Are knife magazines truly made for the knife community?

betzner said:
However, do you see your publications that cover only a single maker as solely documentary, without profit motive for you or the maker - or as good advertising for both - or as both motives?
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Hmmm, this is not so simple... Most of the profit I see from the books in
this new series is the joy of doing them. Unbelievable, maybe, but true.
I spend about 500-600 hours during one year to create such a 144 page
book ready for print and about two weeks with each knifemaker..... I am
actually making some of my dreams come true and enjoying every minute.

The books are a new age photographic documentation of the life and
the work of a world class knifemaker and they ARE everything you said.. :)

I am also quite sure that the maker will, over the coming years, get a return on
his investment (in time and money) in the book.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
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I think it will be in place to add here that Steven Dick of "Tactical Knives"
received a copy of Edmund Davidson's book at the BLADE Show, and will
have it reviewed in his January 2009 issue!

The first book review of one of my books in an American Knife Magazine...

Thanks, Steve!

David Darom (ddd)
 
To answer the initial question, I say 'yes, definitely'. Knife magazines truly are made for the knife community. Not just the manufacturers and craftsman, not just the collectors, not just the users and not just the philosophers. Because these mags draw content from many sources, they encompass as many aspects of the community that exist, over time, and that is what I interpret the word community as- a collective of a variety of individuals who share a basic interest.

A magazine cannot exist if it is not run as a business. Period. If a person doesn't like that model, then I'm sure there is room in this world for a new idea- a wholly democratic, rigidly objective and morally unquestionable magazine-type-thing. Whether humanity is able to create and support such an endeavour is the real question:p
 
Les: Good points

Numbers: the General forum, which is 95% talk of productions, has five times as many threads and individual posts than the Custom Forum. (39,000 threads to 7,000) It's a parallel to the overall interests of the knife community, and the advertiser targets.

Of course, I would love to see more great coverage of handmades. I'll bet customs coverage makes up more than 20% of the magazine coverage. That's because they're so durn cool.... :thumbup:

Coop
 
I see David's books on idividual makes as being a few different things. One it is a forum for the maker to inform the world about himself, his craft, his lifestyle and his knives. For DDD it is a labor of love that hopefully for him and the maker will yield a profit much like any endeavor. For the collector, it is a wonderful collection and ability to see knives he might never see in person and often will never own.

Jim Weyer in an earlier time did exactly the same thing as what DDD has done on his first four books. As a custom Knife Collector, I would not be without any of those books and have many others and added a few more this year at Blade and have been spending some nice afternoons reading these books.

I'm hoping that someone like DDD will take the time to produce a book on knives created by Lloyd Hale whose 22 years of work for a collector and 300+ knives later would be a wonderful tribute to LH and an offering of a great piece of art to the world.

I also would hope that Wolfe finds someone to create a book with photographic images of his knives as well as the drawings he does prior to creating his wonderful masterpieces. If you have never seen his drawings, if the book is ever done, get it for them alone as he is an artist of steel and pencil.

I will buy knife magazine periodically but too often for my own taste, there is little on custom knives compared to production knives and more production advertising that I care for. However, I perfectly understand the need for the ads and just use this as my own criteria for purchasing -- is there enough of interest for me to purchase. Sometimes there is.
 
I think we are all indebted to the knife magazines. I am pretty sure that most of us had a production knife for our first knife. Our love,disease, addiction has evolved from there. Now we are all posting in custom forums. We have come a long way from our first knives. The knife magazines, IMHO, are more angled towards the masses and the newbies. Sure, I still read them and get a lot out of them, but really to me they are more to interest entry level purchasers or collectors devoted only to production knives. Note: this has been changing with more articles on custom makers over the past couple of years. At any rate the magazines pour gas on the fire...they fan the desires and the dreams. We all know that what starts as the simple purchase of a slippie or lockback, maybe that first camp knife can be the first step down a slippery slope that could include collecting production knives, collecting custom knives, burning yourself on hot steel and grinding off hunks of skin.

So the knife magazines bring newbies into the hobby. They help educate them and fuel their interests and addiction. The ones that seriously are effected could develop into collectors and makers. They probably end up here. Its good for our hobby, our industry and our future.
KDC
 
kdcknives said:
I think we are all indebted to the knife magazines. I am pretty sure that most of us had a production knife for our first knife. Our love,disease, addiction has evolved from there. Now we are all posting in custom forums. We have come a long way from our first knives. The knife magazines, IMHO, are more angled towards the masses and the newbies. Sure, I still read them and get a lot out of them, but really to me they are more to interest entry level purchasers or collectors devoted only to production knives. Note: this has been changing with more articles on custom makers over the past couple of years. At any rate the magazines pour gas on the fire...they fan the desires and the dreams. We all know that what starts as the simple purchase of a slippie or lockback, maybe that first camp knife can be the first step down a slippery slope that could include collecting production knives, collecting custom knives, burning yourself on hot steel and grinding off hunks of skin.

