  WoodCentral "Editors Chat Series" A.J. HAMLER Editor, Woodshop News May 16, 2004 [EDITED] |
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| Ellis | Our guest tonight is Woodshop News editor, AJ Hamler | Ellis | AJ, how long have you been with Woodshop News? | ajhamler | Let's see, I started in Feb of 97, so it's going on 7-1/2 years now. |
| ajhamler | Editor since 2000. |
| Ellis | You've done a great job over there. What's your circulation, at this point? |
| ajhamler | Our circ is somewhere between 65,000 and 75,000, targeted mainly to the pro shop. But we have a goodly number of serious amateurs (like me) who also read. |
| Ron_Meadows | how does an amateur obtain a subscription ? |
| ajhamler | Well, it's subscriber-based just like any other mag... |
| Ellis | Woodshop News is an excellent, ears-to-the-ground publication about serious woodworking issues. |
| ajhamler | You can e-mail me and I'll be happy to send sub forms out. Also, you might be able to subscribe through WoodCentral. |
| ajhamler | Is that true, Ellis? |
| Carole_in_VA | Is your mag too advanced for beginners? (Like me!) |
| Ellis | AJ< I would like to create a link to all the mags subscription pages. Let's follow up on that. |
| ajhamler | Carole> Well, it depends on your interest .. that is ... |
| Ron_Meadows | I'm a hobbyist, but usually end up making 4-6 kitchens a year |
| ajhamler | we have a lot of news about the WW industry .. |
| Ron_Meadows | for my toy fund |
| ajhamler | but we don't do plans and projects... |
| Sam-S | I don't recall any major changes in apperance that coincide with 97 or 2000, not that there needed to be:) |
| ajhamler | We have lots of tool news and profiles of shops. |
| Carole_in_VA | Right now just learning techniques, want to get into furniture. |
| ajhamler | Sam> one of the things I did after taking over in 2000 was to ... |
| Ellis | WSN is more of a news journal. |
| ajhamler | improve the covers. That was my number one priorty, as I was always kinda disappointed in them. |
| ajhamler | I think we've come a long way. I've also tried to make the contents more accessible and meaningful to the readers... I'd like to think that ... |
| Ellis | You did a good job, AJ. Your covers are compelling. |
| Sam-S | yes, they do semm a little more lively of late |
| JohnP | what might an amateur hope to gain by reading such a professional publication? |
| ajhamler | I eliminated a lot of the fluff. Since most of our readers are pros, I've tried to give them what they need. |
| ajhamler | John P> That depends. A regular subsicription might not appeal to you, but .. |
| Sam-S | I'm A pro, and you certainly aim it right up my ally |
| ajhamler | you might find looking at it from time to time will give you and insight into the industry. Also, book reviews, tools, wood markets, and the like. |
| ajhamler | [Thanks, Sam S!} |
| JohnP | thanks |
| Sam-S | I find the jigs tips and hints page is very good, and certainly a good thing for amatures |
| ajhamler | I'll be happy to send a comp issue to all of you if you'd like. Just e-mail me. |
| Ellis | Who do you consider to be WSN¹s audience? |
| JohnV | e-mail add aj? |
| Sam-S | and the letters,, well that's kida like logging in here |
| Carole_in_VA | Isn't it hard to fund the publishing of a magazine and not rely on any ad income? Do you expect to carry ads in the future? |
| ajhamler | Our audience is basically broken into three parts: Cabinetmakers, furniture makers, and millwork shops. ... |
| ajhamler | Although we do have a healthy share of serious amateurs, too. |
| ajhamler | Carole> |
| ajhamler | we have a healthy ad income, in fact it's our main business as far as a profit-making sense is concerned. |
| Carole_in_VA | Oh...I thought for some reason your pub was ad free. Must be another one. Sorry! |
| ajhamler | E-mail is ajhamler@woodshopnews.com |
| ajhamler | Carole> S'okay! |
| Ellis | AJ, what do you consider your editorial mission at WSN? |
| JohnP | what's the annual subscription rate? |
| ajhamler | Well, my five year mission is to explore strange ... |
| ajhamler | oops... |
| ajhamler | got sidetracked. |
| ajhamler | Lets se... |
| Ellis | Strange is fine...:-) |
