Women's Cycling magazine

[smurfalicious]

Call me a snob but the cover doesn't make me want to pick it up and page through it. I've been designing magazines for 10 years, and a glance at their homepage fails to impress.

Hmmm, and how many start ups have you been a part of? Perhaps they're at that tender age where they're still hiring and some writer who had a tiny clue about PhotoShop slapped it together. The thing with start ups is getting yourself out there, making yourself known, and if you have to show up in less than your best outfit sometimes you do. Further, I can't read graphic design so while you might make things purdy and get people to look, it's us writers who keep it going.

Further, the content is too scattered - trying too hard to cover everything, which means nothing will be covered very well. There should be two editions: Women's Cycling: Road, which would include touring, and Women's Cycling: Mountain which would include cyclocross. Riders interested in one are rarely interested in the other, and by trying to cover all of it in one book, we might see one page article on each. Not really enough to satisfy anybody.

Okay yeah they're taking a broad sweep here but there are horse magazines that cover a lot of topics too and they do very well. Perhaps they don't cover ranch roping, or cutting, or hunter over fences every month, but when they do it appeals to those people. And when they cover other topics it's still interesting to their readers because their readers love horses and different aspects of the sport still offer insight to those in different realms. For example, I didn't know there was a sport where you worked cattle horseback with a dog. Now I do and I enjoyed reading about it even though I have no plans of taking my afraid of cows Aussie out and trying it.

As far as one not being into the other, are you serious? The people I know have a stable of bikes complete with road and mountain bikes because they love it all! I have to sit myself down tonight and write a bike priority list because I want a BMX bike, and a cross bike, and a hardtail, and a fully, and a cruiser, and, and, and....

High school and college? Ummmm.... who cares? They can't afford subscriptions. I was DIRT POOR in college, my ride was 8 years old and I loved my little greybeast to death, but I couldn't even afford new brakes when I needed them. Riders in those age groups probably want to know the same things the rest of us do: what performs, what doesn't, what events are coming up. You can have a feature article about each once a year or so, but a section devoted to both is excessive.

A lot of people. The CU Cycling team around here is pretty awesome. They pass my happy but all the time. And the fact is a lot of women hang it up after college so if you're going to cover women's racing, that's a BIG chunk of it.

And uh, I know plenty of college kids and high school kids that can manage a subscription. It's not that much money. My ex's son ages ago wanted nothing more in the world than to get an after school job to buy some Mavic Crossmax wheels and he was 15. Kids do have money, whether it's from baby sitting, lawn mowing, or after school jobs. If you need proof that kids can buy magazines pick up a copy of BMX Plus and read the clearly written by a youngin letters section.

It IS a bad time to be starting a mag - which means it is SO MUCH more important to make sure your best work is out there, to be sure that you will satisfy your readers and make them want to pay $15 for 3 issues, which will ensure advertisers (who pay the bills!) are willing to part with money to put this magazine in the hands of those readers. They need to be able to see a return on investment - I don't see that happening here. I see this as a doctor's office magazine special: Keeps you occupied for 10 minutes, and completely not worth stealing the subscription info for.

I'd love to see cycling magazines devoted to women - but this is not it.

Da'aaaaang Debbie Downer! Yes it could totally esplode and suck, but you have to give them mad props for trying. My boss was the editor of Bicycling for over 10 years and he too thinks it's a bad time but has the utmost hope for them. I do too. If you read the blog, they actually seem to have some decent chops. And all of the girls at work are foaming at the mouth to do some freelance. Huzzah bike money!

[shootingstar]

It's great that someone is courageous enough to start up this magazine.

To ensure its long-time survival ..and the reality that the number regular female cyclists is still not as huge majority, not to exclusively focus on competitive cycling. The long-term market is not huge. One has to think of financial viability of magazine.

It will not dilute the focus, as long as the mt biking, racing, etc. are in discrete sections....can't be that hard. Could still give an overall punchy/get-go feel to the whole mag.

Honest...I don't keep up on women's or men's racing. May occasionally read an article few times a yr. But I am still interesting in reading a range of non-racing articles on cycling-related stuff that women worldwide have and are achieving.

[Geonz]

I got very ambivalent at the picture and then saw that well, at least they were trying to cover *everything* (tho' they missed saying "cross") across the top. Doesn't mean a section about it... just means to me that well, htey acknowledge the marketing existence thereof - and that's a good thing.
I'd be very curious as to the editors' goals. Are they trying to be a women's version of Bicycling magazine? In which case, gag me with a spoon... but hey, at least the blogger that showed up was somebody on "Team Type 1" ... I've gone entirely too green to want to get either the print magazine but even less so the scads of ads I'd get when they sold my name... but I might just follow along online, which doesn't cost them anything.
Oh, but yea, I like to read about more kinds of cycling than my kind of riding, which there isn't really a category for. Simply addicted? A magazine entirelly about any one microniche would be ... oh, possible online, I suppose, but odd...

