Buying a weekly

[Versatile]

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

That's incredibly selfish.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

That's incredibly selfish.

But practical.

 

[BDC99]

You'd have to hire an excellent editor whom you'd trust to do the heavy lifting. There is no way you would be able to juggle this and your current obligations (as if I know what those are). There is no way this isn't a massive time suck if you plan to oversee it on a daily basis. But it sounds like a great opportunity to do something great for yourself and the community. Your passion for writing and talent would definitely make it better, but like someone said, you would have to be patient and not expect the writers to put out the quality that you do. Or even the quality of a mid-size daily. Unless you plan to pay a premium for talented young writers and groom there. There is a lot to think about here, obviously, but I hope it works out for you. It doesn't sound like the financials are a major issue, so that is a plus. And I would guess a small paper like that (that you could help grow), with no competition and a loyal readership and advertisers, would be a decent investment.

 

[BDC99]

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

That's incredibly selfish.

But practical.

Have to agree with Norrin on this one. Definitely selfish, and I wouldn't go in with that plan, but it would make a good read, depending on what comes out of it.

 

[JayFarrar]

just remember, because of who you are, what you do wil get some media scrutiny.

with press attention comes certain expectations and if the paper sucks under your ownership then it will, by extension, damage your name.

especially by the types who lie in the tall grass with sharp knives waiting for a stumble by you.

on the flip side, from a very practical standpoint, you can make some money or at least break even.

i'd be curious to know if the weekly does anything besides the paper. Meaning, do they have advertising rich special sections or annual pubs that make some money.

if they don't, you could start them and get a better turnaround on your initial investment and, eventually, you'll have a McSweeney's like publishing empire.

You'll spend some money up front. Purchase price, new office space, computers, people cost. What it really depends on, is think five years from now, and the paper is making some money but not piles, it is consuming a fair chunk of your life, will you want to see it out for another five years, or will you want to part with it?

 

[Versatile]

eventually, you'll have a McSweeney's like publishing empire.

Dude, it's a small-town Canadian weekly.

 

[Riptide]

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

That's incredibly selfish.

But practical.

Have to agree with Norrin on this one. Definitely selfish, and I wouldn't go in with that plan, but it would make a good read, depending on what comes out of it.

The book would have to be very successful to pay the expenses. Long shot at best.

 

[Versatile]

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

That's incredibly selfish.

But practical.

Have to agree with Norrin on this one. Definitely selfish, and I wouldn't go in with that plan, but it would make a good read, depending on what comes out of it.

Maybe you're forgetting that these are people's lives (well, Canadians' lives). You can't use people on a whim, make them your muse for a moment then discard their careers.

This industry is difficult enough. It's tough out there, tough maintaining a sense of pride, tough going into work every day knowing the next round of layoffs is coming around at any minute, tough knowing the ink on your hands becomes more obsolete every day. We do this because we love it. Because it's all we know and all we hoped we ever would need to know. We battle difficult bosses and impossible deadlines and discontented readers and carpel tunnel syndrome and absentee parenting and stress migraines.

No one deserves to face all that as some guinea pig in a social experiment.

If you do this, typefitter, please don't Lee Abrams it. Care about the people. Care about the product. Care about making a difference, not a story. I don't know you, but I have read enough of your work and your posts to get the feeling you would care. I hope you would care.

 

[Glenn Stout]

You will have to fire some good people who just aren't talented enough, keep some bad people who are, hire some at less than what you know they are worth, and lose the good ones time and time again. No room for sentiment. If you haven't been in a situation before where you are responsible for making the decisions about someone else's livelihood, where you have to tell someone with a family who is in your face begging you to keep them on when you have to let them go, this might be the most difficult thing of all, and something that will keep you up nights.

 

[Songbird]

There are ways to avoid "selfish" while remaining "practical" -- he could use the advance from the book to give the employees he cares about a decent raise while he's trying to sell the paper. Because he would be selling the paper at some point.

 

[Boom_70]

I think the mistake many first time business owners make is that they get caught up in the romance of ownership and do not pay enough attention to the reality of the accounting.

In evaluating the purchase of a business you need to take a hard look at the basic pro foma numbers.

What is the monthly revenue? Is it sustainable? Is there potential for revenue growth? What are the expenses related to
achieving revenue growth?

What are the monthly expenses compared to revenue. Expenses should include debt service if you are taking a loan to purchase. Can you make it through a month when revenue does not cover expenses.

How much of revenue is "safe" under new ownership? Are existing customers staying out of loyalty to current ownership?
Are the subscription and advertising rates in line with market and monthly revenue requirements? Is there room to raise prices?

