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Why is Trains Mag cover date always a month ahead?

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Why is Trains Mag cover date always a month ahead?
Posted by Bonaventure10 on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 5:39 PM

This has been a mystery to me for 35 years

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Posted by edblysard on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 5:50 PM

.

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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 6:50 PM

My guess is it's a bit of a marketing ploy. September issue goes on sale in early August and people think it's all the very latest news. Little do they know they're getting old news. Periodicals have always been done that way in my lifetime. Ed's lead time comment is right on target.

Norm


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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 7:18 PM

I consider it to be better than getting the August issue before August dropped off the calendar, which was what I was expecting forty years ago. I would really rather receive the September issue at the beginning of September.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 7:19 PM

The publisher wants to provide a magazine per month and they like to be "ahead" by about a month, so they have to label the magazine on the news stand as for "next month".  But Subscribers expect special treatment, so they expect to get a magazine ahead of the news stands, so they have to mark the magazine two months off so that in August, the subscriber gets the October magazine, so the news stand can sell it in September.

 

Semper Vaporo

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Posted by CShaveRR on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:03 PM

For the record, the Facebook page says that the October issue was just received at the office today, and that subscribers should expect theirs in about ten days.

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Posted by henry6 on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:05 PM

Every magazine is printed long before its publish date or newsstand date.  Trains is not alone.  Monthlies are often one to two months ahead, quarterlies can be a full quarter ahead, and weeklies even up to a half week ahead.  It has been part of publishing since forever, as they say.

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:39 PM

Every magazine I get is dated after I receive it.  Even the old weekly magazines (Time, Newsweek) did the same thing.

Although I sometimes get it up to two weeks after the publication date (Thanks, USPS), the weekly paper for my old hometown is usually dated a day or two after it hits the newsstand.

As long as my Trains shows up once a month, I'm a happy camper.

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Posted by Ulrich on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:42 PM

Maybe just keep the date off the magazine and just send it out as Issue 1 Issue 2 etc.. that way getting the magazine early or late isn't a problem. In this day and age no one expects timeliness in a monthly publication. If you want the latest news then Trains Online is where you need to go.

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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:42 PM

And the larger question!  Will print magazines survive?  Will Trains' print format be viable five or ten years from now?

U.S. News and World Report is no longer available in print.  Newsweek is all digital.  Time is a shell of its former self.  It is not likely to survive much longer as a print news medium. Many of the nation's newspapers are only available on-line.  Or a tablet or smart phone or e-reader or wherever the digital world comes up with.

I switched to the digital version of Trains as soon as it became available. It is a much better format, and I don't have to look for it in the mailbox. Or get print ink on my hands! Moreover, once the Trains publisher figures it out, digital stories can be nearly real time. Readers won't have to read articles that are two or three months old.  Yeah!

Oh, have I mentioned it?  I am 74.  I can hardly wait for the changes that I see on the horizon. The future belongs to the trends adopted by young people.  Either Trains figures out what they want, or it will not survive. Especially in print format.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:43 PM

tree68

Every magazine I get is dated after I receive it.  Even the old weekly magazines (Time, Newsweek) did the same thing.

Although I sometimes get it up to two weeks after the publication date (Thanks, USPS), the weekly paper for my old hometown is usually dated a day or two after it hits the newsstand.

As long as my Trains shows up once a month, I'm a happy camper.

Tell you postal carriers to get faster horses and stop using the Erie Canal for time sensitive mail.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 10:00 PM

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Leo_Ames on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 1:32 AM

Ignore this, I misread something so my reply isn't applicable now.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 7:03 AM

All progress is change, but not all change is progress.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 7:17 AM

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

I've got my digital subscription on my tablet computer (Nexus 7).  Quite portable, thank you!

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 7:29 AM

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

 

Your Kindle...

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 7:37 AM

BaltACD
Tell you postal carriers to get faster horses and stop using the Erie Canal for time sensitive mail.

Indifferent

I suspect they pay the lowest possible postal rate, so they aren't handled as promptly as bills, but I also suspect that the papers get tossed in a corner and handled "as time allows."

I've had two papers arrive the same day - and this is a weekly publication...

Horses and the Erie Canal might be faster...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by dmoore74 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 7:39 AM

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

This may provide a partial answer.  http://vimeo.com/61275290

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Posted by Norm48327 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 7:45 AM

Membership required to watch.

Norm


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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 9:13 AM

tree68

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

I've got my digital subscription on my tablet computer (Nexus 7).  Quite portable, thank you! 

Can you load the Kindle app on your Nexus 7?  Also, can you load the Nook app?  Thanks.

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Posted by zugmann on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 10:51 AM

Ulrich

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

 

Your Kindle...

Why do you have her kindle?  She probably doesn't want it back now.

  

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Posted by carnej1 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 11:31 AM

I used to work in the Magazine distribution trade and, while Trains my come out slightly earlier than some other monthlies they aren't really that different. If you look at the magazine rack at your local supermarket you will see that most of the monthly's come out the first or second week of the month ahead...

 

"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 12:19 PM

zugmann

Ulrich

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

 

Your Kindle...

Why do you have her kindle?  She probably doesn't want it back now.

 

You're right..should have stated MY kindle. But even that would be inaccurate as I don't have one, and besides, I can't multitask worth a s@#%

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 12:51 PM

Sam1
Can you load the Kindle app on your Nexus 7?  Also, can you load the Nook app?  Thanks.

Kindle, yes.  I haven't tried Nook, but it's in the App Store.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by edblysard on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 1:48 PM

tree68

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

I've got my digital subscription on my tablet computer (Nexus 7).  Quite portable, thank you!

.

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Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 2:18 PM

edblysard

tree68

Mookie

If everything is digital - what do you read in the bathroom?  

I've got my digital subscription on my tablet computer (Nexus 7).  Quite portable, thank you!

But what if you drop it in the tub?

 

What if you drop your book in the tub? Same deal..you'll have to get a new one. The hazards of multitasking in the bathroom.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 2:53 PM

edblysard
But what if you drop it in the tub?

I think you can get waterproof enclosures for them....

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 4:07 PM

tree68

edblysard
But what if you drop it in the tub?

I think you can get waterproof enclosures for them....

   But how readable is the text, when viewing through a 1 gallon, Zip-lock bag?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Mookie on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 4:10 PM

I just read thru page 2 and I am crying....

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 4:14 PM

     I always wonder why some magazine doesn't try to add a *bonus* magazine to the mix?

     Let's say that Trains Magazine came out with an *extra* magazine in say, mid January, that was that was thicker, meatier(?) and contained above average reading.  That would allow the magazine to get sort of back on the correct month rotation.  It would also provide a 13th issue in one fiscal year, and boost the magazine's number of sold copies by 9%. ( Mischief )

    

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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