The Auswine Forum

So far the release date on the site has been the 12th, 17th and 18th. This date is for the bumper November-December issue because there was no November issue.

Will the bumper issue be released tomorrow or will it be put back again?

I love the newsletter, the issue looks like it will have some excellent gear in it, and Campbell is a stand-up guy, but seriously ...

Guest,
the reason why Winefront is so good is because Cambell takes pride in what he does. I don't mind waiting a couple of weeks or recieving two issues at once because I know for what Cambell charges, me the reader is well in front. Why rush out an issue 3/4 done for the sake of getting out on time? I'd rather Cambell take is time and deliver me quality.

cheers and just my 2 cents,

anthony

Your right to a point Anthony.

I subscribe and love WFM, but get frustrated with the delays nearly every month. If I did that in my business I'd go broke.

All the best

Mike

To a great extent I agree with Mike. I like the publication and think its a good one but it is continually running late, and you can almost set your calender with WFM being late,

FWIW, I had exactly the same criticism when Oliver had a monthly On Wine publication that frequently was way behind. Some time ago, I suggested to Campbell that he skip one edition, apologise and give everyone a months extention on the subscription. That would give him breathing room to get back on track and his customers would not miss out.

I've only been a subscriber for a little while (6 odd months) and am dissapointed with each delay, however it has always turned out to be worth waiting for.

Hopefully after the January break for Campbell he can get things back on track release date wise.

Regardless of the final quality of the product, and WFM is certainly high quality, constantly slipping the dates becomes annoying despite knowing that it is overload causing it.

Agree with you Ric, better to skip a complete edition, explain and apologise, extend subscriptions and avoid having a breakdown!

Skipping an edition will give breathing space for not only this but maybe into the future.

The critiicisms are fair and valid. There's no doubt that the editions are continually late. There's also no doubt, after two years of winefront, that this cannot just be circumstance - it must just be the way that I am. Every month I can give a list of the reasons why the edition is late, but as it happens every month, it must be me. I know that it is a problem - every month I probably get ten emails from frustrated subscribers. What I then do is apologise and apologise and apologise, and once I've finished apologising I then get about 35 emails from separate subscribers who say: it never bothers me whether it's late or not, I just want it to be good. Truth is though that winefront can't survive if all the people who are frustrated at how late it always is end up no longer subscribing - so I end up being continually stressed about how far behind I am.

At the end of the day, what all this means is that winefront may in fact not be a sustainable business - I started winefront for a simple reason: I wanted to write as well as I possibly could about wine. I'd be the first to admit that this may in itself not be enough.

It won't be finished today, it may be by the end of tomorrow, but it's most likely to be Monday. I know that this is no consolation, but I hate it being this late too.

Campbell.

Campbell, as the content and quality are not in doubt, and basically you're now an established wine writer, why not try another approach which may fit better with your nature - don't propose precise issue dates, in fact, don't specify that there will be monthly issues per year, simply say that you're publishing an occasional wine journal/newsletter/report/bulletin/gazette. Far more room to move - short issues, long ones, a week apart, a couple of months - readers will await with bated breath (and far fewer complaints) the next exciting installment. You wouldn't be the only writer treading such a path.
Love your work - Mark S.

Campbell

I second Mark's comment. I am in residential apartment property development. When we tell purchasers that their property is going to be ready at X date, and its not ready then through no fault of our own, people get really shitty. Now we always say along the lines of: 'we cant say exactly because we dont make all the final date decisions, but history would show it may ready between X and X dates'. People are much easier with this approach.

I hope this helps. Dont give up now, you've done the hardest yards.

I'm not a subscriber, but as an outsider, if people are noticing that it is late, then they must be enjoying it/looking forward to it!! Take it as a compliment Cam!

Bye,
Gerry
x.

Campbell,

Take heart. Your talent is the written word. I, too, have experienced the pressure of the journalistic 'deadline'. To date, Winefront has been inspiring, refreshing and I heartily recommend it. Anyone who has the few meagre bucks to subscribe - get on board! You won't regret it. By the way, Campbell, am I still on your books?

Campbell

Obviously I can't comment on whether your business is viable or not, but have you considered making it a bi-monthly publication instead of monthly? I bet every single one of your subscribers would happily pay the same amount to get 5 bumper issues a year instead of 11 smaller ones.

