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Melbourne, Australia...with how we can build our teddy magazines back up?
I am fed up with going to my local newsagents to find the shelves filled with beading and scrapbooking magazines? 
My age must be showing, because I can remember a time when we (in OZ) had all the teddy bear magazines available on our shelves.
I have also noticed, not only are they thin on the shelves, some of the magazines are getting smaller in size and thickness.
We used have mags with at least 140 pages and now we are lucky if they have 70.
Has this been brought about by lack of stories to write about, lack of subscribers, lack of advertising or just a general lack of interest?
I would have thought by the amount of members here on TT and it's continued growth, that the interest in teddies was beginning to generate again.
Any ideas? I'd be very interested in hearing your comments and opinions.
Melbourne, AustraliaOkay 21 people have looked at this post and have had nothing to say...
so let me put it another way.
I want this to be a positive thread...so to those who subscribe or buy teddy magazines already ~ can you tell me why?
And those that don't ~ can you tell me what you would like to see in the magazines that would entice you to subscribe?
Laurie Lou BearsWhere I live there is a national newsagents called wh smith and they seem to be the only place to get the bear magazines from but luckily in my village they have just started to stock tbci so it can save me a 15 mile round trip to get it.I do subscribe to Teddy Bear Scene too and should subscribe to tbci as well as it would save me the hassle of trying to get the magazine and having to guess if it is out as I am never sure of the date.If you go to all the big supermarkets they stock all the other craft magazines but no bear mags 
You do wonder if it is because there is such a big interest in all other crafts but not in bear making but then saying that so many people do not realise that bear artists and collectors bears exist so if more shops stocked these magazines would there be more interest in bears.
I buy magazines as I love to keep up to date with things in the bear world and just like to read about bears,bears and bears.
Laurie :hug:
AlmostBearsits not only magazines about scrapbooking...its supplies here in Tassie...i was soo mad the other day when i couldnt find anything i wanted in all the craft stores we have....just rows apon rows af scrapbooking stuff......i dont even know anyone who does scrapbooking 
and everywhere i go i keep an eye out for bear magazines....but like you said - beading and such...only spotlight has the bear ones down here as far as i know....and even then their a bit sparse...i think stores just get in what will sell fast and for lots of profit....stickers and beads and stuff dont cost them much and they can mark them up a fair bit...but mohair and alot of other teddy bear stuff is quite pricy to begin with and they cant mark it up too much or it wouldnt sell....well thats my opinion anyway.....but boy does it make me cross :twisted: :twisted:
but on the other side of the fence.......if i was a scrapbooker or beader...id be in heaven 
QueenslandSandie I totally agree with you am so over the scrapbooking and beading books.how many do you need!!! have a great newsagent and I just ask and now I get Teddybear scene so i keep up to date and bear creations...... 
Debbie
AlmostBearsoppse you wrote more when i was writing so my rant is a little off topic
the main reason i dont subscribe to magazines is money....so i just buy them when i can afford them and when i can find them 
Melbourne, AustraliaI do a little beading (for my bears) and I do a little scrapbooking (also for my bears) so I don't mind seeing some on these subjects, but I think it would be nice to see a balance of craft magazines on the shelves.
The things I like to read in the magazines I subscribe to, are the Artists Profiles...and I would dearly love to see a "What Happend to......." or a "Where Are They Now?"
I know many of the early bear artists that I "grew up with" are still out there somewhere, but have they moved on to bigger and better things or are they so swamped with orders they don't need to promote themselves anymore?
Yep the cat's curious again!
Drea's BearsThere is a store in my city that is just a magazine and smoke shop........they used to be the store you could find ANY magazine you were looking for, even if you were'nt looking for it! That is how I got involved in bearmaking to begin with! My mom was in the shop saw the magazine (teddybear and friends) with a pattern in it. I had never made a bear before and she thought I'd like to try it out. That was 10 years ago! Now I can't find any bear (or doll) magazines anywhere in the store, it turns out that I was the only one buying them so they didn't want to continue carrying the bear mags. Now I subscribe because that's the only way I'm going to get them. I don't know how we are ever going to encourage new people to join our world of hugs and cuddles if they aren't able to 'stumble' across the magazines on the shelf of a shop somewhere. I can't imagine where I'd be if this was the case 10 years ago.........I'd probably have ended up as an accountant by now :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
AndreaM 
Cat Gabriel CraftsI'm with you Sandi - I'm always dis-enchanted when I go to the newsagents, the same old scrapbooking and beading mags!! Luckily there is one newsagent close to me in Frankston that stocks TB&F, Teddy Bear Scene and Soft Dolls & Animals - all of which I buy when I have the spare money. I also buy the occasional cross-stitch mag too.