So the knife magazines bring newbies into the hobby. They help educate them and fuel their interests and addiction. The ones that seriously are effected could develop into collectors and makers. They probably end up here. Its good for our hobby, our industry and our future.
KDC
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Well said KDC.
That's looking at the BIG picture. :thumbup:
 
I'm hoping that someone like DDD will take the time to produce a book on knives created by Lloyd Hale whose 22 years of work for a collector and 300+ knives later would be a wonderful tribute to LH and an offering of a great piece of art to the world.

I also would hope that Wolfe finds someone to create a book with photographic images of his knives as well as the drawings he does prior to creating his wonderful masterpieces. If you have never seen his drawings, if the book is ever done, get it for them alone as he is an artist of steel and pencil.
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Murray I couldn't agree more. Especially Lloyd Hale deserves the attention. He is now in his seventies and still make great knives although his health is failing him a bit at the moment.
 
True Marcel -- I will be visiting LH in August before the AG show and hope to pick up a Bowie from him then. Hope he will be doing ok after his recent surgery. I'm looking forward to our visit.
 
kdcknives said:
I think we are all indebted to the knife magazines. I am pretty sure that most of us had a production knife for our first knife. Our love,disease, addiction has evolved from there. Now we are all posting in custom forums. We have come a long way from our first knives.
KDC
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What you say KDC is the truth and the whole truth!

Many years ago it were knife magazines that kindled that first fire
in my bones - my love for hand made knives. I cannot in any way deny
that I owe everything I have done (related to the custom knife world) to
those old knife magazines that a bookstore in Jerusalem imported
especially for me!

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
Murray White said:
I'm hoping that someone like DDD will take the time to produce a book on knives created by Lloyd Hale whose 22 years of work for a collector and 300+ knives later would be a wonderful tribute to LH and an offering of a great piece of art to the world.

I also would hope that Wolfe finds someone to create a book with photographic images of his knives as well as the drawings he does prior to creating his wonderful masterpieces. If you have never seen his drawings, if the book is ever done, get it for them alone as he is an artist of steel and pencil.
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Murray,

When doing my second book "Art and Design in Modern Custom Fixed Blade Knives" and then
later in my third book, I tried to get Lloyd Hale to participate. Although enthusiastic at first he declined
mainly for reasons of lack of time....

I could not allow a book of mine, dedicated to fixed-blade knives, go without Lloyd so I had a collector
write his story for a section in the introduction... And, by-the-way, I really tried to get pictures of some
of the amazing pieces he did during those years. The response at the time was a total negative......

Wolfgang Loerchner there is only one in the whole world of modern custom knifmaking. One day,
when the time will be right for him, I shall do his book.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
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ddd said:
Wolfgang Loerchner there is only one in the whole world of modern custom knifmaking. One day,
when the time will be right for him, I shall do his book.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
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I'd like to place my order now, please. :)

Roger
 
ddd said:
Hmmm, this is not so simple... Most of the profit I see from the books in
this new series is the joy of doing them. Unbelievable, maybe, but true.
I spend about 500-600 hours during one year to create such a 144 page
book ready for print and about two weeks with each knifemaker..... I am
actually making some of my dreams come true and enjoying every minute.

The books are a new age photographic documentation of the life and
the work of a world class knifemaker and they ARE everything you said.. :)

I am also quite sure that the maker will, over the coming years, get a return on
his investment (in time and money) in the book.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
Click to expand...

Thanks for a great answer. I asked the questions as I did in hope of eliciting answers put in just these words. I have a few friends who may now understand why we all respect your efforts as much as we do, let alone the images which speak volumes.

I think this new road of individualized documentation is a superior way for any artist to make a world aware of his art - since there are no art galleries yet willing to see what so many of these creations represent.
 
Les seems to take it that I am being negative because of lack of coverage, not so. My position on magazines existing to make a profit is simple economics, no profit..... no future issues.

If it were my business to run a magazine I would do what it takes to make a profit to keep the business running and wouldn't apologize for editorial content as long as the prime directive was followed.

I applaud the editor who can keep a magazine in the black these days and I realize that it will be necessary to slant the coverage to pay the bills while attempting to keep some space open to cover smaller market segments like custom knives.
 
George,

Thanks for the clarification.

