Calibre Magazine Problems

[u/Ok_Finger_2871]

Over the last year or so I have tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with the individuals who deal with the Calibre Magazine subscriptions. I have randomly only received 2 issues over 2 years and keep getting charged for the subscription. has anyone else been having issues or is it just me? Does anyone have a phone number to get a hold of someone?

I`ve sent half a dozen emails to the provided addresses on their website and facebook page and have gotten 0 responses.

Can anyone help me with this?

[u/CalibreMag → u/[deleted]]

I considered doing that when I was trying to figure out a new business plan post-bans.

It was appealing because, to be blunt, I think I'd make a lot more money pivoting to an online/social media platform, and it would also be significantly easier. The standard for online content is significantly lower, results are way faster, no more print bills, no headaches with Canada Post, etc.

Ultimately, I decided not to because Calibre's mission statement is to serve as a historical record for Canadian gun culture, and that requires a degree of control and ownership not permitted by social media platforms. Our Facebook account cannot be recommended because its AI engine incorrectly determined that we were a political entity because of our gun politics coverage. Every other photo I upload to Instagram gets flagged because their AI incorrectly thinks we're selling guns, and as we've all seen, even huge YouTube channels are one arbitrary ToS change from getting nuked.

So we print, because it's the only way to both control our own content completely and know it will last long enough to meet our goal of providing gun owners with that aforementioned historical record.

Now, that isn't to say I don't intend to use social media - I'm here, so obviously I do. And there's actually been some growth in magazine sales in recent years, both with us and industry-wide, as there has been across most owned-media sectors, and social media is the best way to capitalize on that. But when I revisited our business plan, my actionable priorities were print production, and investigating/reporting on government action. The former because it's the core of the business, and the latter because it's the best way I can contribute to the larger effort our community is and always will have to undertake to be fairly treated. I file more ATIPs than anyone, and spend more time than anyone trying to bring things into the light in a journalistic fashion, like the connections between federal funding programs and the anti-gun lobby, the costs associated with the bans, etc.

But it leaves me with no time to execute a proper social media strategy to grow sales. So, I've instead used social media as a platform to extend our political coverage in the hopes that the gun community would see our reporting, recognize its value, and support it by subscribing. And so far, it's working; subscriptions are higher now than they've been at any point in the 14 years we've been in print. But I hope to do more - mostly by bringing on people who can augment areas where I'm naturally weak. Like, I hate self-promotion; even just saying I file more ATIPs than anyone feels gross. But in the age of social media, self-promotion is king, so I need help in that area, and a few others.

So that's probably more than you wanted to know about my business plan, but hey, maybe someone found it interesting.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[u/VeganSandwichMonster → u/CalibreMag]

Thank you Dan, your work is greatly appreciated. I'm subscribed and love the magazines and I always look forward to your takes in the videos you put out.

I used to think magazines were on their way out and for a while they were but now I think people are starting to look for physical media again with the sheer amount of overwhelming noise modern social media has turned into. I'm definitely happy you're continuing with it.