[grey]

Well, I didn't intend to offend folks here. It was my opinion. I do give them props for trying, and maybe, just MAYBE simply because they are appealing to women will be enough to make women jump in and get a subscription, even if the topics are not in-depth enough to keep them really interested for very long. All of us ladies want to be taken seriously, and want something written for our perspective, rather than the guy's.

Smurf: my degree is in Mass Communications - in Magazine Writing, with emphasis on editing. While in college, I wrote for and was on staff of two newspapers in the Tampa Bay area, and later was an editing intern for a national magazine. Post graduation I worked as an editor for the same magazine, then as their overloaded art department discovered I knew Quark and a little Photoshop, they started dumping overloads on me. I found this far more fun than wielding my red pen all day highlighting widows and orphans, and moved to the a major newspaper. After a few years there, I went on to self-employment (I left because post 9/11, the working conditions did a 180 and I suddenly dreaded going to work everyday).

That's when I started working with start-ups. Magazines were my first love - I loved them in college and hence the emphasis in the degree. I assisted in, or was the director for the starting of eight magazines. Four of those did not take my advice, and they are very, very dead now. One had great content, a great following, and we were getting there on the design end (the design was OK, one of those cases where the editorial DID carry the book). But - the sales department did not heed the advice of the editing department when we said the housing bubble would pop and we needed ads that would survive the upcoming downturn. Bubble popped, realtor ads died, and so did the magazine. (they said, you write, let us worry about our stuff... lol)

I still write, not for magazines but rather the less than exciting world of SEO copywriting, because it makes big bucks if you are good at it. The design I do is for big corporations, larger ad campaigns, fancy annual reports and high-end brochures and books like you see in the Rockport publications. Most of the time I am also hired to do the writing and/or editing for those pieces.

A designer's job is to ensure people want to look at the copy. Yes, the content is what keeps people reading, but as you know, a poor design will not draw anyone into looking at the article. And as much as both editorial and design departments hate sales, we need those a$$hats too. It's a tripod, and you need all three legs to be strong. The design in this case is... ok. It is a great photo, but wow for not thinking out of the box, design wise.

Your first issue should be no different than your opening day at a restaurant: it should be your BEST. You can delay a start date, but once the food is on the plate, if it isn't the best of the best you can offer, people will not be impressed. You will lose customers. Your BEST issue ever needs to be the one out the gate, I don't care if it delays production by six months. Prolong the suspense - but that first issue is what people will base the next one on. It's what the salespeople will tote around with them in trying to land more accounts.

In my opinion, this magazine is making too broad a sweep. It's HARD to cover all of those topics, and be a great thing for everyone. You cited a good example with the horse mags. And well.... not everyone is in a bike shop. AFAIK, most people only make time for one kind of riding. The riders in my group are only road people. I'm the ONLY one with two mountain bikes in the stable (and I need to sell those, I don't have time for both kinds of riding). So that's my world, therefore my POV.

A survey might be needed to ensure that is or is not the case. Surveys should have been taken already, before the start of the mag to begin with. I only hope they did that, because as I said: if you try to please everyone, you will please nobody.

At any rate, I may have come across too harsh, but when I see a start-up, I can't help but see things that may or may not work out well for the product. That's been my job for years. I just hope they will do an honest good job, and not put out a magazine just because it's for women and nobody else has filled that hole yet.

In a more positive light, maybe if this gets good enough response, we will see more specialized magazines, ones that have a shot at really covering what the readers want (like you see in the horse mags).

[Andrea]

Well, I subscribed. I think it looks awesome.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well holy cow Grey, I'd say you have enough experience in the field to have a valid viewpoint on magazine startups, for sure! Impressive.

[Eden]

I subscribed as well - I find it somewhat baffling that a person could be so critical over a magazine cover that consists of one photo, the barcode and the magazine title logo.... Yeah its simple, but sometimes simple is best. This isn't an avant guard architectural digest - its a sports magazine...

In any case, I'm happy that someone has decided to pay attention to women's racing and I'm happy to support this effort.

As far as people only having interest in one discipline - many of my teammates race several. Lots do cross and road as there aren't too many conflicts in those seasons. Quite a few are involved in track and we have mt bikers too. A select few even find time to do all of them.... and well at that.

[sundial]

In my opinion, this magazine is making too broad a sweep. It's HARD to cover all of those topics, and be a great thing for everyone.....because as I said: if you try to please everyone, you will please nobody.

Grey, I have to agree. In reading what information about the magazine that I could find, it appears to be geared toward professional women cyclists. I think of it as a women's version of Road Bike Action. Just from what I can determine I probably wouldn't buy a subscription because my cycling lifestyle is different.

