Kitplanes subscription problem (Not RV related)

All,

I subscribed to the printed edition of Kitplanes approximately two months ago, but have not heard 'boo' from them. All attempts to contact them via email have gone unanswered.

While I appreciate that living in New Zealand may add a week or two, this seems a bit extreme.

Does anyone possibly "...know someone, who knows someone..." that can look into this for me or provide me with an 'insider' email address?

Any help much appreciated.

Kitplanes in NZ

I have an electronic sub to Kitplanes, and if I remember rightly I had a little bit of a run around too. I'll see if I can digout my emails this evening and let you know what I sorted...

I used to get the printed one reserved at the local paper shop, but the electronic one proved to be cheaper over all. I wish they would do one single PDF rather than a whole load of separate sections though :-(

Cheers,
--

Nope!!

Hi Leonard,

looks like I've been a little ruthless with those particular emails, which is unusual because I tend to archive everything. I recommend you drop them an email though; two months is long enough to be patient!!

Cheers,

AntiGravity said:

Hi Leonard,

looks like I've been a little ruthless with those particular emails, which is unusual because I tend to archive everything. I recommend you drop them an email though; two months is long enough to be patient!!

Cheers,

Click to expand...

Thanks Jeff,

That's part of the problem...they're not answering my emails.

Leonard, are you familiar with Skype? It's a VOIP client that's free to download. The sound quality is perfect and the cost for making calls is extremely low. In fact, if you're calling from Skype to Skype, it's free anywhere in the world! If you're calling from Skype to a landline, it's about 2 cents (US) per minute pretty much anywhere in the world.

I travel to Europe and Asia every month and use Skype wherever I can find a free Wi-fi signal. I've had it loaded on my computer for about 8 months and still have not exhausted the initial 10 Euros I bought when I signed up.

As long as you've got a high-speed connection, I suggest you download Skype (skype.com) and try to call Kitplanes.

Kitplanes
phone: 800/622-1065 (US & Canada)
phone: 386/447-6318 (International)
fax: 386/447-2321

Hope this helps!

Brad

I Agree.

AntiGravity said:

I have an electronic sub to Kitplanes, and if I remember rightly I had a little bit of a run around too. I'll see if I can digout my emails this evening and let you know what I sorted...

I used to get the printed one reserved at the local paper shop, but the electronic one proved to be cheaper over all. I wish they would do one single PDF rather than a whole load of separate sections though :-(

Cheers,
--

Click to expand...

I agree on the pdf comment. IMHO Kit Planes (if they are listening) should:

1. Build the electronic version of the magazine as a single pdf, exactly like the paper version. Then add in all the nice things that electronics allows, like web page links, embedded email, etc.

2. Then provide that electronic version at a price that is less than the paper version to reflect their savings in paper, ink, fuel, and distribution costs.

Think of it: Get today's Kit Planes in NZ, a second after it is published!

I was a subscriber to Kit Planes but am NOT now as I prefer the electronic version (less paper to recycle) and it should not be higher co$t.

First off, Lennard: Which email address are you trying for customer support? If you tell me, I can track it from this end and see who is dropping the ball.

Second, we're in the process of seeing how we can do a single PDF. It looks to be a trivial matter, but our IT people are shared with other venues, so getting their attention to make the change is another matter. From the editorial end, it's not a big deal to stitch the PDFs together into one file. It may not happen in the next couple of weeks but we ARE working on it.

--Marc @ Kitplanes

KPmarc said:

First off, Lennard: Which email address are you trying for customer support? If you tell me, I can track it from this end and see who is dropping the ball.

Second, we're in the process of seeing how we can do a single PDF. It looks to be a trivial matter, but our IT people are shared with other venues, so getting their attention to make the change is another matter. From the editorial end, it's not a big deal to stitch the PDFs together into one file. It may not happen in the next couple of weeks but we ARE working on it.

--Marc @ Kitplanes

Click to expand...

Well, as long as Kit Planes seems to be listening:

[Soapbox]
The modern way to do this, is to a paradyme shift. Just consider the magazines creation as all electronic to begin with, and do it that way. No more cut & paste, or hand page layout. No more light tables, exacto knifes, etc. Just do it all on the computer.

Then, when you get ready to publish, one route is to print on paper, another is to "print" to pdf, etc; that is create all your distribution media types from the same source. And it shouldn't be the IT people doing this. It should be the mindset of the whole creative staff.
[/Soapbox]

My apologies for being so opinionated in this area.

bc

Sweet

KPmarc said:

Second, we're in the process of seeing how we can do a single PDF. <...snipped...> From the editorial end, it's not a big deal to stitch the PDFs together into one file. It may not happen in the next couple of weeks but we ARE working on it. --Marc @ Kitplanes

Click to expand...

I'm very pleased to hear that, Marc. Good job.
Once it is a single PDF you could then progress to emailing it direct to subscribers...

Kitplanes: Printed vs PDF

All,

Thanks for your help. I've emailed Marc directly.

On the subject of paper vs pdf: I've actually gone the other way....nothing like reclining on the coach with the magazine on a Sunday afternoon, dropping off into a nice long snooooozzzeee....

control said:

I used to subscribe to KP.

First experience, it took ages before I got the first number.
Second eperience, they arrived very unregurlary, sometimes two issues in the same week.
Third, they always arrived later at my door, than at my local store.

Click to expand...

Same here, and I got shorted issues. When Kitplanes first started I had a subscription for a few years. I would start my subscription in, say, the month of November and the first issue received had a cover date of February or March. Kitplanes had my subscription expire with the November cover date!

My Version

Leonard_Smith_nz said:

All,

Thanks for your help. I've emailed Marc directly.

On the subject of paper vs pdf: I've actually gone the other way....nothing like reclining on the coach with the magazine on a Sunday afternoon, dropping off into a nice long snooooozzzeee....

Click to expand...

I just lay on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon, reading my Home Power magazine, pdf version, on my wall sized LCD communications system/home theatre, dropping off into a nice long snooze. When the system senses that I have not pressed a page turn in 5 minutes; it switches into a soothing NZ beach scene with beautiful down under women playing in the surf and nice soothing background music......

Then when I wake up, the magazine is not crumpled, and I can read the next magazine (unless it is Kit Planes).

Just kidding, couldn't resist....

BillyBob:

You're absolutely right, that's precisely the way we should do it. Oh, wait: It IS the way we do it. <grin> Like most modern magazines, we're totally electronic. The only scans we make from film are archival items and the cartoons. Everything else is electronic. (This computer has a bit more than 1TB of working memory, and yet I still have a file cabinet sagging under the weight of DVDs as backups and photo archives. But I'm also a packrat.

In fact, the magazine is really printed as a very high-resolution PDF. We do work in In Design for layout, but eventually it gets converted to massive PDFs when the ads go in. It's important to note that until very late in the process the magazine is still in pieces. In fact, it may go to the printer in pieces, I'm not sure. (We--they--make changes all the time in production that I'm not privvy to.)

What you're missing is the intermediate steps of taking the high-rez PDFs and down converting them to a reasonable size. Then we have to create a virtual table of contents and a structure for linking and placing the pages for each article. Yes, we could save a step by making the magazine one massive PDF, but we still have people pleading for us to leave it in segments. Not everyone is on a high-speed connection, though the day is fast approaching when we won't have such worries. But to make one PDF, we'd still have to stitch those low-rez segments together. That's what I mean by creating an extra step in the process.

I had a private mail requesting that we email the electronic versions to subscribers. Given that the whole magazine would be about 6mb, I can't see that happening. Much better to tell subscribers when a new issue is up--which we do--and then let the download at their leisure.

To answer your final question, I can say that there may come a day when we think laterally about how a story works in the magazine at the same time as on the web. However, I have to say the printed magazine is the money maker, and it takes by far the most time and effort to get detailed correctly, and that's is--at least for now--where our priorities lie. We have many ideas for ways to put more of our content on the web and to extend it beyond what can appear in the magazine for reasons of space. It's really a matter of time and manpower; never, it seems, enough of either.

--Marc


[Soapbox]
The modern way to do this, is to a paradyme shift. Just consider the magazines creation as all electronic to begin with, and do it that way. No more cut & paste, or hand page layout. No more light tables, exacto knifes, etc. Just do it all on the computer.

Then, when you get ready to publish, one route is to print on paper, another is to "print" to pdf, etc; that is create all your distribution media types from the same source. And it shouldn't be the IT people doing this. It should be the mindset of the whole creative staff.
[/Soapbox]

I'm sorry to hear that. I realize our overseas subscriptions haven't been running smoothly, and I know there are people at the head shed working on it.

--Marc

control said:

I used to subscribe to KP.

First experience, it took ages before I got the first number.
Second eperience, they arrived very unregurlary, sometimes two issues in the same week.
Third, they always arrived later at my door, than at my local store.

And the final blow, when it was time to renew after my first and last? 24 month period, they could not just take my credit card info like when I first started, they needed check, money order or cash...

Click to expand...

Thanks

KPmarc said:

BillyBob:

You're absolutely right, that's precisely the way we should do it. Oh, wait: It IS the way we do it. <grin> ><><>< snip snip snip We have many ideas for ways to put more of our content on the web and to extend it beyond what can appear in the magazine for reasons of space. It's really a matter of time and manpower; never, it seems, enough of either.

--Marc

Click to expand...

All I can say is others have done it, and even smaller magazines. In fact the pdf versions of HomePower used to be free. Now they charge a nominal $15 or so for a years worth. The Home Power magazine is about 3-4 times the thickness of KP (paper version).

[Correction on above added later: Just picked up the pdf version (1 file, 15 MB) of a magazine I subscribe to. They have actually lowered their price to $9.95 for 1 years worth......]

Overseas delivery might work better.

But I realize you have to go where the money is.

I guess I'm a little different that some, but I kind of like the current electronic version.....I subscribe to the elctronic version of kitplanes for the very reason of being able to skip past all the "fluff" and read the stuff that interests me. I get more magazines per month than you could humanly read (dozens) including trade magazines for GA, Business Aviation, MRO, M&E, Airlines, Component Repair, Avionics, Wire/Harnesses, Powerplants, etc... I can't possibly read them all cover to cover, so personally I pick out the stuff I want and ignore other things.

Now, I realize I'm not the average customer most of the time. But, as a past (RV6), current (RV7) and future (RV10?) builder I also like to use other resources in the magazine as well as the articles....so the print version keeps me happy there.

I guess I can see both sides of this, and having spoke with people at Kitplanes in the past I can say one thing I've noticed that sets them apart from other publishers out there - they are actually listening to the customers and tweaking the publication towards what all of us (combined) are looking for. It's often a tough balancing act for them, since this is a business as well as a resource for builders but in the past 18 months I've seen more positive improvement from them over any other magazines out there when it comes to providing what the readership (and hence the ultimate source of their income) desires.

Just my 2 cents as usual!

Cheers,
Stein.
RV's, Minneapolis