The demise of EIM magazine

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

I hope to goodness that there is no amalgamation of the magazines as it would end as one size fits all and that would definitely end in disaster, why would anyone subscribe to a magazine when at best only 50% of the content was of any interest. Sorry just my pennyworth!

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well my April edition of EIM arrived this morning, and yes the editor says this is the penultimate one, and he will share some more thoughts in his final editorial next month.

Regards Nick.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

It looks like the main problem at EIM was lack of advertising. Advertising is what pays the bills at magazines, not cover sales. (Traditionally an 85/15 per cent ratio of revenue.) And online advertising is cheap compared with print ads, so with only about four pages of ads per issue, EIM was a losing financial equation from the publisher’s point of view, I am sure.

So next time you complain about the ads in ME or MEW, be careful what you wish for. All of Mortons’ motorcycle magazines that I read  have many times more pages of ads throughout them. Hence the bike mags have more inhouse staff and regular professional freelance contributors.

Thousands of newspapers and magazines worldwide have closed down in the past 10 years, all due to advertising “migrating” to the internet. Now it is happening to many websites (and digital publications such as EIM) as net advertising steadily “migrates” to a small band of targeted social media such as Facebook and YouTube.

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

I hope to goodness that there is no amalgamation of the magazines as it would end as one size fits all and that would definitely end in disaster, why would anyone subscribe to a magazine when at best only 50% of the content was of any interest. Sorry just my pennyworth!

If 50 % was of interest I’d be a happy bunny.

[noel shelley]

On noel shelley Said:

Hopefully Mortons will see the writing on the wall and will revert to a single title before we loose both of them Too. Otherwise it will ALL be butterside down ? Noel.

Why the assumption that ME and MEW are struggling? Only a minority of readers take both titles and sales remain healthy by the standards of the current magazine market.

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

I subscribe to ME, MEW and EIM.

Of these, I prefer EIM, so I will be sad to see it go.

Hopefully, some subscribers of EIM will move to ME and/or MEW.

Stuart

[Neil Wyatt]

On Neil Wyatt Said:

Why the assumption that ME and MEW are struggling?

 

…sales remain healthy by the standards of the current magazine market

Your idea of what ‘struggling’ means quite likely differs to that of the people making that observation.

To me, the second phrase quoted above provides some confirmation of that. I believe a very similar phrase was uttered by the management of Kodak some years ago…

[Neil Wyatt]

On Neil Wyatt Said:

……………… sales remain healthy by the standards of the current magazine market.

I suppose they are healthy when compared to the overall UK Model Engineering type mag market😈

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

As an EIM author of a series on building a bandsaw, a one off on traction engine exhausts, a 9 parter on building a steam lorry it is clear my efforts to balance up the perceived “railway bias” have gone unnoticed!

Great shame to see it go.  I thought it was more “grown up” than ME and  far easier to deal with from a contributors point of view.

And to all those carping critics out there – “WRITE SOMETHING YOU LAZY SLOB”

Martin

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Hopper made some good points. My sister was a staff editor for a big publishing house in the last century when everything was expanding. They would think of a subject and title and allocate only an editor (normally doing several mags) and an advertising manager with enough budget for 3 issues. Cover price only pays for printing, not overheads. If the advertising manager couldn’t sell enough advertising to cover admin and PROFIT then the title was dropped and they unceremoniously tried another. Her long term title was ‘Boat World’ full size not models.

[Raymond GriffinParticipant @raymondgriffin40985]

Does anyone have a definitive answer on whether or not EIM is finishing? I ask because I have today received a renewal reminder in the post and by email. It seems highly irregular to me to be asked to renew a magazine that is closing down. The cost of renewal is too high to risk as it would probably not be refunded if there is closure. On the other hand, I don’t want to add weight to the argument to close, by not renewing. Ray G.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Raymond Griffin, in the April issue of EIM, the editorial headline says; “The end of an era for Engineering in Miniature”

Within the first paragraph, the editor says that, (Extract) “the publishers have taken the decision to close EIM with the May issue”. Within the rest of the editorial, he goes on to say; (Extract) “Note too that those of you with subscriptions will be contacted by Warners Group”, who are the publishers.

