34 replies to this topic

[okuma]

Any one know if this magazine is still alive?

 

We sent a subscription in early December, US$85.00, and have yet to receive a magazine.

 

Numerous EMails to various mast head address have failed to be returned.

[gorantrener]

similar here, i am subscriber from number 1, received first 4 issues with no problem. in january noticed issue number 5 in Dusseldorf airport, but didnt buy it waiting for my copy to come at home. situation is im still waiting issue number 5, sent few mails to subscription division but no answer. so, im not so sure what is happening, issue number 5 came out but now more then month waiting for it as a subscriber

[andy_deitsch]

Same here. B
Subscription sent in as a Christmas present and no magazine yet.

[tdpriest]

Oh dear...

 

... issues 1-4 were good, too...

[John Bantin]

Anyone got their mag yet?

[andy_deitsch]

nope

[MikeVeitch]

The magazine has gone under officially.  Not only will the issues not come but I for one have not and have been told that I won't get paid for contributing to it.

 

Shame really, it was a nice mag

[andy_deitsch]

That really sucks. My son bought me a subscription for Christmas. It wasn't cheap either.

[John Bantin]

It is very difficult to manage any magazine nowadays so that it is viable. Magazines rely on advertising revenue not cover price. Advertisers tend to be territorial so that all publications that go for a world-wide coverage appear to be doomed from the start. Ask Robert Maxwell. (Oh you can't. He committed suicide before it was discovered he'd committed a major fraud in an effort to keep his pan-European publications going.)

 

I hope that Dive The World hasn't taken DYK with it. Things look bleak.

Edited by John Bantin, 13 March 2013 - 09:19 PM.

[scuba_d]

Why they still taking( money) subscriptions then?

I did subscribe before couple of weeks..... It is sad I would not see it in flesh.

 

I hope someone will rescue it.

 

Pete

[John Bantin]

Cover price usually covers distribution and to select target audience. (Nobody reads free mags.)

[Alex_Mustard]

Yeah, not good news at all. It has been rumoured for the last few weeks, but like the other contributors I got the official confirmation from the editor on Tuesday. He says that the it is the publishing company that is suffering and both Dive The World and DYK will stop.

 

Apparently the magazine has been hitting sales targets, but failing to attract the advertising budget - as John suggests above. However, I think the issue is bigger than just the one magazine - I am not sure how many titles the publisher has.

 

However, the big, glossy underwater/diving magazines usually have short lives (Ocean Realm, Oceans Illustrated, Wetpixel Quarterly, Dive The World etc) but hopefully one day someone will unlock the formula to make an aesthetic showcase fort the underwater world work. I feel the underwater world needs it. I fear it won't be on paper.

 

Issue 5 is still on sale in the UK and I am sure in other countries (a friend of mine bought it in Gatwck on our way to Norway). They are not going to withdraw the stock. I have no idea how refunds to work. A lot of people are owed money on subscriptions and also as contributors (I am owed 1500 Euros for my contribution to issue 5, for example).

 

Despite being out of pocket myself I do feel sorry for the people involved and also the Scandinavian divers for loosing their magazine DYK.

 

Alex

[Scubysnaps]

Shame was my favourite too. Could they not make it a digital mag instead to lower costs?

[John Bantin]

Jesper tells me they will be making an announcement about DYK later this week.

[Rothi]

It is really a shame! It was a brilliant Magazine and I was very happy about the graphic design of my contribution.

[ehanauer]

Alert Diver, with the backing of DAN, seems to have hit on a viable formula.

Here's hoping they continue to buck the trend.

[E_viking]

That is a real pity! I used to buy DYK everytime that I got back home...

[decosnapper]

Kind of mixed views...

 

One half says 'Just as well my Scapa feature due for publication wasn't invoiced...' 

 

And the other half says 'Bad news indeed...'

 

Feel for you Alex...bad debts hardly help keep the joy of creation funded...and no joy will drop through the letter box to those who lost their subscriptions...

Edited by decosnapper, 14 March 2013 - 01:07 PM.

[gorantrener]

mixed feelings too, but first one is "shame on you". they actually printed number 5, distributed it, but didnt send the issues to the subscribers???

that should be first thing to do,before distributing and getting the last few euros... they got my money since year ago (for whole 8 issues)

[andy_deitsch]

I realize the subscription fee is a lot less than the money owed to authors like Alex but I still feel violated in that they accepted the subscription money.   I'm not sure when they became insolvent but they didn't seem to have a problem cashing the subscription check in December.