Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

[64OVI]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

To go along with what Craig has pointed out about publishing economics, CW Historian was a niche publication serving a very small portion of the CW community. Considering that active participation in CW reenacting has been on a clear decline for nearly a decade now with numbers at perhaps half of what they were in 1999, the shrinking market is no friend to a publication like CWH. Its loss is lamentable but it would not surprise me that other CW related publications will follow suit.

Kent Dorr - Ohio
"Retired Newspaper Staff Mess"

[55th VVI]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

It is sad to hear they went under, but it sure was a crappy way for them to tell us. They were listed at the Vendor Bazaar hosted by Morris Clothiers and other vendors at Rem. Day weekend. They didn't know they were going under on the 18th? They only figured this out on the 25th? I would think you kind of have to realize that you have a limited customer base with a hobby focused publication. Maybe I am wrong.

[Silas]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

Not that I've looked too hard, but where is notice published that the magazine has truly gone up the spout? There's nothing on CWH's webpage indicating DEATH or some other form of vile cessation. You can still click on their pages and subscribe : http://www.civilwarhistorian.com/subscribe.html

Although there is every reason to believe the magazine may not be in production any longer, I prefer hearing fact from the source, not from the rumor mill.

[fahtz]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25729&highlight=civil+war+historian

[Jeremy Bevard]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

Silas,

Here is a link to the thread:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25729&highlight=civil+war+historian

[Silas]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

No wonder I missed it. I don't spend much time in the buy, sell, trade forum.

[paulcalloway]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

I just subscribed back in August and never got an issue. Now I'm out 20 bucks. Sucks too, I was really looking forward to the magazine.

I find myself in the same boat as you Jeff. I resubscribed and never saw an issue of my new subscription.

I'm going to be honest - I don't feel let down as much as I feel like we let them down. Sure I lost $20 but how much did Justin and Jason lose? More I assure you.

There are a number of you that subscribed but it's only a fraction of the total number of participants on this website. This was a magazine designed for "us" but many never supported it. Had "we" really supported this magazine, it would probably still be in publication and therein lies the real let down.

[JimKindred]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

I've been involved in reenacting since the late 70s and CWH was one of the finest reenacting magazines I have ever come across. At times I thought it was too good because what it had to offer would be lost on the majority of the mainstream who tend to read CCG. By that I mean the target authentic audience was too small to support a magazine of that high quality.

I was sad to read of the end of its publication but with all things on the business side of reenacting you cannot operate long as a non profit as much as many would like you to. Unfortunately many print operations are suffering from the switch to online media and CWH was as much a victim of that as any of the rest. Even CCG is switching from a monthly publication to a bi-monthly publication according to their last issue.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

Paolo:

While I am sure you are right that Jason and Justin lost more than you and I did (and from what little I know, a great deal more) all you can you do is support a publication with your subscriptions and (in some cases) submit content from time to time. It is not those in the community who did support what will be remembered as the best use of ink and ten pound glossy paper in Civil War magazine history, it is those that did not. What I think you are getting at...and this is nothing new...is that too few serious hobbyists support quality publications.

It makes me feel sick, not because of what I did not do to help personally, but rather that so few others bothered to support something that obviously aimed higher and tried to be better than everything else in the market place. I will confess, I had a wild fantasy that CWH would take the history heavy side of the hobby to new heights, and we could publish The Watchdog there now that Nicky Hughes was no longer editor (long story), knowledge would replace ignorance, standards would improve across the board, etc. It seemed like it would have been a good fit...oh, well.

Jim:

You are correct, the Gazette and Citizens Companion are going bi-monthly and you can probably hear a little rattle in their breathing if you listen closely enough. So those of you who did not support CWH, how about sending in some event reports or other articles for the Campaigner Corner of CCG? It is all we have left at the moment in terms of Civil War (re)enacting hobby based magazines.

[Michael Comer]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

I agree that there is more talk than action when it comes to supporting worthy efforts in the hobby. Take a look at the preservation posts and compare the hits to something in the 'sinks' that has little merit in the long run.

I was a subscriber to the magazine from day one and thought it was a breath of fresh air. I'm sorry to see it go.

[Parault]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

CWH was the only thing that I wanted to go to the mailbox for at the first of the month.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

Well you must have been very patient then because Civil War Historian was a quarterly publication, and somewhat irregular even at that.

[Bill]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

To an extent, I believe it's an age issue. I'm an old fart and like to hold what I'm reading. Heck, I'm a publisher's dream come true. I subscribe to "Camp Chase", the "Civil War News", "Military Images", "Blue & Gray", "Civil War Times", "Military History" and was a subscriber to both the "Watchdog" and "Civil War Historian" from their first to last issues. I've got issues of the "Civil War Times" that go back to the early 60's.

I hate to read anything on a computer screen. Anything over a half page long and I hit the print key. My ink bill is like the National Debt.

Now, there's a whole new generation, who are used to getting their information from the glowing screen and see no reason to pay good money for a magazine. Not when they can get their Civil War fix, for free, on the internet.

Print media is hurting across the board. Not just "nitch" magazines, but newspapers, and general interest magazines as well. As a good example, our local newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, has been more, or less, bankrupt for the past few years and it's been publishing since the 1840's.

I don't have a good answer. People don't seem willing to pay for printed material and as Mr. Barry said, nobody has yet figured out how to make a buck publishing on the Web.

[JimKindred]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

I was like Bill a number of years ago but what got me to start to slack up on the number of subscriptions was the fact many different magazines print the same articles under slightly different titles. WWII Magazine and Military History, both owned by the same parent company, were the worst offenders amongst those I subscribed to. The quality seemed to have dropped over the years too with each issue containing notes from the editors apologizing for miss identified photos and other mistakes even the casual reader could find.

I dropped from five to six subscriptions down to one, that one is After The Battle and the only reason it remains is because there is really nothing else like it in print or on the web. Any other magazines that come to my house are part of memberships I have in collector organizations or because I advertise in them.

[Johnny Lloyd]

Re: Civil War Historian Mag. DEATH

There are some online publications that print a magazine, but only give you an article or two online- the rest, if you want it, are in the actual printed magazine. I wondered if this might work for the CWH.

Perhaps the printed magazine/newsletter in our hobby is a comfort to those still not able to access a computer or who might be not on friendly terms with the 'infernal machines'.

All the best- Johnny Lloyd:wink_smil