suit the taste of the power tool readers. Lots of nice power tools, tools reviews etc. If you want a power tool review, you have only either FW or Wood to choose. Tool vendors love them.

Simon

This may sound a bit presumptuous, but a serious percentage of the members here have been there, done that, and are fairly accomplished woodworkers, so we yawn when reading stories about projects and techniques we have already figured out.  So we get a bit myopic.  Content has to repeat, there is very little new under the woodworking sun.  Circulation growth is not with this crowd, but with folks needing to learn.

[ZachDillinger]

It is a good thing for both him and PWW. PWW has been under his shadow for too long, even after he was no longer the editor. PWW needs to expand its list of writers. FW is successful because it boasts hundreds of writers under its wings. Be active and contact other writers they see in other magazines.

Chris Schwarz must be praised for supporting Megan when she left PWW. I don't think she enjoyed working with the bean counters and had to do things against her own convictions. I am sure she is much happier now with her teaching, work at the LAP, etc.

I discontinued my PWW subscription when I found it being a magazine penned by the same (small) group of people. If the new editorial team is not changing that, their articles will be void of fresh materials as in the past. You can find better and free materials in Pinterest, Instagram etc.

Simon

There has certainly been a lot of change at PWW but some old names are still in the fold, mine included. Andrew is doing a good job considering the circumstances and I think that it will continue to improve. I think in some respects we have been spoiled, having had dedicated hand tool users as editors at arguably the top magazine for the craft, when hand tool work is but a small segment of the hobby as a whole. 

Hand tool work will not be going away, not as long as I'm associated with the magazine, and I'm currently working on several pieces for the coming year.

[MG14]

In today's fast-tracked magazine industry, it is either word for word, or your last assignment.

No editors of any magazines today working to produce 1 issue every two months (some 1 per month) would have the time or resources to seriously edit any submission. Minor tweaks or grammar fixes, yes. Rewriting is a history of the past when the turnaround time between a submission and publication was measured in a year or two, if not in years. We have digital pictures and submissions vs film photographs and snail mail! This is why some editors stick to the same writers because they know their work, but it is also why they are losing readers -- no fresh materials from less-honed writers. If i am watching Brad Pitt in every movie, he is losing me as one of his viewers. Simple as that.

Quantity (to fill pages left behind by ads) is important and so is timeliness. That is why content and quality control sometimes may take a back seat when you have only a small number of contributors, and you constantly have deadlines to meet. If anyone thinks writing an article is tough, wait until you are in the shoes of an editor. I know of one who has to produce at least 3 or 4 articles HIMSELF in every issue because he does not have the budget to outsource more. I feel sorry for him (20 - 30 projects or write-ups done or written year after year!).

Simon

FWW completely rewrites...

[Handplanesandmore]

FWW completely rewrites...

Every article? I strongly doubt it.

If you are saying some articles come in with pointers and photos from the authors and then the story is written by one of the in-house writers, I would nod to that. But if you say Michael Pekovich who has been with FW for a decade or two or the like writes his piece and then the piece is rewritten, please show us something to support your assertion. Just a few words as you put there won't cut it.

I know FW will assign an editor to work with less experienced authors and yes, the editor will do most of the writing, but they don't re-write good pieces they receive.

Simon

[Skip J.]

There has certainly been a lot of change at PWW but some old names are still in the fold, mine included. Andrew is doing a good job considering the circumstances and I think that it will continue to improve. I think in some respects we have been spoiled, having had dedicated hand tool users as editors at arguably the top magazine for the craft, when hand tool work is but a small segment of the hobby as a whole. 

Hand tool work will not be going away, not as long as I'm associated with the magazine, and I'm currently working on several pieces for the coming year.

Hello Zach;

Good to see you in here again! 

I think when you said "when hand tool work is but a small segment of the hobby as a whole." pretty much covers it all.  Our little bit of business we do with them is not enough to influence the magazines - especially the little bit of advertising dollars they can justify (to charge) off of us.  It's kinda ironic that LV can expand their business developing new tools to sell us, but a magazine can't seem to live off of us.

Good to see they are still printing your articles!  Maybe you could give us some shorter versions here for those of us that have let our subscriptions lapse????  It may be that I start buying some of LAP's books.... you just never know.

[Handplanesandmore]

Hello Zach;

Good to see you in here again! 

I think when you said "when hand tool work is but a small segment of the hobby as a whole." pretty much covers it all.  Our little bit of business we do with them is not enough to influence the magazines - especially the little bit of advertising dollars they can justify (to charge) off of us.  It's kinda ironic that LV can expand their business developing new tools to sell us, but a magazine can't seem to live off of us.

LV has business not just in woodworking, but also in gardening, hardware and gifts. Its revenue streams are much wider and that is probably also why woodworking tool only vendors like L.N. are coming out with new products very slowly. It took so long for L.N. to release a new product (honing jig) last time that their development budget must be very limited compared to LV. The risks of new products are high too and small vendors have little buffer for risks.

Interests in hand tools can never be compared to that in power tools because most hobbyists want to see results. They can finish a project seen on WOOD in a couple to few months (weekends), but the thought of making a piece by hand is daunting enough. Most people can use a tablesaw without training (safely or not is another story), but 99% of those who hold a handplane for the first time would not know how to set it to use. That is the reality of the learning curve and hobbyist life.

Our local community center runs a dovetail class (router & jig) and it is always full. Hand cut dovetails? I have never seen one put out.

Power tool companies have marketing departments and huge ad budgets...huge R&D budgets, too. That is also a reality.

Simon

[TraditionalToolworks]

I think in some respects we have been spoiled, having had dedicated hand tool users as editors at arguably the top magazine for the craft, when hand tool work is but a small segment of the hobby as a whole.

I don't agree, and let me explain. PWW was NOT the top magazine in the craft by any means, in fact, it was Chris Schwarz that brought it up from out of the ashes and turned it into the magazine he had the vision to create. He went out on the limb and double downed on hand tool work. There was virtually no writers at the time, and it was Chris who put together the team with Bob Lang, Glen Huey and Megan Fitzpatrick.

Above it was mentioned that Chris used Wood Magazine as a test for the style he was introducing, as a test have you...but I think this was just the way that Chris thought and the magazine was a result of his vision. I just think he was doing work as he would and it came out well.

It was Chris who built up the following of the magazine, I certainly was never interested in PWW until he got there and mostly resorted to FWW when I did buy a magazine back then.

The long term problem as I see it is that publishing is changing because the Internet is having a huge impact on it. As noted with pricing, it doesn't seem to make sense for many of us. If the magazines can garner advertising $$$s, then it's good at the end of the day, but the trend is not for magazines to grow in this landscape, the trend is to die.

People keep their magazines for years on end, Simon mentioned having every issue of FWW back to #1. What if you could just search on the Internet when you needed to find similar articles? What if you found a YouTube video to explain what you're interested in...where the author can interact with you, where you can get more from their 10 minutes video that you would by reading the same article over and over for 5 times...I just think this new frontier is causing a sea of change...do you really think that writing books and publishing has the same business model today? I don't see it, IMO, and I'm not saying that publishing is dying, it's just changing. People subscribe to services on the web, even services that FWW offer. Will those people go out and buy a $40-$50 book? Will books be able to sell at half the price? A lot of those questions are not answered yet, but the choice over web services and purchasing a published book has already waged it's battle against each other...

The writing is on the wall...lead, follow or get out of the way...that train is rollin' through...whether any of us like it or not...


Alan