Five issues into its young life, GeezerJock has matured into a serious publication. The SI-style masters sports and fitness magazine, whose first issue featured coverage of the Decatur masters nationals (and a fish on the “Pool Days” cover), is ready to take the next big leap — into the deep end of paid subscriptions. Editor Sean Callahan informs me: “I wanted to give you the heads up that we’re converting to paid circulation effective March 31. This won’t affect people who’ve already signed up (or sign up by March 31) — they’ll still get their magazine free.”

But if you’ve been dragging your feet, now’s the time to sign up for a free charter subscription.
After March 31, Sean says, newbies will be charged:
$18 for a 6-issue subscription (approx. 1 year).
$30 for an 18-issue subscription (approx. 2 years)
And $40 for a 30-issue subscription (approx. 3 years)
The length of the subscription is up in the air because eventually the magazine will go from 6-times-a-year frequency to monthly publication.
All this is great news. Geezerjock has been professional from the get-go — with breathtaking photography, slick design and wonderfully written columns and articles (not counting the ones I submitted). And a conversion to paid circ means that it’s found some traction among readers and advertisers. The industry has taken notice, too. And why not? GJ’s audience includes the pig-in-the-python: the big-spending boomer generation.
It’s no secret that new publications are risky business. Most new magazines don’t last a year, and I’ve heard that 95 percent of all new magazines fail to reach their third birthday. GJ should blow past age 3 with ease.
But many questions remain, and I submitted a few. Publisher Brian Reilly suffered my interrogation with grace:
1. How long will charter subscribers continue getting free GJs?
At least one more year, possibly two more.
2. If you meet subscription goals, will GJ expand in size (number of pages)?
The number of pages is a function of how many ads are sold and how much edit
we want to run. Presumably the more readers we have the more attractive we’ll be to advertisers, so I hope more readers will lead to bigger issues.
3. Will the Web site continue to post major pieces (with free accesss or just paid-subscriber access)?
The Web site will move to paid access, too, on April 1. There will be some free content, but most of it will be paid. It will be expanded to included discussion groups and a lot of content that is produced just for the Web. We’ll also have sport-specific tracks. We want it to be a lot more than just a magazine reproduced online. We want it to be a great online community for Masters athletes of all sports. Like the print subscription, people who sign up before April 1 will continue to be able to access the Web site for free.
4. What’s your circulation now?
75,000
5. What’s your hoped-for circ as of March 31?
The circ for all of 2006 will hover around 75,000. Our list right now is made up of a combination of people who have requested the magazine and people who get it as a result of being a member of one of our partner organizations. As more and more people request the magazine, we’ll remove the same number of association list people from the list. So, we’ll always level out around 75,000 for this year. It’s especially important for the people who are getting the magazine because they are on a partner list to actually sign up for the magazine. If they don’t, they run the risk of being dropped. But no one who actually signs up for the magazine will be dropped.
6. Will GJ be available at newsstands/bookstores after conversion?
We’re still weighing that. That’s very expensive. But we’ll probably test newsstand/bookstore distribution later this year.
7. If yes, what will retail cover price be?
Probably $3.99
8. Will you sell subscriptions at discounts anywhere (via various
programs, such as AFT or:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=discount+magazine+subs
criptions&btnG=Google+Search
I would say probably, yes.
9. If conversion succeeds, will you quit your day job?
We have all quit the day jobs! Sean, Bill Ferguson and I are all full-time
GeezerJock now.
Me again:
GeezerJock has been a dream come true for masters athletes, and especially us in the track and field niche. Even though we’re probably outnumbered by baseballers, swimmers and hoopsters, GJ gives track a ton of attention — and in its most recent issue (Winter 2005) named our own Bill Collins as GeezerJock of the Year. (And thankfully, it’s left senior golfers to their own publications.)
If you haven’t subscribed, you need to jump before April. If you’ve already signed up, please consider spreading the word at the track and office.
We’ve been blessed with a magazine that truly “gets it.”
The best way we can thank Sean, Bill and crew for GJ is getting it. (And patronizing its advertisers.)