 

[YankeeFan]

just remember, because of who you are, what you do wil get some media scrutiny.

with press attention comes certain expectations and if the paper sucks under your ownership then it will, by extension, damage your name.

especially by the types who lie in the tall grass with sharp knives waiting for a stumble by you.

on the flip side, from a very practical standpoint, you can make some money or at least break even.

i'd be curious to know if the weekly does anything besides the paper. Meaning, do they have advertising rich special sections or annual pubs that make some money.

if they don't, you could start them and get a better turnaround on your initial investment and, eventually, you'll have a McSweeney's like publishing empire.

You'll spend some money up front. Purchase price, new office space, computers, people cost. What it really depends on, is think five years from now, and the paper is making some money but not piles, it is consuming a fair chunk of your life, will you want to see it out for another five years, or will you want to part with it?

You will have to fire some good people who just aren't talented enough, keep some bad people who are, hire some at less than what you know they are worth, and lose the good ones time and time again. No room for sentiment. If you haven't been in a situation before where you are responsible for making the decisions about someone else's livelihood, where you have to tell someone with a family who is in your face begging you to keep them on when you have to let them go, this might be the most difficult thing of all, and something that will keep you up nights.

I also think this kind of stuff would be incredibly hard for typefitter.

Any changes to a sleepy, old, weekly will be met with complaints. And, because you're a famous, "big time" writer, you will personally be a lighting rod for people who hate change.

You want to do something good, and you'll end up being the "bad guy" in the eyes of many, no matter what you do.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

That's incredibly selfish.

But practical.

Have to agree with Norrin on this one. Definitely selfish, and I wouldn't go in with that plan, but it would make a good read, depending on what comes out of it.

The book would have to be very successful to pay the expenses. Long shot at best.

Sure, but it depends on the expenses. How much of a publisher's hat is Our Intrepid Crusader willing to don?

Maybe you're forgetting that these are people's lives (well, Canadians' lives). You can't use people on a whim, make them your muse for a moment then discard their careers.

This industry is difficult enough. It's tough out there, tough maintaining a sense of pride, tough going into work every day knowing the next round of layoffs is coming around at any minute, tough knowing the ink on your hands becomes more obsolete every day. We do this because we love it. Because it's all we know and all we hoped we ever would need to know. We battle difficult bosses and impossible deadlines and discontented readers and carpel tunnel syndrome and absentee parenting and stress migraines.

No one deserves to face all that as some guinea pig in a social experiment.

If you do this, typefitter, please don't Lee Abrams it. Care about the people. Care about the product. Care about making a difference, not a story. I don't know you, but I have read enough of your work and your posts to get the feeling you would care. I hope you would care.

Probably so.

Which would make tales of its inevitable difficulties very interesting reading.

 

[Riptide]

Buy a boat instead. Same angst, but in the end it's just a boat.

 

[murphyc]

type, I was in a somewhat similar situation to you a few months ago. My (now former) boss offered to sell me the paper I was editor at. He was asking for WAY too much, especially when he admitted the paper was losing about $1,500 a week (due largely to bad decisions by said boss). There was about the same amount of stuff being offered to you: essentially the name and subscriber/advertiser bases. Computers were crap, rented building, etc.
One key advantage to your situation is the lack of competition. But therein lies a potential downfall: do people support the paper simply because it's the only game in town? Do they care about the quality of the product? In other words, if the paper is suddenly "good," will there be a correlating uptick in subscribers?
You mentioned having two other jobs. Realistically, how much time would you have to devote to this? Second, you mentioned buying at least a portion. What does that mean? Are there going to be fellow co-owners?
I would also question what staff is in place. Is it a one-man shop or are there multiple writers? If it's a one-man shop with a bad writer, that's easier than having multiple bad writers. But regardless, who will be ensuring the writing turns around?

 

[flexmaster33]

See if you can get accepted into Gannett, as a high-ranking owner of a publication this should land you an enormous bonus. Oh, and make sure to put your entire staff on endless furloughs the moment this deal goes through

 

[imjustagirl]

I would totally move to backwoods Canada to work for typefitter at a community paper. That would be AWESOME.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I would totally move to backwoods Canada to work for typefitter at a community paper. That would be AWESOME.

Surprised it took two pages, but this is likely the type of response he hoped for among the bits of "advice".

If you did that, I would totally read your book about it.

 

[Boom_70]

I would totally move to backwards Canada to work for typefitter at a community paper. That would be AWESOME.

Labeling Canada "backwards" is probably not a great way to start a job pursuit.

 

[Songbird]

I told him I'd go there in a heartbeat and bring reporting, writing, photographer, pagination, digital skills in tow.