I'm annoyed that craft shops are so geared towards scrapbooking these days, it's like it's the only craft around.
Ooooh, this is a tangled web question! As much as I'd love to jump in here, I don't want to appear as if I'm taking the magazines to task. I have ideas, but, I'm not sure anyone really wants to hear them.
Instead I'll ask some questions in another thread after I get my thoughts organized.
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
LuxembearsI understand what you mean Sandi. The only store in Green Bay that even carries a bear mag is Jo Ann fabrics and they carry f Teddy Bear and Friends magazines. That's it. Not even Barns and Noble carry any bear mags anymore. When I asked they said they were not selling. My guess is that most people who buy them subscribe.
Aleta, I'm sure we'd love to hear your ideas.
PawssiblesYou're right when you say there are no bear magazines around at the stores. When I first started making bears about ten years ago there were lots of magazines available at the stores, now I have to subscribed to what I want and have it sent via mail. Do you think everything goes in cycles, and right now beads and scrapbooking seem to be the poplar thing? I know my sales to bear stores have declined and there isn't near the bear shows here in western Canada that there used to be. I haven't as yet tried ebay or on -line auctions. It can be disheartening, but I love making bears...so I just keep plugging along.
Nioka BearsWhen I came 'back' to the bears, the first thing I noticed was that I could NOT find ANY bear making magazines locally......Even Lismore, which is a city of 40 000 or so and has a number of newsagents.....did not have my desired bear mag...(Bear Creations)....the only mag I could dig up was Dolls & Bears.....and what is worse, when I asked them about it, they hadn't even heard of it!! SOOOO frustrating and YES....scrapbooking and card making magazines galore....everywhere I go....beading too...BUT Bears....Nooooooo.... Even Spotlight doesn't stock anything bear stuff anymore....I recently bought out the last of their joint sets for .50cents a pack....complete with nuts and bolts....LOL..and they were the big sizes too 45-60mm....Guess I will have to make some BIG bears now...no excuses!
YES...I think it would be GREAT to have a "Where are they now" section in the bear magazines......I often wonder where my 'favourite' artists have disapeared too.....and I don't mean the 'BIG' names.....I wonder where the not so 'BIG' artists BUT none the less GREAT artists are!
I wish there was a way to rekindle the interest in the bear industry ....I remember the days when you made a bear and popped it on your website and it was gone within minutes.....it was great....not the $$ BUT the feeling that someone loved your work so much that they couldn't wait to invite the bear home and obviously was watching keenly for them....It made all the hours sewing and then the additional hours which were just as much, if not more.....making and maintaining a website have purpose and satisfaction..... It was great to have your work obviously appreciated....
HUGS,
Christine
Posts: 361It is difficult to get Bear Mags even in a city of a million people. We don't even get Teddy Bear Review anymore...just TB&F and Teddy Bear Scene. I am not sure what the problem is...I know that there seems to be no regularity about when they arrive here...
I think that the other reason might be a cost factor...people are still making them, but not making enough to justify advertising in them. I know the mags have free sections...but advertising is what keeps the mag going...and the fewer advertisers, the thinner the mag...I think there may also be less people concentrating on just bears...I know I only made bears for a long time...and I just got tired of waking up to mohair every day...I still love to see everyone's bears...they make me smile...and I still make bears, just not every day. I spend more time on dolls now. Just my 2 cents worth...
Hugs, Nancy
The local Chapters here used to sell the British Bear magazines, TBR and Teddy and Friends The only one left is Teddy Bear and Friends. Also the big Needlecraft show in Toronto twice a year which I never missed is now basically scrapbooking and beading and very little quilting or fabric arts- so sad
Hugs
Gail
Melbourne, AustraliaWell I subscribe to Teddy Bear and Friends and Teddy Bear Scene.
I just love receiving them and reading them from cover to cover, but I would also love to be able to buy the others occasionally too.
I guess the only way to be really sure of getting them is to subscribe, but like many of you it's not always possible to find the money to pay for for a full subscription all in one go. I know Teddy Bear Scene has a Direct Debit system so you can pay monthly, quarterly or bi-annually which spreads payments out more evenly, but unfortunately it is only available to UK residents.