| ajhamler | Our subtitle, the one under our logo, reads, "News for and about people who work with wood." That really says it all. ... |
| ajhamler | If it has to do with those who live with, work with, and have wood as a maor part of their lives ... |
| Ellis | I'm a big fan of subtitles myself |
| ajhamler | that's what we address ... what they make, what they earn, what they plan and how they do business. |
| ajhamler | For example ... |
| Ellis | Woodshop News is kind of a reality check for people who make woodworking their business, right? |
| ajhamler | When we profile a shop, we list what their annual gross is (if they'll tell us), what the cost of a typical piece is, what they buy in the way of tools and supplies. |
| ajhamler | Ellid> exzactly. |
| Ellis | This has great value for hobbyists too, because it gives them an insight into the business side and the bigger picture. |
| ajhamler | That kind of info is valuable to other shops ... |
| ajhamler | Ellis> Exactly, plus ... |
| ajhamler | a lot of the seroious amateurs hope to become pros. We show them how others have done that by ... |
| Ellis | Small shop pros are a very discrete part of the market for ww journalism. |
| -e- | do you have a website?? |
| ajhamler | the shop owners telling us in their own words what they did that was right, and, sometimes more importantly, what some of their stumbling blocks were in getting started. |
| ajhamler | -e-> Yes, www.woodshopnews.com |
| Ellis | http://www.woodshopnews.com |
| ajhamler | Hi, Mac. |
| Ron_MacKenzie | hey MacS |
| MacS | Hello AJ |
| MacS | Hi Ron |
| MacS | Hi You all |
| ajhamler | Mac has an article (if this is the right Mac) in the current issue. |
| MacS | Yes, it is, A J |
| ajhamler | Mac's current article is onpigments and .. |
| Sam-S | It's OK Mac, he can't edit you here hahah |
| MacS | Understanding Pigments |
| MacS | LOL, Hi Sam |
| ajhamler | is one of the article that just might appeal to a serious amateur in that it gives a lot of basics. Frankly, I learn a lot from Mac's articles. |
| MacS | A j, Is the best |
| ajhamler | Mac, I'll give you just 30 more minutes to quit saying stuff like that. |
| MacS | He is easy to work with.. |
| ajhamler | Ok. 45, but not a minute more. |
| JohnP | lol |
| MacS | LOL |
| -e- | aj ... how do you come up with ideas for the stories ... ever feel like you'll run out? |
| ajhamler | Ellis> Never! ... When it comes to things like ... |
| ajhamler | finishing, business issues (which we explore monthly in the "Pro Shop" column ... |
| ajhamler | Tools, new books, sure they go in cycles that need to repeat at regular intervals. But ... |
| ajhamler | the shop profiles are always fresh. There are a million shops out there, and no two are exactly the same. Every time we do a new shop, I'm amazed at the talent and great ideas out there. That never gets old. |
| ajhamler | As far as things like the ... |
| ajhamler | technical feature we do monthly, well those repeat too. For instance, the next issue will have a feature on ... |
| ajhamler | wide belt sanders. We just did that two years ago, but there's a lot new now on them, plus a lot of shops are getting now than two years ago. Same thing for ... |
| ajhamler | drum sanders, CNC machines, shapers, etc. So we repeat topics and themes, but they're never really the same articles.\ |
| MacS | Hi David |
| -e- | aj, how far out do you have your issues planned? |
| Sam-S | I'm always interested to see those articles,, it keeps me up to date with the latest offerings |
| ajhamler | It varies with the topic and department. The technical features are planed a year in advance ... |
| Carole_in_VA | Ellis has this thing about dropping out for a bit! LOL |
| ajhamler | The finishing columns about three or four months in advance ... the profiles can vary from seven months to, believe it or not ... |
| ajhamler | two weeks. I've been know to look at a shop profile that one of my guys has just turned in and ... |
| ajhamler | decided to run it immediately. |
| MacS | Bob Flexner has a finishing column every other month |
| Ellis | I dropped my connection big time. Luckily I'll have the log file... |
| ajhamler | Things like tools go ... |
| ajhamler | depending on what comes out. After one of the big shows or a particular company's ... |
