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Discover Mid-America — September 2008
Goodbye to the quarter-fold?
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by Bruce Rodgers
Seems like I (by “I,” I mean Discover Mid-America) change printers almost as much as some single mothers change day-care providers. Similarly, it’s about price, quality and the intangibles of just liking the folks you’re giving money to, in this case, those printing your main economic engine — this publication.
The company we use now is Hi-Tech Web Printing in Lee’s Summit, MO — good outfit. It’s the first company we’ve used that wasn’t out of the Kansas City area. It’s nice to see your print rep on a fairly regular basis and be able to do a press check without driving for an hour or two and dropping a couple of twenties into the gas tank.
Our choices are limited as to whom we can get to print our paper. One big reason is that Discover Mid-America, in the parlance of publishing, is a “quarter-fold.”
Think about it. When was the last time you found a publication, in newsprint, folded like ours. (If you’ve found one, let me know. Could mean lunch, a free subscription or free ad — but I’ve got to see it.)
Anyway, quarter folds are virtually extinct. As far as I know, in the two-state region of Kansas and Missouri, the number of printers able to print a quarter fold is five. And four of those five, we’ve already done business with.
Last month, our print rep told me paper prices were going up and that his company would have to re-bid our job. As the paper industry consolidates — meaning big boys buying up little boys — having paper prices go up is about as surprising as tomorrow’s sunrise. The only question is how much is the pain.
Well, the pain caused me to wince. The price increase was too much. To offset the increase, the option of losing our full-color capability was one I considered counterproductive. So I told my print rep I would get other bids. The first one back caused an even more prolonged wince.
The final option — outside of paying through the nose — is to change the format of Discover Mid-America. After over two decades of presenting our advertisers and our editorial in a quarter-fold format, that option was unsettling. So we talked some more — the print rep, DMA art director Ron Johnson and myself. Here’s the plan:
Beginning with either the October or November issue, the quarter fold will be broken up into two sections, Section A and Section B. This will mean some reshuffling of the inside layout with the Show Calendar section being the cover of Section B.
If that works out and advertisers are generally receptive, we may stay with that. Otherwise, in the beginning of the year we may abandon the quarter fold altogether and put Discover Mid-America into a booklet form, trimmed and stapled with color to the page edge. If we go with that it means new ad sizes and new rates but a different feel in size and look.
It may be something we need. Let me know what you think.
Bruce Rodgers can be contacted at publisher@discoverypub.com.
> Refurnished Thoughts Archive — past columns
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