Once again David beat me to it!
For various reasons I've not had much time to get on any forum lately as anything other than a bit if a lurker but definitely had to respond this, although my answer is pretty much the same as David's.
The decision to produce a magazine dedicated to the T4/T5 owner has been a long time coming.
We've been looking at how the scene is developing and no matter what you (or I) might think about water-pumpers you can't ignore the increasing amount of them at shows.
Much like David at C&C we get so much T4/T5 related stuff sent to us at C&B that I could fill a magazine with it everymonth - so we have.
We've been keeping the good stuff (in the eyes of T4/T5 readers if not yours) back until the time was right to launch - and launch with the best possible mag we could produce.
As you may or may not know, we produce 13 issues a year, plus our annual campsite guide (Great Escapes) and technical magazines Keeping Your Bus Alive (KYBA) but there's definitely room for a(nother) mag geared towards the modern Bus scene.
If there's a market for it then as a business we'd be crazy not to look into it.
And yes - we are a business - all magazines are - it's just specialists titles like car mags are all produced by hard working enthusiasts under a larger corporate umbrella.
Does the launch of VWt mean we'll be dropping T4s and T5s from C&B?
Maybe, maybe not...
If that's the way it goes and what our readership wants then we'd be silly not to change with the times but as it is we're not about to tinker with a market leading magazine.
C&B is currently concerened with featuring VW Transporters of every generation although our bias is obviously towards the air-cooled scene.
By launching the new mag we're giving the T4/T5 owners more of what they want (and that we don't have room for in C&B) - if that means they migrate over to VWt instead of buying C&B then we'll look at what that could mean to C&B's content then...
We will definitely not double up content in either magazine though as that would be hugely unfair to any of our readers.
Likewise, if I know C&B, VolksWorld, Hayburner, Ultra, whoever have or are about to feature a vehicle we're interested in then we don't pursue it any further.
It happens occasionally - with some owners not telling us about having their Bus shot already - but not thankfully not that often.
I can't tell you how much it p*sses me off when we've gone to the trouble and expense of having something professionally shot and then it appears in another mag (with the same basic story) before or worse still, at the same time as our feature.
I also feel a little peeved when an owner wants to use their feature as a for sale ad - hence we haven't allowed them to do so for ages - nor will they be allowed to do so in the future - if they want to sell their Bus then it can go in the classified section at the back - not in the feature.
When it comes to the amount of advertising pages - I'm sorry to say that it really can't be helped.
It's a constant battle tyring to balance the amount of ads, eds and marketing pages - and the demand is always for more pages from all sides.
All magazines need to make money and one of the ways all of them do that is by selling ads to the businesses that want to advertise themselves to the largest possible market.
I personally hate the amount of pages I have to give over to ads (as I'm sure David and the other editors do) but they're also a valuable part of the mag - not just for generating revenue but for informing the reader about goods, services and vehicles they should be interested in.
There are air-cooled only magazines out there - VolksWorld, AirMighty, etc, but are you really saying you get 'nothing' out of other vehicles?
There are similar threads to this on the T4/T5 forum - they say pretty much the same as you guys - all the cars are the same, a lowered XXX, narrowed beam by XXX, I don't want to read about XXX - but then we also get letters from people - like in the next issue - saying they were T4 owners but have just sold it to buy a Bay because the magazine features inspired them to explore VWs history and own something older.
It's nice to know we've changed someone's perspective.
At the end of the day and when you think about it the VW scene has never had it so good, whatever type of VW you're into there is a magazine (or multiple) magazine catering for it.
And we all go about things in different ways - people buy C&B and C&C (and UltraVW and VolksWorld and all the others for that matter) because they like them all in different ways.
If there's one or two elements in the mag you've chosen to buy that you don't like then it's a pretty small price to pay (i'm not talking in monetary terms here) and next month there'll be another issue with new content. I'm not for a second saying if you don't like the mag don't buy it - I wouldn't be so crass - and it is a difficult time for the industry because if you're watching your pennies one of the first things you do is stop buying treats for yourself - like magazines - I'm just trying to say we try to strike a balance and give our readership what they're asking us for.
Currently, that's more Buses - of both air and water-cooled persuasion.
If any one feels like sharing their thoughts and opinions on this or any other matter please email me at
[email protected] or come over and speak to me at a show - I'll be mooching around Busfest looking haggard all weekend having just got two magazines finished at the same time!
I am pretty much swamped at the mo but I will do my best to reply to you as soon as I possibly can.
Oh, and john the horse - I love your Vito - spent many a mile behind the wheel of one in a former life but not as visibly cool/invisibly knackered as yours!