The paper magazine business has taken a beating in the last few years. One magazine that seems to have their stuff together is American Iron, a book that focuses on American-made motorcycles. Somehow these guys get away with charging subscribers what it costs to produce 13 issues a year. For those of you counting that is three more issues a year than Cycle World and Motorcyclist combined!
Nestled among the beauty, health, gun and celebrity gossip periodicals, American Iron is the only motorcycle magazine still sold in supermarkets and drug stores. Start looking around; you’ll see AIM everywhere. I don’t fully understand what happened to the other guys but they made a half-hearted grab at the Internet while letting go of the fun and exclusive part: the monthly magazine.
I subscribe to a legacy magazine and I open my mailbox expecting to see nothing and at ever-diminishing intervals I get it. No matter how good they may be, four or six issues a year cannot keep the pot on boil. I don’t even know if I have time left on my subscription. I’ve gone from anticipating a new issue to being surprised by a new issue.
American Iron’s content is not exactly in my wheelhouse: when no one is looking I’m a dirt rider. But if you throw in a free Indian Bobber I could see myself getting into asphalt. Heck, promise me a one-cent decal and I’ll bite the head off of a pigeon. Offer me a T-shirt and I’ll rob a bank for you, just do something, anything, for readers other than shrink the product to reflect the subsidized pricing subscribers have been trained to expect.
So here’s the deal: Subscribe to American Iron and ride that Indian Scout Bobber home. It’s more costly than the lose-money-on-subs-make-it-up-in-advertising books but those guys aren’t giving away a Bobber and we need paper magazines to survive in America. When you subscribe do me a favor, tell them Joe sent you, I need a place to flog content!
I’ve been a subscriber to Rider for 25 years and find it excellent. It’s a good mix of all types of M/C’s and there are 12 issues a year. It’s not too expensive either at about $10.00.
I’ll have to take a look at Rider.
Thanks for your kind words and support. Yes, we still publish 13 big issues a year (every 4 weeks) of American Iron Magazine. And yes, we sell a full year (13 issues of American Iron Magazine AND a free issue of American Iron Salute) for $29.97 (less than 1/3 of the newsstand price). We work hard to produce an interesting, fun and informative magazine. Our readers and our advertisers are worth it!
Buzz, I read one of your Facebook posts a year or so ago and it motivated me to buy a copy. I bought a subscription and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s a great read.
I still don’t understand why Yoo-Hoo doesn’t buy advertising in motorcycle magazines.