Magazine Timing?

Ive never understood why all the magazines are put out so early either. They have to be put together in advance... that I understand. Why not make a timing adjustment so the Dec issue actually comes out in December, and the rest of the months for that matter. Sports Illustrated puts out a weekly magazine, but they are not 3 months ahead.

Perhaps Allan Miller will chime in here, but I would think it has something to do with extending the shelf life. Also, those advertisers offering Christmas specific items, for instance, would want their adds to appear before December to enjoy any benefit.

There are a variety of reasons why the magazine has to be published when it is.  I can assure you from the stand point of the Sales / Marketing Manager's position, the advanced deadlines can be a challenge.  However, some of the reasons why many magazines have to be published when they are has to do with the fact that many are contracting out layout design as well as the actual printing and mailing to subscribers, etc.  Most of the time these contractors have several publications that they are working with and so they set up the schedules as to when all materials have to be in to them so that they can manage the workload of producing the physical copies and distribution of their clients magazines.  In a nut shell, many magazines are tied to these schedules and have little choice unless they can afford the staff and press requirements to do it all on their own. 

The real experts in giving the details and even better reasons would be Rich and Allan so perhaps they will chime in....

Alan

I was thinking similar thoughts. Late November for December issue with Christmas ads might be too late for the advertisers. Allan's response would be best though, hopefully he will be along to reply.

Could it be a "perk" for subscribers? 

There has to be a perception issue as well. If the October issue comes out in October, wouldn't people assume this was last month's issue? By now, everyone is used to the dates being advanced...

Then there's the issue of magazines making it to other countries. I routinely buy several magazines out of the UK, and they are sometimes a month back by the time they show up on US shelves...

Hey Guys!

Take a chill pill, if need be . Any time it comes is a good day .

I don't really care what month is put on the cover, and I agree with Pappy "anytime it comes is a good day"!

Jeff Davis

Trust me, if I had my preference the magazine would be released about two or, at the outside, three weeks before the cover date, but factors beyond my control are what I have to work with.  

The publishing schedule is determined according to a back-timing sort of timeline which is primarily determined by our printer and distributor.  Backing off of that, time is allowed for, in reverse order: printing/distribution, transfer of final digital files from our design group to printer, approval of final hard-copy match proofs by me, a two-stage design and proofing phase working closely with my designer and proofreader, submission of electronic files (text and images) to the designer from me, initial proofing of editorial text content conducted by our proof reader with corrections approved by me, final editing (and sometimes writing) of editorial content by me, establishment of submission deadlines for editorial and ad content (with the former set by me), and issue planning that I conduct well in advance of anything else to determine what I want to appear in a given issue based on space allocations and other factors.

It's a fairly involved and time-sensitive process involving coordination and communication with various individuals and firms in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota.

The timing of an issue's release does impact and concern me, of course, particularly in regard to issues that may have some sort of seasonal connection.  For example, the issue I just transferred to my designer yesterday is our December issue.  In a few weeks or so, that issue will be pretty much completed, aside from actual printing.  As our primary holiday season issue, it features a good amount of holiday-theme content designed, in particular, to inspire some new entrants into the hobby, especially via newsstand sales.  That being the case, it is a bit disturbing to have that issue, in particular, appear so early that its timeliness and possibly some of its effectiveness is somewhat diminished.  Still, given the back-planned deadlines I have to work with, it is what it is.

Over the course of most of the year, it probably doesn't matter much to the majority of our readers what date is on the cover.  It might be confusing to some, and I understand that, but there's really not much that can be done to change things given the way things are currently set up.  It would be great if a given issue, after it was actually printed, could be held for a time before actually being distributed, but that's not something I control.

I hope this post contributes at least a bit to understanding to how the process works.  Believe me, if I was Warren Buffet and could afford to keep all operations from conception to distribution in-house, I would do it differently.  Unfortunately, Mr. Buffet and I are in different financial circumstances and tax brackets.