March/April 2006 Editorial
Shooters are usually very particular, and being human, each has their own opinion as to guns, gun leather, clothes, shooting style, shooting disciplines they prefer, and even articles they like to see in SHOOT! Magazine. We are constantly conducting surveys on our web-site and at some shoots to see what people are interested in. Along with surveys, I receive quite a few emails and letters. I look at all of the emails and letters as well as most of the survey comments and reply to them, though due to schedule and business commitments it may take a few weeks or more before I can respond. We also have a Forum on CAS CITY which I monitor on a weekly basis. I appreciate all of your input and you can be assured that your comments are carefully considered by both my staff and me.
I have heard the statement made in the past that "you can’t keep everyone happy all of the time." I have come to the conclusion that you can’t keep some people happy any of the time! There are numerous considerations when deciding what articles to print and how many of them. As I mentioned in last issue’s editorial, I try to ensure that we always have at least 60 percent editorial content. Now, within that 60 percent what do you put in and how many of the same type of article go in? SHOOT! Magazine is dedicated to the Western-action shooting sports and will continue to remain so, though on occasion we may stray a little for one article in a particular issue or in the product review section, it will always remain true to its roots. This is the baseline for determining what goes into the magazine. It is not a gun magazine but a shooting magazine. Thus, it will always cover Western-action shooting events and never modern shooting events unless there is some separate special edition such as the Junior Shooters special edition coming out later this year. Some people, those that are primarily pure gun enthusiasts, would rather not see any coverage of shooting matches in the magazine. Others, those that are primarily in CAS for the dress up and camaraderie, would probably like to see more articles on shoots and clothing than guns. Well folks, we will continue to cover those, as well as other appropriate topics.
Due to the large number of Western-action shooting events that occur around the world we can not publish all of them or even most of them. The guidelines I have set are that we try to cover four to six shooting matches each issue, put others on our web-site, and then unfortunately, there are some that never make it off the cutting table. Sometimes the decision is based on if we covered that shoot the previous year, how much space is available in the magazine, or how long the article has been waiting for publication, or the types of photos that have been submitted, or even how the article is written, or if I think the shoot was adequately covered in other publications. There are a variety of reasons why an article may or may not appear in the magazine.
Numerous gun articles will continue. I take great pride in making sure that we cover all gun manufacturers possible, regardless if they are advertising or not. We have also printed more articles on firearms from each of the primary replica gun importers such as Cimarron, Navy Arms, and Taylor 's & Co. than domestic manufacturers. One of the reasons is that each of these importers has a much larger selection of period correct firearms. We have also written about original antiques and though usually incorporated into articles about current replicas, we also published articles exclusively about specific antique firearms. This is an area I definitely hope we can improve upon. I like to have three to five gun or gun related articles per issue.
The magazine is supposed to provide variety, and I believe it does. Hopefully, there is something for everyone. Though shooting events and guns are certainly the meat of our publication, I believe the rest of the categories are just as important. In fact, I think we need to expand with more articles on Western history and possibly some other areas. I have received positive and negative feedback on practically every category of articles, but much, much more positive than negative.
We will continue to produce the best Western-action shooting magazine there is, covering all organizations and all related products while at the same time evaluating and considering all of your input. I appreciate your emails and letters so please keep them coming. Please keep reading it, buying it, and telling others to buy it instead of passing it around or putting it back on the shelves so we can continue to provide it to you. Stop by our booth at one of the shoots or give me a call and let me know what you like and don’t like. I hope you all enjoy a fantastic year of shooting fun.
Visit the Shoot! Magazine web site at www.ShootMagazine.com.
I have heard the statement made in the past that "you can’t keep everyone happy all of the time." I have come to the conclusion that you can’t keep some people happy any of the time! There are numerous considerations when deciding what articles to print and how many of them. As I mentioned in last issue’s editorial, I try to ensure that we always have at least 60 percent editorial content. Now, within that 60 percent what do you put in and how many of the same type of article go in? SHOOT! Magazine is dedicated to the Western-action shooting sports and will continue to remain so, though on occasion we may stray a little for one article in a particular issue or in the product review section, it will always remain true to its roots. This is the baseline for determining what goes into the magazine. It is not a gun magazine but a shooting magazine. Thus, it will always cover Western-action shooting events and never modern shooting events unless there is some separate special edition such as the Junior Shooters special edition coming out later this year. Some people, those that are primarily pure gun enthusiasts, would rather not see any coverage of shooting matches in the magazine. Others, those that are primarily in CAS for the dress up and camaraderie, would probably like to see more articles on shoots and clothing than guns. Well folks, we will continue to cover those, as well as other appropriate topics.
Due to the large number of Western-action shooting events that occur around the world we can not publish all of them or even most of them. The guidelines I have set are that we try to cover four to six shooting matches each issue, put others on our web-site, and then unfortunately, there are some that never make it off the cutting table. Sometimes the decision is based on if we covered that shoot the previous year, how much space is available in the magazine, or how long the article has been waiting for publication, or the types of photos that have been submitted, or even how the article is written, or if I think the shoot was adequately covered in other publications. There are a variety of reasons why an article may or may not appear in the magazine.
Numerous gun articles will continue. I take great pride in making sure that we cover all gun manufacturers possible, regardless if they are advertising or not. We have also printed more articles on firearms from each of the primary replica gun importers such as Cimarron, Navy Arms, and Taylor 's & Co. than domestic manufacturers. One of the reasons is that each of these importers has a much larger selection of period correct firearms. We have also written about original antiques and though usually incorporated into articles about current replicas, we also published articles exclusively about specific antique firearms. This is an area I definitely hope we can improve upon. I like to have three to five gun or gun related articles per issue.
The magazine is supposed to provide variety, and I believe it does. Hopefully, there is something for everyone. Though shooting events and guns are certainly the meat of our publication, I believe the rest of the categories are just as important. In fact, I think we need to expand with more articles on Western history and possibly some other areas. I have received positive and negative feedback on practically every category of articles, but much, much more positive than negative.
We will continue to produce the best Western-action shooting magazine there is, covering all organizations and all related products while at the same time evaluating and considering all of your input. I appreciate your emails and letters so please keep them coming. Please keep reading it, buying it, and telling others to buy it instead of passing it around or putting it back on the shelves so we can continue to provide it to you. Stop by our booth at one of the shoots or give me a call and let me know what you like and don’t like. I hope you all enjoy a fantastic year of shooting fun.
Visit the Shoot! Magazine web site at www.ShootMagazine.com.
posted by SHOOT! MAGAZINE | 4:36 PM
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