Perhaps it might be worth suggesting to all our Teddy Magazine Publishers that they would get more subs if this was available world wide?
Are there any among you who would embrace this idea?
Back Road BearsYes, Aleta..... do share your thoughts! I have lots of my own... some are probably better kept to myself for fear of upsetting the apple cart!
But a couple of thoughts to share with you all.... observations perhaps... the first doesn't necessarily help put bear mags back on the stands but might shed some light on the scrapbooking craze:
Scrapbooking stuff is EVERYWHERE...even in grocery stores! Why? I mean, the scrapbooking craze started 10 years ago! The abundance of scrapbooking supplies and mags is due in large part to marketing campaigns by the manufacturers and distributors of the products to keep their merchandise 'in our faces' so to speak. Scrapbooking attracts a huge following... more so than artist bears.... with a large demographic so they can put scrapbooking stuff anywhere and attract new crafters to the addiction. The same goes for beading (and though I LOVE beads I'm so sick of going to craft shows that consist of nothing but beaded jewelry!).
Anyway, point is... we can't mass market artist bears in the same way. Plain and simple.
But that doesn't mean we should let 'them' stomp us out either. I found a TB&F mag buried behind all of those scrapbooking magazines , way in the back on the bottom row ... I only dug for it because I knew there had to be a copy left some where!
Now, for the bear mags themselves yes, they are getting thinner and harder to find. Non-existent it seems! And I have two entirely separate thoughts on that.
1. if the bear mags aren't available to the general public at the major book store or newstand chains that is going to really hurt our declining business! Collectors who can't find shows to go to anymore OR the magazines are going to think that artist bears have up and died! We know that's not true! We HAVE to stay 'in their faces' if we want a chance at survival here!
2. Are the mags thinner because of fewer advertisers? That is most certainly a reason as far as I can tell after looking at some older issues vs. current ones. Have you inquired about advertising prices??? They are rediculous and it's no wonder no one advertises! (I say that but I do advertise when my budget allows because I want to keep the mags going as well as my own business.) I'm wondering out loud here what would happen if the mags actually dropped their advertising prices considerably. I'm guessing more artists would advertise which would also create a larger readership and a stronger following as we all know how word travels and I know that if I could advertise in a magazine for a very affordable price I'd be telling all of my other artist friends that they need to do the same. Right now I wouldn't recommend it to anyone if I thought the price would scare them away! So, although the publisher may drop ad rates they'd get more advertisers so wouldn't loose any money, would have a thicker mag and over a short time rebuild readership.
As for magazine content. I like TBCI who does multiple artist profiles in each issue. Some magazines only do 1 or 2. I like to read about the manufacturers once in a while but I REALLY want just artist bear related content! And pictures.... the more and bigger they are the better! TB&F has a wonderful variety of bear related articles from collecting to antiques and beyond. I like change.... new articles... new look... new features, etc. as it keeps me coming back for more!
There is no easy solution and the scrapbooking and beading isn't going anywhere apparently but we can't let them push us out of sight entirely. If anything we need to adopt a smaller scale version of their mass marketing tactics. That would take me back to my "Building Awareness Challenge" I began here earlier this year. We can't leave it all up to the magazines to promote us! Maybe we need to get creative and make scrapbooking bears that we can cross promote with the scrapbooking stuff. Or beaded bears.... or.....
No simple solution.
Melbourne, AustraliaNot even Barns and Noble carry any bear mags anymore. When I asked they said they were not selling. My guess is that most people who buy them subscribe.
Just been reading everyone's posts again and couldn't help thinking when I read this part of Judi's post, that it reminded me of a story about two shoe salesmen who were sent to an island to research the possability of opening a shoe shop.
One came back with the idea that it wouldn't be a good idea as no one wore shoes so they wouldn't buy them.
The second one came back with the idea it would be a terrific idea...no one wore shoes and what a marvelous opportunity there was to corner the market.
Perhaps Judi, you should ask Barns and Noble...how can anyone buy them, if they are not on the shelf for sale.
The other thing I noticed was in Andrea's post about stumbling across the magazine by accident...if they are not available in the shops first, how are people going to find them to subscribe to them.
Do you think maybe publishers should do more advertising in their own magazines? Like maybe promoting teddy bear mags in beading, quilting or scrapbooking mags?