| ajhamler | introduction of that year's line, we'll have a folder crammed with tools waiting to do stories on. Then, in the dead of winter when ... |
| Ellis | You are in a good position with the monthly frequency to do that, AJ |
| ajhamler | few companies introduce anything, the waiting time is much shorter. |
| ajhamler | Ellis> Yes, the monthly .. |
| ajhamler | frequency allows us to do things very quickly if we need to. For example ... |
| ajhamler | We wrap production of the magazine around the 28th or so of the month, and it's in the readers' hands within two weeks. That gives us a ... |
| ajhamler | very "newspaper" kind of approach to things. We can have a full report on, say, the ... |
| Ellis | That's what I love about your format, AJ |
| ajhamler | Philadelphia furniture show on the streets in less than 20 days after it's over. No other magazine has that kind of turnaround time. |
| Ellis | Except WoodCentral |
| Ellis | Sorry |
| Sam-S | now yer talkin' |
| Ellis | I still haven't put up my Philly pix |
| ajhamler | <grin> Beat cha again! |
| Ellis | Where do you get your leads for your cover stories? |
| ajhamler | Although, you beat everyone with your Anaheim coverage! |
| ajhamler | Cover stories ... |
| -e- | wow --- thanks for this insight into the building of each issue ... |
| Ellis | I only do that for fun |
| ajhamler | The cover is either the lead shop profile or the topic. The current issue is on the topic of selecting hardwoods, so I set up a photo shoot that matched that theme. I decided that ... |
| ajhamler | I wanted a shot of your average shop guy look at some gorgeous wood, so I went to the local Woodcraft and "borrowed" <g> their hardwood bins for a couple of hours and ... |
| MacS | A J Hamler is the editor of Woodshop News |
| ajhamler | set up the photos around the stacks. (The model is really my daughter's boyfriend. Shhhhh..... don't tell anyone.) |
| MacS | LOL |
| Ellis | I figured :-) |
| MacS | LOL |
| ajhamler | For the shop profiles, we try to show the shop owner working on ... |
| ajhamler | his or her signature piece. It doesn't always work, depending on what they have in stock, but we try ... |
| ajhamler | to have him working on a piece, with a finished version of the same piece also in the shot. Like I said, it doesn't always work, but when it does, it's fabulous! |
| Ellis | How do you decide what stories to put into production? |
| ajhamler | Mainly, the one's I like best. <g> |
| ajhamler | Seriously, we try to balance ... |
| Ellis | How'd I know that? |
| Ellis | Hello, Dan |
| MacS | Hi Dan D |
| Hogrider | Excuse my ignorance but is your magazine/news available in Canada? I'm not familiar with it. |
| ajhamler | the kinds of shops and the kinds of products they make. Chairmaker one time, then a five man shop with lot's of people working, then a single guy carving a headboard, that sort of thing. |
| Dan_D | Hi Everyone |
| ajhamler | Hog> Yes, it is. we have many, many Canadian readers. |
| Hogrider | I'll have to find a better newstand.... lol |
| Ellis | I've always liked your mix, AJ. After a while it defines the focus of the magazine. |
| ajhamler | Well, our Newsstand distribution is weak, as we're mainly .... |
| ajhamler | subscriber based. But you'll generally find us in the larger Borders and Barnes & Nobles stores, and in woodworking outlets. |
| Hogrider | do you a website link I could check out then? |
| ajhamler | Thanks,. Ellis. |
| ajhamler | www.woodshopnews.com |
| -e- | aj, how did journey from radio broadcaster to editor for a ww mag????wow ... |
| Hogrider | tyvm |
| Ellis | Are you still publishing regional editions? |
| MacS | Wow, A J ..you're fast |
| Dan_D | If you look for it on the news stand, It looks more like a newspaper than a traditional magazine. May be why you did not see it. |
| ajhamler | Have you got an hour -e-? <g> Yes, I was a full-time broadcaster for 25 years before starting at the magazine ... (I'm still on the air part-time in Hartford). I did a talk show for 10 years, but when ownership changed the format, it was adios. |
| ajhamler | Since I'd been writing for ... |
| Hogrider | I'll check out one of the local larger bookstores for it tomorrow |
| Ron_MacKenzie | Hey, maybe I have a chance in changing to woodworking :) |