If it does do well in sales than hopefully it will spawn other women's cycling publications.

[Selkie]

Well holy cow Grey, I'd say you have enough experience in the field to have a valid viewpoint on magazine startups, for sure! Impressive.

Agreed!

I don't think you came across harsh, just honest about your opinion. When a person takes pride in their work and has a passion for it, they have a high standard.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sundial...I like your new blossom avatar- so Spring-like!

[sundial]

Thanks Bleecker! Cherry blossoms always put me in the mood for spring.

[Geonz]

Welp, I dunno, but I went back to it today, on the 'blog' page, 'cause I hadn't closed the window and was struck with the picture of the chick putting on or taking off her drawers and just thought, "TACKY!" and then... okay, what is the market after all? Who's she looking at? It didn't seem to be about bicycling... mabe Clif Bar product placement but I don't think htey were trying to draw your eyes to the cap... http://womenscyclingmag.wordpress.com/

[OakLeaf]

Welp, I dunno, but I went back to it today, on the 'blog' page, 'cause I hadn't closed the window and was struck with the picture of the chick putting on or taking off her drawers and just thought, "TACKY!" and then... okay, what is the market after all? Who's she looking at? It didn't seem to be about bicycling... mabe Clif Bar product placement but I don't think htey were trying to draw your eyes to the cap... http://womenscyclingmag.wordpress.com/

Actually it looked to me like she's displaying an ice pack. There's certainly no skin in evidence! I thought it was cool (no pun intended). Maybe just because it's only been a year and a half ago that I was jamming an ice pack down my shorts just like that (and I still have the scar left by the hematoma ).

[shootingstar]

Excellent to have an opinion from you, Grey.

Magazine website should at least have the tables of contents per issue, to give the reader a taste of the articles if they were to subscribe

A designer's job is to ensure people want to look at the copy. Yes, the content is what keeps people reading, but as you know, a poor design will not draw anyone into looking at the article. And as much as both editorial and design departments hate sales, we need those a$$hats too. It's a tripod, and you need all three legs to be strong. The design in this case is... ok. It is a great photo, but wow for not thinking out of the box, design wise.

Your first issue should be no different than your opening day at a restaurant: it should be your BEST. You can delay a start date, but once the food is on the plate, if it isn't the best of the best you can offer, people will not be impressed. You will lose customers. Your BEST issue ever needs to be the one out the gate, I don't care if it delays production by six months. Prolong the suspense - but that first issue is what people will base the next one on. It's what the salespeople will tote around with them in trying to land more accounts.

At least the cover doesn't have a gorgeous gal who isn't representative of most women...when they are working hard out on their bikes and sweating it up, if they aren't also flying through the mud, rain or snow. Would be something to display an innovative design cover of a female cyclist cycling through snow on studded tires.

I agree with the available graphics software, something a little more innovative could have been done with the cover design. It is a cover, well several of us here on the forum, could have easily done.

In my opinion, this magazine is making too broad a sweep. It's HARD to cover all of those topics, and be a great thing for everyone. You cited a good example with the horse mags. And well.... not everyone is in a bike shop. AFAIK, most people only make time for one kind of riding. The riders in my group are only road people. I'm the ONLY one with two mountain bikes in the stable (and I need to sell those, I don't have time for both kinds of riding). So that's my world, therefore my POV.

A survey might be needed to ensure that is or is not the case. Surveys should have been taken already, before the start of the mag to begin with. I only hope they did that, because as I said: if you try to please everyone, you will please nobody.

At any rate, I may have come across too harsh, but when I see a start-up, I can't help but see things that may or may not work out well for the product. That's been my job for years. I just hope they will do an honest good job, and not put out a magazine just because it's for women and nobody else has filled that hole yet.

They could consider categories of road racing, mntbiking (competitive) plus randonneuring. One could still write inspiring stories still on touring and commuting but for the latter, I'm trying to figure out what would make the article slant different than articles found in ie. Momentum magazine.

I would consider their blog more fitting on detailed current race result reports that can be posted quickly.

It would be great that the magazine was truly international in scope. We have yet to tap and understand more what is going on elsewhere about women and cycling.

[Geonz]

Actually it looked to me like she's displaying an ice pack. There's certainly no skin in evidence! I thought it was cool (no pun intended). Maybe just because it's only been a year and a half ago that I was jamming an ice pack down my shorts just like that (and I still have the scar left by the hematoma ).

LOL! You might just be right ... and her expression would sorta fit... in that "grinning with teeth gritted" way. So, is it ice or is it lace, and what are the words on it? (I've never put an ice pack anywhere... would totally make sense that I just don't 'get it' )