Hi Mongo,
Love the BS Alarm. Yours is obviously working fine. Shiva has been around for along time. I would have like to have seen the article discuss his "past business dealings" as well as where he has been for the last 6 years or so. He more or less just disappeared from the custom knife making scene. Where did he go and why is back?
Hi Bob,
You are correct. Steven does have a policy regarding the admission or omission of particular knives. If the knife is not worth the ink, it just doesn't get into the magazine.
I have had writers from TK do articles on Bob Neal and I's LDC Knives. As well as my Vanguard knives. In each instance the writer asked me about "negative" aspects of the knives.
Many knife makers are reluctant to submit knives to Steven for an article. For two reasons:
First, they either don't want to because they are not completely confident of their work. They fear (wether justified or not) the knife will receive negative press.
This is why Steven's policy is in place. No knife magazine is in the business to "rip apart" a knife or a knife maker.
Second, can't afford to have a knife be with a writer for a few weeks.
Hi Ken,
First and foremost, any publication is there to inform. However, since paper, printing, photography and shipping are not free, the magazine has to make a profit.
This of course is done through sales. What sells magazines in part is putting in the magazine what the majority of the readership is interested in.
This "good ole boys club" exists because they are the ones over the course of a decade or more. Got off of their asses and did something about marketing their products.
These makers you speak of, what have they done to get in a magazine. Which professional photgrapher took pictures of their work? Which writer and or editor did they contact? Etc.
If you know of a maker who is doing this excellent work and is undiscovered, you should write an article. Perhaps you have.
I have been a custom knife dealer for 18 years. I will tell you there is more talent out there right now than I have ever seen. As such it is almost impossible to know of everyone who is making a quality knife.
Too many makers are reluctant to treat their knifemaking like a business. They feel that making a quality product should be enough. In today's market, because of all the talent out there right now. Making a quality knife is not enough.
On another forum, for $100 I offered step by step instructions on how to get into a knife magazine. Which I would refund, if your knife(s) did not get into a magazine using this method.
I wrote this in response to an thread where makers were complaining that only the "good ole boys" get in the magazine.
Anticipating a huge response I waited and waited and waited. Finally over the course of 2 weeks. Three makers contacted me who were willing to pay the $100.
They of course received this information for FREE as would any knife maker who contacted me. Sorry, the offer has ended.
My offer was a marketing tool to find out which knife makers thought enough of their knives to spend $100 to guarantee inclusion into a knife magazine. To see how many understood that the $100 would be returned to them with the very first knife they sold because of their inclusion into a knife magazine.
So Ken the next time you think it's only the good ole boys. Ask that maker what they did to introduce themselves to a magazine. When they respond with a confused look or the answer "nothing". You will know why they are not in a magazine.
Successful people, in whatever line of work, do not sit around waiting to "catch a break". They are proactive and create their own "breaks".
