Do you miss the free calendar?

Some years back The RM gave away a free calendar with the January-dated issue to UK buyers and UK subscribers, but production costs soared and it was dropped.

I'm curious as to how many of you miss this desirable 'freebie' and given a choice would you prefer a calendar or free DVD?

 

Personally I would prefer a free DVD

 

There are too many calendars on the market and its every non enthusiasts easy gift for the anorak...

Free DVDs are good but just keep up the content in print - thats what'l last forever...

 

Hi Chris,

A DVD is good, but like the last poster, would prefer a 'fatter' mag with more filling rather than loss leaders. The forthcoming LMS special edition should be good with 'extra filling'.

Steve

 

There are some things we can do for free or little cost, but other enhancemets would cost and can affect production scheduls, thus losing some topicality. Certain enhancements might also result in a cover price increase, and I suspect, more letters from the family and friends of Victor Meldrew!

When you compare the cost of UK railway mags to those in Europe, particularly Germany, the UK titles are pretty good value for money. Another factor is that many European mags include model sections, and our research indicates that this would not welcomed by readers as the modelling market is well catered for, and reader want the real thing. Only Rail Express mixes real trains and models, so I guess it works for them, but feel it would not work for us.

 

I wasnt going to head down the line of a thicker mag... just maintain the 'what i believe' is consistant high quality...

 

As the pundits say, watch this space.....

 

Suppose I would go for the DVD……..but if I had the choice of anything, I’d like an extra couple of pages given to Cliff Thomas and the narrow gauge section….but now I am just being greedy! ;-)

 

Not really bothered about anything "free," as Railway Mag is always a good read, genuine and informative in ALL aspects of the railway industry, wherever your personal favourite, truly a good all-rounder.

Have to say though, I did particullarly enjoy the free DVD that covered the pendolino's record-breaking run. it was covered from all angles, well put togeather and educational. Well done for pulling it off and thanks for sharing it with us.

One thing that would help though.. an explanation of all the "Pool codes" at the back - I always read it but rarely have any idea what it means!

 

Personally I'd rather pay a bit more and have slightly better heavier paper.

I don't buy magazines for the freebies as they aren't really free - there being no such thing as a free lunch.

Price wise as you say compared with elsewhere in Europe we don't pay that much.

 

Ever picked up one of the 1940s volumes...

I totally agree though...

 

While not disagreeing, I wonder how many others feel the same way? How many would prefer better paper, 128 pages, but at a cost of, for discussion's sake, £3.95? From a publishing perspective, because the railway market is tight, that could be a disasterous move, driving sales down rather than up. It's a move you have to stick with as you cant go back, admitting failure.

Curious statement - why dont you think they are 'free' freebies?

What The Railway Magazine has pioneered is the free DVD, unlike others who have asked readers to send a £1 or £1.99 'to cover p&p'. We were the first to give away a genuniely free product, and have had 2 free DVDs this year.

Most magazines have a marketing budget to help promote and advertise special issues and cover the cost of promotional gifts, DVDs, supplements, and the like, so there is no cost to the reader.

From my observations on bookstalls at stations in Europe, they appear to have fewer magazines than the UK. Here it is a niche market, and has become a very overfished pond.

You may be surprised to learn that there are some titles that sell around 6,000 per month, yet we are the No. 2 best seller with an audited circulation of 32,090 copies per issue - and rising.

 

I have to agree someone else since the recent DVD was of a very good quality and i enjoyed it what was quite unexpected.

 

Sorry I tried to interweave my replies with your comments but failed miserably.
I understand that others may think the current cost is high enough. However, personally I'd rather pay more for a slightly higher quality paper. I understand this could be a big risk and that its not my risk to take.

On the subject of freebies everything: comes at a price - either direct or at the cost of not doing something else. Personally I don't buy a magazine because of the "freebee", I buy it because of the contents.

you are right the UK market is flooded. I'm sure each periodical has its fans but there are too many out there. Still market forces will prevail and they will either sink or swim depending on demand.

 

Complete tangent linked to the comment about sinking or swimming

Anybody have a full set?

 

I have a full set from issue 1 when it was bi-monthly and I also have a full set of it's competitor before SR took them over. My collection includes all the free calenders and posters etc.

I for one would like to see the calenders return.

 

I do miss the free calendar. How about a calendar on a disc for PC's? Or perhaps a wallchart calendar with a picture on the other side.

 

Thanks for your suggestion.

We are exploring a number of ideas, so I will throw the PC calendar in the pot along with the wall chart.

 

Glad to be of help to the RM.

I Wouldn't mind more pages either so articles are not seperated in to parts which I do find a little frustrating as I don't have the best memory in the world and have to look back at the last issue for a reminder. I wonder what others think about this.

 

One pet gripe I have - and it applies to all rail magazines is articles that are not accompanied by a map. Often the author spens a lot of time trying to describe a set up where a simple map would say it all.

An example being the recent article on the operation of the Somerset quarries . It was an interesting article but a suitable map would have put everything in context rather than trying to figure out what the author was trying to describe.