You wouldn't even need to change the name! After all the 'women's weekly' is a monthly publication - so if they can do it, why not you? And if quarterly is good enough for certain other publications, well, bi-monthly must be good enough for our Campbell!

The quality of the publication is absolutely unquestionable. It is by far the best wine publication in the country - bar none, in my opinion. This was highlighted to me again the other day when I purchased Winestate for $10, flicked through it for 2 minutes, found nothing of interest, and then started pining for the next edition of WFM.

Don't give up the dream - we'd all miss WFM too much if you did. But even though we all love the publication it is not worth us having it if it is giving you so much stress.

The thing I like about Winefront Monthly is that it seems to write with equal passion about the thumper reds like Warrabilla, Buller Calliope, Kalleske and Burge Family as it does about the "other side" like Castagna, Curlewis, Craiglee and Tarrawarra. He just seems to love red wine (I have not seen him write a big feature on a white wine specialist, though I could be mistaken). I think it might be now impossible to cover all wine in australia thoroughly, but with this I feel like I am getting fair coverage.

Just me 2cents (plus gst).

Rhys.

For my past, any compramise on Campbells part on the content to bring WFM in on time would be a crime!
Content is everything, we are not talking about a huge amount of money here.

Rory

Obviously a backhanded compliment to Campbell that we look forward to WFM so much. He may have made things worse by telling us on his website what is going to be reviewed - really looking forward to the Wynns vertical report and the Seppelts reviews

Campbell, WFM is without doubt the best wine publication on the market. Up to date, informative, humorous, witty, it comes as much from the heart as the palate. What I like most about your work are the reviews on the lesser known (even unknown) new entrants. There is no way I would ever get to learn about these new guys let alone taste their wares. Your publication exposes these new wineries to me. More importantly, you also cull the doubtless hundreds of wines which ‘don’t make the cut’. I’m happy you do this for me. I don’t have the time or patience to do it. I’m also crap at managing my time, witness my past Friday Quiz history!! In summary, keep up the good work, and don’t worry about the deadlines, I for one don’t really care when it comes out. For many of last years editions it took me up to two weeks before I actually got around to reading them.

What a bunch a miserable whingers....get a life!!

Campbell produces an excellent publication - honest, informative and entertaining and at a very good price...I would pay double.

Campbell...take you time and continue to produce the highest quality reviews in Australia.

Merry Christmas

Damn it, I subscribed. You got me! I think all this complaining was just a plot to pique interest. You crafty buggers.

That said, there is some interesting material here by the looks!

Goodonya Cam,

Bye,
Gerry
x!

The quality is great, the timeframe is no bother.
I still have not read the last two editions.

Suggesting that WFM should move to a 'no time frame' policy is just silly.
Who would ever get anything done without a deadline.

A ludicrous idea.

Have a good xmas cam. Drink some bullers rare and the stress disappears.....trust me.

Dan

I was thinking of subscribing but can't justify it without some reasonable expectation of what I will receive and by when. Maybe it is chump change but thats not the point, the tone of some of the comments suggests that many see it as almost a philanphropic cause, it's not it's a business and paying customers are entitled to a reasonable level of service.

If you continually are unable to meet deadlines it's normally better to change expectation to suit behaviour rather than the other way around.

This is what I reckon winefront should do: promise eleven editions per year, but not on a month by month basis. Just promise that eleven editions will come out, and label them Edition 1, Edition 2, Edition 3 etc etc. I guess this is what it's kind of heading towards already, as I don't think that anyone is suggesting that the required nuber per year has ever not been produced. Or are they?

From what I can tell, the promised number has always come out, which in a way is the main thing, and not philanthropic at all.

G.

Got the preview notes -exellent.

Interesting 02 Rockford Basket Press versus 02 Melton's Shiraz 02. 90pts versus 96pts!

So often I have seen Melton's shiraz score high in youth but fall away with bottle age; and Basket Press turn out to be the better wine in time.

looking forwars to the rest of the Newsletter.

What would you rather? a regular publication like Winestate or a slightly less regular but far far superior publication like WFM.

If people are getting in a tizz over editions being late then they need to get a life. I
It's got nothing to do with philanphropy it's got everything to do with wanting quality in life, quality in all things is paramount, timing less so.

Don't subscribe to your own detriment.

Eddie

It's out, it's bl00dy good, and it has me thinking about my vines again ....

Cheers

Mark G