I genuinely wish them all the luck in the world and hope that it succeeds but I have one nagging doubt

It seems to me that most of the contributors are keen amateurs, not professional journalists. Now to a large extent, that is a good thing, unbiased, often real world opinion and there are 6 billion potential writers to choose from, rather than 2 staff writers, so there is a varied opinion.

But the same is true for the photographs ; there seem to be very few professional, incredible high, quality, soul stirring images in the mag. They are mostly snaps of still bikes, used small and dotted around the pages

Now I know this is a catch 22 situation - a decent snapper won't give away his stuff for free, you can't start paying the snappers until you make some money, the argument is circular.

If the magazine is just about imparting knowledge from keen amateurs, then the web can do that far better. But what the web can't do is produce a tactile object of value that you cherish as people do with Nat Geo mag and their team of brilliantly talented photographers.

And how you can do that on a startup budget, I've no idea.

But I genuinely hope they can pull it off

Professional disclaimer : I did 10 years as a freelance photographer who got pissed off with seeing keen amateurs work getting used for free as rates spiralled ever downwards

I think that's the beauty of it.... They are real stories written by real riders with real photos taken without real thought !

It's very much a REAL magazine.. (how many times can I say "Real" ?)

I got pretty tired with the same magazines printing the same stories on rotation year after year with all the photos clearly posed or pre-planned !

I like reading the stories of people who are mostly digging up fond memories and experiences than from "Joe bloggs travel author" who rode somewhere just to meet someone who might be cool and take an arty photograph just to sell it on......

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

The more I think about it, the more I think this mag is for me. How many professional journalists will have the time for a 6 month tour through the Americas for example? The ones I've met tend to be working almost hand to mouth and need to keep working. I want to read stories from people who have gone and done it off their own back - whether its that 6 month tour or a week off-roading in Romania. Not an advert piece from some guy who's got a freebie from an adv-tour comapny.

If you get a few hundred quid for an article about your multi-thousand pound trip, you are never going to anything but 'amatuer'.

You need a couple of staff writers for equipment reviews, funny columns, that sort of thing but staff writers are what make so many magazines so bloody awful IMHO. A mag tries to get their staffers to do as much as possible - because its cheap presumably, but those staffers soon run out of ideas and start writing the nonsense you see in most bike mags.

If they can pick genuinely good amatuer writers (and there are plenty of them) on a combination of interesting trips, good writing and interesting photos, then the quality of the mag could be excellent. And, quite frankly, the quality of journalism from professional writers in the press is often so unbelievably poor, I'm not convinced buying stories from amatuers will dilute the quality by any significant amount. Amatuers will make mistakes that professionals wouldn't, sure, but that's what editors are for.

I think they will need to pay however. An amatuer will sweat just as much (possibly more) over their story and its important they are paid for that effort. I've seen magazines that take a very shabby attitude to paying contributors and it shows. Very quickly people stop writing/shooting for them and the only people they can get are just people who really want to see their story in print - and that doesn't always translate to quality.

I'm really interested to see my first issue now - see if the gamble has paid off!

Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I really rate this magazine.

A truly SUPERB buy in my book.

I haven't missed a copy yet and every one has been a delight to read. As far as I'm concerned the magazine is well worth the price being asked.

I hope YOU all support the publishers by buying a copy or subscribing for ALL future editions.

A refreshing change from the normal sports oriented magazines out there of which there are many (mostly filled with boring adverts).

I urge you ALL to support this refreshingly different publication. If it all goes tits up we will only have ourselves to blame for not supporting it.

NOTHING adverse to say for once....

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

I am on my third issue now, it's OK but suffers IMO from lots of glossy ads for expensive kit, and kit reviews for the same - unfortunately these are a neccesary evil!

With it being mainly articles from ordinary people who have been there, rather than journalists I'm even tempted to chip in a few articles of my own.....

Good mag, but my only gripe is stating that a 20 year old lad has over 15 years experience in adventure travelling and using various pieces of equipment that he tests! Surely it would make more sense in asking his father lol.

As of today, I'm a subscriber

I borrowed issue 3 off a mate and it's improved to be quite a fun read (Except for the Iceland article that was probably borrowed from Wikipedia... Alun: any of these any good? Iceland TBSdotCom )

cheers
C

PS.

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective