Re: Lack of Railway Magazines in Newsagencies

[Stuart Ellis <mpp@zipworld.com.au>]

Dealing with newsagency distributors can be very frustrating. When I set out
to deal with a distributor I was told by two major distributors that they
would deal with me if I had a 10 thousand and print run. Unfortunately,
these distributors only see volume in their sales. The other discouraging
point is you have to wait approx 115 days for payment after each issue hits
the shelf, considering that my printer deals on 30 day terms.

The distribution of rail magazines in general I have found  is indicated by
the proximity of the point of sale to a rail line or station, some areas
sell well, other's don't.

I have found a smaller distributor to Handle Motive Power across Australia,
and I am working in conjunction with them to increase the distribution level
over every issue. I am pleased  with the increases we are achieving.  It is
worthy of note, and this may come as a suprise to some, that half of Motive
Power's sales are through the state of Victoria. I am not sure what it is
like with other rail magazines but would encourage other editors to comment.




I hope this helps

Stuart Ellis
Motive Power Publications