Was: gator/countryliving gardener; Now: Trends

**"Doreen Howard" d*@ticon.net**

Thanks Doug for sharing the information.  It's sad to see Country Living
Gardener go to a quarterly, but it seems to be a trend.  I've written for
The Gardener's Companion from the Old Farmer's Almanac since 1994, and it
has gone through several changes in frequency due to the economy.  It was a
spring-only magazine until 1997, when a monthly newsletter with the same
masthead supplemented the annual.  That lasted only a year, as ads were not
included in the newsletter (12 pages).  The subscriber base wasn't there.
The next change was in 2000 when marketing studies indicated that the
Gardener's Companion would sell well and pull advertising if it went to a
quarterly--which it did.  After almost three years in this mode, the
circulation decreased and advertisers were not spending as freely.
So...this magazine is going back to an annual next year.

Don't know if this is a trend or not.  But, it bears watching.  On the other
hand, Mother Earth News has rebuilt its subscriber base in a dramatic
fashion during the last 15 months.  It went from about 34 percent
re-subscription rate to over 70 percent.  Ad revenues are up, too.  Part of
this is due to the melt down at Organic Gardening--these are the same
readers---and that Mother Earth beefed up its gardening content.

What are the rest of you GWL members seeing?  We had a conversation similar
to this when the listserv began--two years ago.  It would be interesting to
see what has changed, what looks promising and what is a waste of time.
Doreen Howard

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