New Trial Publication – what are your thoughts?

We are currently exploring and investigating the Trial publishing market with regard to launching a new product into this specialist sector as part of a potential joint venture.

However before the project can take the next step we wanted to get the thoughts and feed back from you – the potential readers.

Trialscentral is without doubt the largest and best English speaking website, and T+MX remains the UK’s leading weekly off road journal.

We are looking to offer a quality monthly magazine that would compliment these two established forms of media.

The product would be a high end publication packed with exclusive content that you will have not seen anywhere else either in print or online. The features and photography would be commissioned purely for the purposes of the magazine. It will be Trial and only Trial - no bicycles, enduro or MX.

We believe that news should be covered on a daily / weekly basis via the internet and newspapers, therefore the magazine would include in depth interviews with the World’s best riders, revealing behind the scenes insights, bike and product tests with real opinion, plus other unique content based on our 25 years in the business and not two month out of date material.

The goal would be to deliver a must read publication that will build into the ultimate Trial reference and in time become a true collectors item.

They are our thoughts – what are yours?

I would certainly subscribe to a quality, well written and informative monthly magazine.

Maybe some good 'tech' articles that analyse some of the technologies.

Perhaps an opportunity to welcome contributions /views from readers /subscribers (ahem, not photo's...) in order to share current views of our sport, good and bad as a platform to a wider audience.

Andy

Edited July 31, 201412 yr by andyrothers

As above with a monthly how to or how not to mechanical and riding style section and I`m in.

Good luck.

sure there already is one?

Great news ,plenty room for another quality mag. GO FOR IT !!

i ll be the devils advocate.. sales of printed material are in free fall, space on supermarket shelves is impossible to buy, space on wh smith shelves almost as hard local independents wont carry unless its full SOR, paper and printing costs are rising faster than inflation

the market is hideously niche/ specialist SMALL. the specific market is renowned as being low spend.

look away from your target market at other specialist magazines and under stand how they work and if they survive. the best example might be Singletrack magazine based in todmorden.fanatstic product head and shoulders above competitors, small staff highest quality paper printing photography to die for very low subscription prices massive virtual prescence and this in a high end high desposable income market and i dont see any of them driving anything but vans..

if you were on dragons den i guarentee EVERY dragon would be OUT.

If it wasn't full of adverts that obviously pay for the mag, and had some usefull articles with reports and photos of you average Joe at club trials it probably wont have much in it after a month unless you've a dozen people to report from different counties. Only my opinion

Edited July 31, 201412 yr by furse

I'd be happy to support a new publication if it was a quality (as opposed to "tabloid") product and had decent standards of proof reading, which appears to be regarded as an unnecessary luxury in the current monthly. I would also welcome well written opinion columns and informed articles on training techniques. My preference would also be for inclusion of modern and twinshock/pre 65 material in the one publication. I really think the use of talented writers in a well presented and intelligently written magazine would be a great addition. Even if it flounders after a year or two at least you will have done your bit for the trials community to the limits of your capacity, which is all we can ask.

A few questions from a potential subscriber:

What is your target price?

How many pages of editorial per issue?

How frequently will you publish?

What differentiates your publication from others?

Why should I subscribe to this rather than existing publications?

Edited July 31, 201412 yr by neils on wheels

Conected with average Joe, not only world champions.

How to's.

Ridding skills.

Independent bike and products tests.

and reasonable worldwide subscriptions will be amazing.

Good point regarding paper id rather download it than get a printed copy

I suspect you would struggle to sell enough to make it economically viable. Round here nobody buys TMX News anymore, most reckon it is no good and prefer mediums like Facebook, Youtube and Trials Central

If it's a glossy hardcopy I'd buy it! Trials Central is perfect for news and the forums, but there's always space on my coffee table for a hardcopy. I'd be happy to look over a mock-up if you already have some layout and content in mind. I'm sure everyone who responds to this thread could offer useful feedback on the draft. Good luck to you!

Isn't there already one trials related Magazine, are there enough buyers / subscribers.

Here in Germany we have Trialsport, a Magazine sold since1975! Started by former 11 times German trials- champion Felix Krahnstöver, for a couple of years ago it was overtaken by Hans Greiner. In my personal opinion still one of the best trials related Magazine you can get as it is now so long on the market and we don't have too many trials riders here I would say the mix of reports from trials in Germany also international modern and classic trials, a complete list of all trials national and the most important to ride international wise, also all news about national events abroad. In depth going test and how do I set up my suspension, ... and very interesting the bla bla bla pages that covers everything that happens about trials national and international wise, who with whom, new prototypes, ...

Also important trials wanderings through the Alps, through Pyrenees, ... then the last page with the 5 of the month!

So would this be an independent magazine with unbiased opinion on trials bikes & products, or the current thinly disguised advertorial stuff we now get?

Remember Trail Bike Mag tried the former & got stuffed by TMX.....