too much pressure, too little help forthcoming, too niche market, too little appreciation, the need to survive..... these are the many reasons for the revamp of av xpress.

i initially conceived av xpress to be nothing more than a free adzine, then i got ambitious and decided to turn it into a commercial magazine, which turned out to be such a burden on my shoulder. truth is, working solo, part-time mode no less, i just can't handle a magazine!

first, there are just not enough good writers around. soliciting for articles is as good as begging. bear in mind that all my contributors have full-time jobs and writing to them is just a hobby - they write only when they have time. for me, i need commitment! i can't afford to have contributors who write for fun. i have a certain quota of pages to fill every issue.

second, the hifi market is not great. soliciting for ads is not easy, especially when you have a conscience that you can't guarantee that by placing an ad, sales would come. i don't like BS. i want to give value to my advertisers. many dealers are still sitting on the fence due to the fact that we are a new magazine and we have no track record. it's ok, we can understand that.

third, printing cost for a magazine is exorbitant! almost 80% of my ad revenue goes to printing. it just does not make sense to me that i work so hard so 3 months and all my earnings go to paying the printer. what kind of warped logic is that?

fourth, many of you are not even willing to pay RM3! i don't know what to say about this except to shake my head and sigh.

so, i have decided to change it to a "express news" format, which means:
1) free for all, available at all the usual record and hifi outlets nationwide
2) limited pages ( < 20 pages) with limited ads, which focuses heavily on new product info and industry update - everything about malaysian hifi scene. still no reviews, no BS
3) monthly publication, so no more complaints about the long wait


truth be told, when i first thought of the name "av xpress", i wanted it to be an express news bulletin that brings the latest news on a frequent basis. at least the new format does justice to the name. just look at it as the "media focus" (popular adzine circulated in damansara and kepong area) for hifi, only much more classy in presentation and printing quality.

the next issue is to be launched end of july, before the KLIAV show!

11 comments:

Lil' KC 小雞雞 said...

Friend, we can do it in a lo-fi way. Doing away with high quality pictures and stuff.

We can go around shops, take pics with a decent digicam and write something on the piece.

In that case, you won't have to worry about nothing to give. Heck, the dealers could even use us to tell when the new shipments is due.

Oh, that could give me more excuse to laze off in Adelphi over the weekends.

I'll cover SG for you.

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

promise you will cover SG for me? i only need new products and industry update...

Lil' KC 小雞雞 said...

With my new 3.2MP camera phone, shud be enough to cover news and gossips in a very lo-fi way!

Anyone wants to take me part time in Adelphi? I do for free, maybe commission based also can.

I'll cover SG for sure!

Anonymous said...

The last time I got copy from Rock Corner. This time I just don't have the time to go looking for it.
My suggestion do like the first issue for distribution, charge RM $1.00 and give the vendor 20% or something.

Lil' KC 小雞雞 said...

Many thanks for your support!

As long as there is still 1 person reading it, we won't stop!

Anonymous said...

Correct me if i'm wrong, can we get this mag in tower record? I did not see them.I work nearby klcc, just too awkward for people going to music by design for sake of getting this mag and not all peoples are regular hifi shops visitor.

I do not know where else, kinokuniya,newstand? Never see their sign. So cold response is expected. Judt my 2 cents.

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

for the 2nd issue, i did not place them in klcc tower because i heard that everybody is waiting for the free copies and not willing to pay RM3 at the newsstand....

anyway, with the next issue, we are back to free copies again. my problem is i have to get a runner to place them at all these places cos doing it myself is very very tiring!

thanks for the comment.

alex said...

may be you can consider to do it like what affordable audio, i.e., publish your issue in your blog and allow people to download, which will do awy the printing as well as distribution.
The above is just my suggestion from a reader point of view.

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

hi alex,

thanks for comment. i don't want to offend anyone but the internet crowd in malaysia ain't the buying crowd. many dealers also echo this fact hence their lack of attention on their websites. nothing beats a hardcopy which you can read at your leisure.

Anonymous said...

I did not know that audiophiles or the now more popular term "music lover" can be so cheap that they can't or don't wanna pay $3 buck for a rag!

I managed to get my first issue from Hi-Way Laser PJ, after search for a few hifi outlets.

I tried searching for the second issue on newstands but couldn't find it, so I got my copy again from Hi-Way Laser again, which was their last copy.

I'll have to thank Kenny for that.

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

hey,

thanks for your support!

many people don't know what kind of struggle is it to produce a magazine....

but i am sure some like you do appreciate our efforts, and that's enough motivation for us!