If you try to renew your subscription now, I dare say it probably won’t be possible to complete.

Regards Nick.

[norm nortonParticipant @normnorton75434]

We are facing the same evolution in many aspects for us ‘Baby Boomers’ (60-80 year olds) in today’s world.

The next generations are not buying paper magazines, nor are they on forums (like this one).

EiM going is sad, but perhaps inevitable. ME will follow next within 5 years unless something changes. And then this forum with it.

ME is suffering from only publishing what people are prepared to submit. It costs them peanuts at £50 per page submitted. Some authors are making a nice retirement income when they contribute “where I visited today”, but the new generations (30-50 year olds) do not want that. They want to understand how they can get into interesting hobbies that include the subjects of materials, electronics, machinery and science.

ME needs to move to a magazine that has decent, professionaly written articles to catch the new audience. New-comers want to understand “how do I build a battery locomotive”, “how do I make a clock”, “what does a 5 inch coal wagon look like”, “can I get a lathe”. That is the future.

Norm.

[WearyParticipant @weary]

Mr Griffin, & others who may be interested,

I too received a Subscription Renewal Reminder letter as my subscription runs out with the current (April) issue being the last included.  So, yesterday, Monday this week, 18th March, early afternoon (13:30 approx.) I phoned the subscription renewal agents to ask what arrangements they were making to subscribe to the last issue given the closure of the magazine.

The subscription agents were blissfully unaware that Engineering in Miniature magazine was ceasing publication – indeed they doubted my word until they had got their copy of the magazine and read the relevant part of the editorial.  They then informed me that this was the first that they had heard about publication ceasing and that “Warners have not told us anything about this”.  So, I left it with them to ‘sort-out’, but hopefully immediately upon receiving my ‘bombshell’ they have stopped renewing subscriptions either on-line or by ‘phone until any ‘special subscription offer’ covering the last edition for those whose subscriptions run-out immediately prior to the last issue might be made.  I will follow-up next week, but I suspect that they will not make any arrangements of this kind.  As to those who have partially used subscriptions I guess that Warners will have to decide what action they wish to take as regards any refund of the unused portion of the subscription and will contact those subscribers directly.

Phil

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

And to all those carping critics out there – “WRITE SOMETHING YOU LAZY SLOB”

Any particular reason to be offensive to those who don’t agree with your opinion that readers should be expected write the content that they pay for ?

Nigel B.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Don’t assume you have to pay for a mag to write for it. I have written a number of items for MEW and don’t subscribe.

 

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

To Martin JOHNSON 1 I would like to point out that I’m neither lazy or a slob ! I have also written for both ME and MEW, how much has HE written ? Noel.

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

Well done Noel, I applaud you.  There are, however too many that eager to moan about content but never lift a finger to supply any content – lazy pure and simple.

To answer another critic model mags have always depended on ameteurs to provide content (and pay to buy the magazine containing their article).  Tubal Cain, GHT, LBSC, Don Young & many more were all “ameteur”.

Finally Noel approximately 20 multi page articles, including photos, drawings, how to descriptions in both ME and EIM.  Working on 3 more at present.

Martin

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, neither am I lazy or a slob, currently I’m doing some repairs for a charitable cause, and not even charging for any materials that I need to use. However, I’m not much of a writer, and I don’t have any projects that I would think would be of any interest to any magazine, but I did do one for MEW, many years ago, and I do try to help others on here whenever I can. I just don’t know how anybody can accuse anyone else to be lazy or a slob, when they do not know them.

Regards Nick.

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

There are, however too many that eager to moan about content but never lift a finger to supply any content – lazy pure and simple.

I suspect that the majority who dislike magazine content (or feel it is inappropriate / no longer approriate to their particular interests) will just walk away without comment – nothing to do with being “lazy”, just paying customers voting with their feet. And with reducing circulation comes, inevitably, closure.

