New home for a family business

It's mighty difficult for a new parent to avoid talking about their child. And why not? They're excited, proud and maybe just a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. Frankly, we find ourselves in the same position. After 65 years in the publishing business, we've just moved into our very own building.

That might seem like no big deal, just another big corporate entity making a location change, right? Well, not exactly. Publishers Development Corporation is in actuality a small family business. In addition to GUNS Magazine, the country's first newsstand firearms periodical, we publish American Handgunner, Shooting Industry, Arts And Activities and Expression Magazines.

Our staff numbers about 35 people, most of whom you can see in the photo below. They're a great bunch to work with, and I'm happy to note the majority of them are gun owners and shooters.

It's possible you've noticed a few changes to GUNS in the recent past. On the top left corner of the cover is our new logo. FMG stands for Firearms Marketing Group, which is the section of our organization dealing exclusively with the gun magazines and their annual publications. But there are other changes as well.

It you regularly scan the shooting related magazines at the local newsstand, you've probably noticed many periodicals are shrinking in page count and sometimes even page size. This along with low quality paper and fewer color photos are an indication of a magazine that has fallen on hard times. All periodicals have been under pretty severe market pressure in recent years and the "gun rags" are no exception.

By contrast, we're happy to point out that the minimum page count for GUNS has gone up to 92 pages as of last July. Thomas von Rosen, our publisher, simply won't permit the use of other than best grade paper, and also selected the heavy cover stock that gives the magazine such a nice feel. Also we're using more color in the magazine these days, not less.

But the real measure of a magazine is its content. We've solicited your opinions on what we're doing right, and a great many of you have generously shared your ideas. Consequently, we've honed our already sharp edge some more and have incorporated many of your great suggestions into the layout and content of the magazine. Judging by the positive feedback we've seen lately, I think we're progressing in the right directions.

Next year, 2005, will be the 50th anniversary of GUNS Magazine. One fact that's not lost on us is that it's you, the reader, who has made this possible. We're very grateful for your continued support. We're also committed to producing the best publication in its class, and with your continued help and interest, we'll do just that.

Please accept a sincere "thank you" from all of us at Publishers Development Corporation.