| Ellis | AJ, what part of your circulation is newsstand? |
| MacS | Hogrider, get the June issue also |
| ajhamler | ten years already (nonfiction of various types, two science fiction novels, and about two doszen sc-fi short stories, I decided to jump to publishing full time. Luck for me, it worked. |
| Ellis | You giving up aviation, Ron? |
| Hogrider | I'll definately look for it |
| Ron_MacKenzie | Ellis, I hope not..just hoping it doesn't give ME up hehehe |
| Ellis | Remind me to check out your novels, AJ |
| ajhamler | Ellis> Hmmmm... I honestly don't have that figure, but it's small. |
| JohnP | aj, you are truly an interesting person. |
| MacS | Ok.. |
| Ellis | Another side of AJ is his participation in Civil War reenactments |
| ajhamler | Yes, reenacting --- as is American history in general -- is a passion with me. I'm a corporal in the 27th Connecticut volunteer infantry, and I .... |
| Dan_D | AJ, have you ever participated in the Civil War stuff at the Greenfield Village? |
| ajhamler | am a regular living history roleplayer at Mystic Seaport. |
| Ellis | I'd like to see that too. |
| MacS | can you get Ellis in |
| Ron_MacKenzie | ditto |
| ajhamler | Dan> No, I'll have to check it out. Is that Greenfield Village in Mich.? |
| Dan_D | Yes AJ, they have a big Civil War reinactment every year. |
| ajhamler | Sure, I can get Ellis in as General Groucho. |
| Hogrider | lol |
| Sam-S | hahaha |
| Ellis | :-) oh shucks |
| Ron_MacKenzie | hehehe |
| Ellis | ar ar |
| MacS | Remeber he is General Ellis |
| Ellis | Do you need outside authors, AJ?> |
| Ron_MacKenzie | yes sir no sir!!! |
| Ellis | At ease :-) |
| -e- | wow, aj, i'm impressed (i'm requesting a blood transfusion from YOU!) |
| MacS | Attention, for the General |
| ajhamler | Ellis> Yes, all the time. WSN is mostly staff-written, but we need outside writers for a few areas, which are ... |
| ajhamler | Pro Shop, which addresses a business issue of a different topic each month (not always written by a ... |
| Ellis | Hmm.Yes. I've had one article there myself. |
| ajhamler | woodworker, btw. The finishing column is always freelance-written (but you'll have to fight with Mac, though). At least five of the profiles each year are freelance.... and ... |
| ajhamler | maybe five or six of the technical features, too. |
| Ellis | You don't direct them, AJ? |
| ajhamler | Ellis' article on fire insurance was one of our best. |
| ajhamler | Direct them? |
| Ellis | Yeah, in the sense of assigning them to freelancers? |
| Ellis | Or do they come in over the transom? |
| ajhamler | Oh, I see. Yes, I ... |
| ajhamler | do it two ways. First, for freelance stuff, we get a lot of queries, mostly on profiles ... |
| ajhamler | if I like what I see -- meaning, the type of shop, area of the country, etc. -- I might go for it. In the case of ... |
| MacS | You should do a profile on Sam |
| Ellis | Good idea, Mac |
| MacS | Sam, is extra talented, can do it all |
| ajhamler | Pro Shop, we have a list of topic areas --- tax issues, personnel, buying supplies, etc -- and we solicit writers. Same thing for Finshing, although Mac and Bob Flexner, plus some of my other regular finishing writers come to me with their own topics. |
| Ellis | So if someone has a lead for you on a possible cover story, they should just e-mail you, AJ? |
| JohnP | I must run, but want to compliment two people in one sentence here..."Ellis, you did a great job in getting a very interesting guest tonight." |
| ajhamler | Ellis> that's exactly right. |
| ajhamler | Yes, Ellis, this guy is great. |
| ajhamler | Oops. |
| Carole_in_VA | lol |
| -e- | great 'links' link on your web site!!!!! |
| ajhamler | Thanks. It's getting huge, isn't it? |
| David_Barnett | I've gotta go, too, but I'm re-subscribing (I haven't found a newstand copy in two years since leaving W. Ma). Nite.! |
| ajhamler | Nite Dave. |
| Ellis | Oughta have WoodCentral in there, though, eh? :-) |
| ajhamler | We don't??? |
| ajhamler | ??!! |
| Carole_in_VA | Uh oh...you screwed up AJ! |
| Ellis | Nope. And you have the ancient URL for Woodfinder. |
| ajhamler | I'll take care of that first thing Monday! |
| Ellis | You da man// |
| ajhamler | Aaaack! Why didn't you yell at me?! |
| Ellis | You think I police this stuff? |
