Mile High!

Mile High represents my previous location and also how high my feet have been off the ground the last 2 days. On Sunday I flew out to Denver to attend the Niche Magazine Conference. It was quite a trip and involved unloading from the original plane a couple times due to bad weather, making an emergency landing due to an electrical fire, watching fireman walk up and down the aisles while we had to stay on the plane, waiting for a new plane, missing a connecting flight and on and on. I really wondered if I would ever get there. I tried to cancel the whole trip but they wouldn't give me my luggage back. I rarely make an uneventful trip.

However, the trials and tribulations of the trip all paid off. There are half a dozen awards given out at this conference to niche publishers. One of those is the "Best New Niche Launch" and went to a new publication. In order to qualify, you had to send several copies of your publication along with your business plan, promotional material, etc. We had done that earlier this year just to see how we might fare against the competition.

This conference is attended by over 150 niche magazine publishers and editors. Many of those publications are bridal magazines, lifestyle, business and computing mags and many other high end magazines. Tractor magazines weren't quite "understood" out there. Most comments were "Who collects tractors? How much can you possibly write about a tractor?" They really didn't get it. But in the grand scheme of things, the judges understood.

On the last evening of the conference, the awards are handed out to the lucky recipients. It is the highlight of the event. I had learned earlier that we were a finalist but that's all I knew. I stood in the back of the room not expecting to hear my name and then the words "Heritage Iron" were ringing in my ears. I gasped, jumped in the air and don't have a clue what happened next. The next 5 minutes is a total blur. I don't even know how the trophy got in my hand. I was in complete shock!

Last year I attended this conference with Oliver Heritage. I had someone from the panel judge my magazine and he told me it was HORRIBLE! I went home with my tail between my legs, convinced I didn't have any business in the publishing business. But I took what I learned from that conference, applied it to Heritage Iron and now we're the BEST NEW MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR!!! Woohoo!!!

It has been an unbelievable 48 hours and I'm not sure my feet are on the ground yet. I have talked so much that I've lost my voice. Thank goodness you can still hear me on the keyboard.

I met some great people in the publishing world and although they weren't quite sure about a "tractor girl", I showed them that Heritage iron means business. And we won!!!! Now I have to get busy on the next project because I learned even more this conference. Besides, there are a few more awards that I'd like to set on the shelf next year.

Moving day!

A lot has happened since my last post. I spent a week in Washington working on a great 71-series GM story for Oliver Heritage and then spent a few days with the retired service manager for Wagner Tractor Co. out of Portland, Oregon. And the big news is that 3-Point Ink bought an office building!

With the second magazine, the walls of my house/office are being pushed to the limits. I'm slowly being pushed out while piles of papers, sales literature and filing cabinets take over. The first day of spring I walked outside wondering where I could build an office building ASAP. Reality sunk in and I realized there was no way I had time to build another building. I had just barely completed the addition to my house and didn't have time for that. When an opportunity presented itself in the form of a new office building just perfect for my needs, I seized it.

The day after I returned from Washington, I closed on a 2,000 square foot office building located in downtown Nokomis, just a block away from the post office, banks, fire & police department and other businesses. It is perfect for what I'm doing and was ready to move into.

As quickly as I made the decision to do this, I also packed up and moved the magazine headquarters. Over the weekend, my Mom, Dad, sisters, niece and nephew all showed up to help pack up 16 years of accumulated paper. I bought some more file cabinets to help organize everything and now I'm rolling around on the floor amongst boxes of literature and magazines and having a blast. The only problem is, as I'm putting things away, I'm finding items of interest so I have to stop and read a story and I don't seem to be making much headway. But I've got plenty of time to get it put away.

If you're sitting at home wondering when the next issue of Heritage Iron will arrive, wonder no more. It was mailed on April 1 and people are just starting to receive them. So you should have it any day. We will also do a 2nd mailing of this issue on May 1. If you subscribed a little too late, there's a chance you can still get that issue with the next mailing. And if you want to start at the beginning, you can always order the back issues which are available from the subscription office. 1-866-552-6085. We'll continue to offer back issues until we run out.

I have to get back to work now. Literature is waiting!