David,

Yes, the magazines make a profit....as do you. While it may be a labor of love for you. None the less, if you lost thousands of dollars on the first book....there probably would not have been a second book.

You have found a nice niche for yourself enjoy your success.

If you don't like the magazines...don't buy them, don't read them, etc. But don't complain that they make a profit by featuring several of their advertisers in the issues. There are a large group of people who receive articles that don't advertise with the magazines.

Remember if the company your work for wasn't making a profit....you wouldn't have a job.
 
I've written several articles for BLADE and KNIFE WORLD, which gives me a little experience to speak here (though it hardly makes me an expert, so I don't want to be seen as claiming anything remotely resembling that title).

For BLADE I generally get a query from the editor (Steve Shackleford) to see if I have any interest in the article, and if I do, then about a 6 to 8 week time span to write and get it to them. There are recommended sources to contact, but if I know one or two that would help the story, I've never been told "no", in fact, quite the opposite. I find Shackleford eager to find a new focus, but incredibly busy editing a monthly publication. Once they get the piece, the time for it to run can be 2 to 4 months.

Mark Zalesky at KNIFE WORLD has more editorial freedom, probably the nature of who owns what and a tabloid vs. glossy publication, and thus can give his writers more latitude. All the articles for KW have been my choice. After two profiles, one maker received calls that enhanced sales and the other one only had calls from suppliers and somebody who wanted to sell him a wall-hanging of the article. There are a lot of other factors in what happens because of an article and they seem to me to be 'business' things: is there a web site people can go to; does the maker attend shows regularly; get to know and talk with some of the major purveyors for advice if nothing else; that sort of thing. It's a tough tough business, as all you makers know, and it is getting more crowded!

At the bottom of things, knifemaking and magazine publishing are businesses, and like knifemakers, magazines and the people who write for them, do not make a lot of money. It is flat out hard work getting something to press every month and still being able to include current happenings. There are writers that do not meet deadlines for various reasons and that can be a nightmare. I edited a journal for a few years in another life, and it was the worst 'professional' thing I ever did. Steve and Mark are good editors...you don't see the work and both edit so smoothly that even when they change grammar or a phrase in my writing, it is not notice-able. They never change the content.

I read a lot here and have learned much on the forums and sometimes wish a few of you would submit a review or whatever to Mark Z or Steve S. (FYI: it may take Steve S over a year or more to publish it, those glossy mags are tough in their scheduling...Mark can move a lot faster.) Heck, it's what I did simply because I like the knife community and had some enthusiasm for writing. My ego involvement in being told "no" is non-existent in this context, probably because of the number of "no's" I've dealt with and also because I won't let anything get in the way of the fun and joy I take from my association with the knife world.

Edited to include this comment, which I forgot to make. There have been more than a few times when I contacted the maker or one of the other sources for the article to give them a heads up that the piece was about to hit print, and found out they don't get the magazine/periodical.
 
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So.....when is someone going to step up and put out a magazine(or newsletter) dedicated to the collecting of handmade art knives?:D
 
I don't begrudge the magazines need to make a profit, I just wish that the editorial and advertising aspects of magazine publishing could be more isolated from each other. I would love to read articles in knife magazines like those I read in the British car mags. There will be an ad for a certain model on one page of the magazine, and a not very flattering review of that same model somewhere else. That doesn'r seem to stop the auto companies from continuing to run ads in subsequent issues. It would be nice to see that in the knife mags. I don't believe for a minute that the knives being reviewed don't sometimes have problems that are not revealed to the magazines readership. I understand why they do what they do, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
 
Les Robertson said:
David,
........If you don't like the magazines...don't buy them, don't read them, etc. But don't complain that they make a profit by featuring several of their advertisers in the issues. There are a large group of people who receive articles that don't advertise with the magazines.

Remember if the company your work for wasn't making a profit....you wouldn't have a job.
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LES,

I love the magazines! My major hobbies were created thanks to them. I think
that I clearly indicated this.
I also openly stated that I respect and understand the fact that magazines need
ads and sales to survive. What I did not understand is why two of them
neglected to acknowledge receiving my books (unless in some cases prompted
by me several weeks later), AND did not mention them in any way as
news items that might interest their readers....

Even that is also okay with me! BUT, when one decides not to do a
write-up on a book (a $65 book + $100 for shipping), at least drop the sender
a note that this will not be done and maybe (wishful thinking) send it back......
Then I would have nothing to complain about and even "enjoy" the fact
that they have 5 free copies of my books in their office....

The most correct way would have been to have said something after receiving
the first copy, like, "sorry we don't review books", I could have saved about $1,000...
OR write to me and say "We only review books that we publish..." Which now
seems quite obvious to me!

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
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