| ajhamler | <g> |
| Ellis | We've got over 1200 links here, and it's the same story |
| -e- | do i sense some jealousy here???/ |
| ajhamler | Link envy. |
| Dan_D | No |
| Ellis | If Dan weren't on the job as linkmeister, our links would be half dead |
| Ellis | So, where do you go from here, AJ? What is WSN looking toward? |
| ajhamler | Well, first off .../ |
| ajhamler | some of our best profiles have been written by non-woodworkers, so don't think you have to be a pro to write for WSN. |
| ajhamler | As to what we're looking toward, a couple of things ... |
| ajhamler | There's the big IWF show in Atlanta coming up. I'm heading to the Sears Craftsman tool expo in about a week and a half (where I get to play with lots of new toys). |
| Ellis | Please file a report. I'm not going there this year. |
| ajhamler | Will do. |
| Ellis | But IWF will be on the sked |
| Sam-S | I never get to go,,, always working,, so I'm glad of the reports |
| ajhamler | Great, the first beer is on me. The next one you. |
| Ellis | We'd like to provide a good analysis of the show. |
| Ellis | It's a deal. |
| -e- | now i'm jealous :>( |
| Ellis | OK, does anybody have any burning questions for AJ before we call it a night? |
| ajhamler | Fire away. |
| Sam-S | don't say fire on this site,,, please :) |
| ajhamler | (small joke there... buring questions... fire... never mind.) |
| Ellis | Oof |
| -e- | so do your skills as "General" in the reinactments play more into your role as editor, or your skills as writer (snickering) |
| ajhamler | "The pen is mightier than the musket." |
| AndyL | Nite All, Thanks Ellis and AJ for another great special guest chat |
| Ellis | You bet, Andy. See ya |
| Dan_D | night Andy |
| Ellis | How does a would-be author approach you with an article proposal, AJ? |
| ajhamler | Very simply. If it's an article you already have in mind ... |
| MacS | Bye Andy |
| ajhamler | just send an e-mail describing it fully. This is most often how the freelance profiles come it. For the business articles, same thing. (Most of our ... |
| Hogrider | Well A.J. i want to thank you for your time and I'll be looking forward to reading your paper this week. Good night all |
| ajhamler | writers for the Pro SHop are not WW pros, but rather pros at something else -- but they like wood as a hobby -- so they direct their business topic to the woodshops out there. |
| Ellis | Well, I'm hoping to do some things with WSN in the future. And I will encourage any would be authors I run across. |
| ajhamler | Yeah, I'll be bugging you to do more for us. |
| ajhamler | You're such a busy bee, though. |
| Ellis | I wish I had time to do more of anything. :-) |
| Sam-S | BTW AJ,, it was an article in your mag that put me in touch with WC |
| ajhamler | Great! |
| Ellis | Hey, there's a happy happenstance |
| ajhamler | ...As it happens. |
| Ellis | So when people e-mail you a query, you direct them as to what you want/need for an article? |
| ajhamler | Ellis> Exactly. I've gotten some great ideas out of the blue, especially with some shops. Next month's cover story was a query from a freelancer out of the blue like that. |
| ajhamler | "with some shops" should have been "with some shop profiles." Ack, getting sloppy. |
| Ellis | There are a million stories out there. You can do them on a shoestring. It makes for exciting journalism compared to mainstream magazines. |
| ajhamler | You're absolutely right. |
| Ellis | That's the edge I like about WSN |
| ajhamler | Edgy. That's me. |
| Ellis | We'll have to work on that |
| ajhamler | <g> |
| Ellis | OK, I guess we're coming to a close here. Any other questions for AJ? |
| Ellis | Well, I sure want to thank you for joining us tonight, AJ. |
| Dan_D | None here. I enjoy the mag, have been a subscriber for several years now. |
| Sam-S | Thanks a million Ellis and AJ,,, I'm off up the wooden hill |
| ajhamler | Hey, it was my pleasure to help kick of editor's nite here at Woodcentral. |
| Ellis | We appreciate your participation here at WC and wish you continued good fortune with Woodshop News. |
| ajhamler | Thanks Dan |
| ajhamler | Thanks all, and good night! |
| Ellis | We'll do it again in the fall and invite your subscribers, too. |
| ajhamler | Sounds good. |