Please don't think I am trying to have a go at anyone here...I just think it would be great for us to come up with some ideas that may help increase our teddy magazines circulation and get them back on the shelves.
Hey Aleta you said you had some ideas...come on we'd love to hear them.
AlmostBearsgoing with the cross between crafts ...if i made bears that incorporated scrapbooking and or beading...would i then be able to infiltrate the scrapbooking magazines get featured and zillions of people would see the bears and maybe we could entice a few scrapbookers or bead artists into the bear trade....more and more people would get interested from there, and it would only be a matter of time before theres mohair in the supermarkets where it belongs
ahh sigh......i can dream, i can dream
Melbourne, AustraliaOh Nat! Mohair in the supermarkets Sweet Dreams!
Dee,
I do understand about the apple cart!!!
I'll be back tomorrow with a post. In the midst of all this I decided it was time to reorganize my studio.....the real estate agent is coming! The Real Estate agent is coming!!
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Newcastle, OntarioYes, scrapbooking and jewelry making is definitely in at the moment, along with beading. I have to admit, I buy scrapbooking stuff all the time and now I'm buying some of the jewelry making supplies. I think Stampington has about 6 or seven different magazine spin offs from their original Somerset Press, and I also buy those quite often. The stores will definitely stock supplies they know will sell.
However, in Canada we lost a big craft chain called White Rose a few years ago, and now Michael's has a lot of garden supplies, along with decorating things. I think things do go in cycles. Walmart is supposed to be dropping craft supplies in all but their superstores and JoAnnes Fabrics are closing some stores. I tried to buy some needles for sewing in Bouclairs (sewing store) recently and was told they are not longer carrying them! It's going to be more home decorating things now.
But the thing I've noticed most is that magazines are being dropped because I believe they no longer get full credit for their unsold ones, like they used to, so they will only carry ones that are a sure sale. Magazines are also incrediby expensive compared to ten years ago, and even though our Canadian dollar is at par or better with the U.S. dollar, we still get charged up to 40% more than the U.S. price, even on subscriptions! I'm getting really picky about buying bear magazines and Chapters doesn't carry them all anymore. Couple the rising cost, along with smaller magazines and less content, and it's no wonder they aren't selling and therefore stores aren't stocking them. I have tons of old bear magazines and they are almost double the size of the new ones. I rarely buy any U.S. bear magazines now, as I find the content just isn't there, and I don't buy the British ones often as I can buy a book for the same price. I don't know what the answer is.
hugs,
Brenda
Anavy teddy bearsThey don't sell any bear magazines at all in our country...
I currently subscribe to Teddy Bear Scene magazine here in the UK, as well as Teddy Bear & Friends and Teddy Bear review from the US. I have subscribed to bear mags for over a decade because I honestly don't think it is practical to work in the bear industry without taking a healthy and regular interest in what is happening there. Magazine subscriptions are essential for this.
I think it's really important to understand how other people work, what outlets there are for selling and so on. Without the magazines this information is hard for us as bearmakers to gather. Also, magazines are the first introduction to our art for new collectors in many cases, so they need to be accessible in the High Street!
Here in the UK Kathy Martin, editor of TBS, works tirelessly to promote bear art and has done so for many years. She takes an active part in show reporting, auction reporting and the promotion of both new and established bear artists' work. I think it would be wrong of me as a bear artist not to support this work by at least taking a subscription and advertising whenever I can.
I may get myself in hot water here, but I really feel that unless bear artists take responsibility for making sure they keep informed about our broader industry and work hard to help promote it, that industry won't develop sufficiently to be able to nurture their progress. It's too easy for us to complain about how awful things are becoming when shows, magazines etc disappear but I really think it would be far more beneficial for us to consider what we can do both independently and collectively to help turn the tide and refocus interest in our industry.
Melbourne, AustraliaOkay girls let's keep this positive...I'll say it again...
QUOTE: Please don't think I am trying to have a go at anyone here...
I just think it would be great for us to come up with some ideas that may help increase our teddy magazines circulation and get them back on the shelves.
Can you tell me what you would like to see in the magazines that would entice you to subscribe?
I know Teddy Bear Scene has a Direct Debit system so you can pay monthly, quarterly or bi-annually which spreads payments out more evenly, but unfortunately it is only available to UK residents.
Would you subscribe if this facility was available world wide?