I am familair with club magazines that are reliant upon member submissions for content – I edited & did the page layouts for the printer for a one make motorcycle club magazine for 2 years. But ME / MEW / EiM are not club magazines produced by the membership for the membership on a voluntary basis, they are commercial publications produced for profit & have to reliably appeal to enough paying customers to be viable – customers who are most likely not interested in writing the content themselves.

One article I ran in the motorcycle club magazine (submitted by a member) was a compilation of comments & “facts”  from a number of period road tests in magazines. A couple of months after publication I received an e-mail from one of the journalists who had contributed to those very road tests (turns out he wa a club member now living in Australia), the gist of which was that the “definative” information in many lng term tests was made up, as it was not possible to run the long term tests reliably to make publishing schedules, particularly in times of bad weather. His parting comment was that “magazines are for entertainment” – something that seems to be lost on the “write an article yourself” camp. The majority of purchasers of commercial magazines do so for entertainment, to be entertained reading about something within their sphere of interest when they can grab a bit of “MyTime” as one former publisher of ME / MEW was named.

Given that EiM has now ceased publication, maybe best that you submit your “works in progress” in to ME / MEW sooner rather than later – unless the business model changes, I doubt that both will be around in their present form in a couple of years.

Nigel B.

 

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

I think I mentioned many months ago about putting pen to paper or not you will lose them, it’s pretty sad that it has come true so get writing, you may not think it’s not interesting but others might!

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

The differences twixt writing for a club magazine and for ME/MEW are that the latter pay, and you get a much wider audience. They don’t pay that much to be honest, but it offsets the cost of castings etc for hands on work. The sort of stuff I write is fairly technical, so the hourly rate is not high, but I do most of the work anyway for personal satisfaction (I’m one of those odd people who likes doing sums), so I might as well write it up for posterity and get a few shekels in return.

It is a long time since ME employed full time people to write articles, with the rise of internet advertising and decline in paper adverts, we are unlikely to see a return.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Would I be correct in assuming that this refers to the Martin Johnson who is so ready to insult his readers:

https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/wor/store/back-issues/engineering-in-miniature/engineering-in-miniature-march-2024-issue-171

?

… Not for me, thank you.

MichaelG.

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

“I have to say though that the content is almost completely irrelevant for me as it seems 100% dominated by steam locomotives.”

“I still buy ME but some of my fellow club-members say they don’t because it seems mainly locomotive construction serials and accounts of club events.”

“EIM started to go down hill when TEE sold it off. No longer formatted. to be bound into a volume with correct page numbering and no longer controled by people with an interest in model engineering.”

“The editor’s (of EIM) comments about ” lack of submitted articles” should be the wake up for Mortons”

Is what some of you said.

You can pine for the 1930’s when ME had staff writers if you like, but if you wan’t an ongoing magazine

WRITE SOMETHING

I’ll give you the benefit of doubt about your laziness and slobbiness.

Martin

As seen on EIM

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

As I said in my earlier reply there is simply not the budget to commission articles, lets face it there is not enough budget to fill the mag with new content completely.

 

Lets say Neil ( or Martin/Diane) has a monthly budget of £2000 for content. At £40 a paid page that is 50 pages but he may have 60pages to fill. That leaves a deficit of 10 pages which he can fill with old reprints, pad out with industry press realeases which can just be pasted in and add a photo to bulk them up a bit more, hope for the odd article given FOC, rehash something from one of his books.That’s about it.

To commission something Neil would need to be paid extra time to track down and contact people. If he did find someone willing who will pay for any materials they use, cutters they wear out or the item to fit to their lathe/mill/whathave you, all plus the basic page rate.

Would people be happy with an increase in cover price to pay for commissions? Given that the commissioned articles may not hold any more interest to them than the current articles.

Forum members are not so lazy that they can’t write posts (some very long) on the forum so I expect they could just as easily write something to send in for no more effort.

[Author]

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