Tuesday, July 16

Inside Chase BMX

By Josh Root
EXPN.com

Root: How long has Chase been around and how did it get started?

Chase has been around since the spring of '99. It started out by a publisher contacting me to see if I could pull it off. We mulled around the idea for about six months, did our homework and eventually had the ball rolling.

The man behind the mag. chief editor Ken.

Root: What makes it different from other BMX magazines?

I guess first and foremost, it's a free BMX magazine. There are plenty of BMX magazines for sale on store shelves, so we needed to approach things from a different perspective, hence we decided to get the shops and distributors involved. This gets the mag into the shops, in turn bringing the reader in to support their local bike shop, in turn supporting their local scene. The fact that we're based in Canada also makes us different, even though we document international events, we always look at things from a Canadian perspective. We're the only Canadian BMX Magazine and we've just managed to find our niche.

Root: What have been the hardest challenges?

The hardest challenge is obtaining ads, without a doubt. It's a lot of work. A lot of it stems from the fact that many advertisers needed to be convinced that we could pull it off. I don't blame them, I myself would be hesitant of advertising in a new publication, luckily, we've been consistently publishing issue after issue with positive feedback. The fact that we haven't made a single penny with Chase definitely presents a hard challenge to overcome. Since we don't have a budget, we can't cover all the events we would like to. We rely on the support of a few events who have covered my expenses to attend their event, in the hopes that I feature their event in Chase. I also need to rely on a few loyal contributors who are happy to have their work featured in the mag in exchange for some editorial/photographic experience.

Root: What have been the most exciting surprises?

The perks that come with being an editor have been pretty exciting. I get to hang out with a bunch of friends, ride my bike and create something from nothing on the computer. Heading off to Europe is always a bonus. Watching people read the latest issue for the first time, or strolling into a bike shop across the country and seeing the mag in the shop. That's always cool, because sometimes I'm just so engrossed in my bubble of staring at the computer screen to get the mag done that I become immune to my efforts. Most importantly, it was always my dream to be doing something like this.

Chase BMX has been around for three years providing the community with an excellent free publication.

Root: Tell me what goes on to get an issue from conception to sitting on the shelves at a BMX shop.

Oh boy. Once I finish an issue, I take a break for a few days, check my emails and relax. Then I'll start looking at which events are coming up, start talking to people to see if they have any ideas, make some phone calls and set up some photo shoots and interviews. About a month before I need to send it off to the printer, I really start working on it. I transcribe interviews, rack my brain for layout ideas, scan photos, call contributors for their submissions and Stefan starts selling ads. About 2-3 weeks before deadline, Chris Young, our webmaster will start working on a few layouts and I'll start working on the rest of them. I'll also start working on the ads that we've received to bring them up to our print standards and check them for any problems that may arise at the pre-press end of things. That can be a real pain in the ass. The last week involves me working 12-16 hour days until I'm done. Everything gets burned to CD and is sent to our pre-press house. A few days later I get some proofs and when everything is a go, it's sent to the printer. Once I've burned my CDs, we usually have printed copies in our hands two weeks later. The web version of the issue is usually up a few weeks later. No one realizes how much work goes into Chase and how much can go wrong with it since there's so much that goes on behind the scenes.

Root: Knowing that making a magazine is more than a one person job, who else works on it with you?

There's all the contributors, far and wide who take photos and/or write stories or conduct interviews. There's Stefan Goulet, our ad guy, whom I've been friends with for about 14 years. He solicits ads and submits the odd editorial piece. There's Chris Young, who is the sole person responsible for chasebmxmag.com and he also designs a few layouts in the mag.

Root: How do you see the Chase website fitting in?

That's a good question, because it fits in quite nicely. Often the content on the website is reserved for stuff that doesn't make it into the mag when we run out of pages. With the magazine, I try to fit in what we consider the best articles. We do that by looking at the quality of the photos, the editorial content and the worthiness of the piece. Some photos just won't reproduce well when printed, so we stick them on the web. The website is more regional than the magazine and it's also good for letting people know of upcoming events that missed the deadline in the printed mag.

Root: Had you done any sort of magazine work before this?

Yes, I slapped together a little 'zine back in the late '80s-early '90s, which helped get me interested in magazines and publishing. I worked for four years as the Art Director of Discorder Magazine, which is the program guide for the University of British Columbia's radio station. That taught me the most about the magazine business and was a great creative outlet, I had pretty much free will with my design. It's about 36 pages and it's printed on newsprint, which is like printing on paper towel. They say if you can make something look good on newsprint, you can make anything look good and I worked closely with the editor and picked up a lot of important knowledge from her. Up until recently, I still did the odd layout or two when they were in a pinch. I also volunteered at Adbusters Magazine where I looked over the Art Directors shoulder and did some odd office work for them and was even a model for some photo shoots. Just as importantly, though, I took graphic arts in high school, back before desktop publishing ever came about. I've worked a few jobs running printing presses and worked for four years in the pre-press department, outputting files to film and troubleshooting files, fixing designers mistakes and so on. When the former Art Director, Mark, of Discorder left me the job there, he gave me the best advice: "Experiment now [with your design] because you won't get to experiment once you're in the real world."

Now in full color, this mag is full of eye candy.

Root: What advice do you have for young writers and photographers who are hoping to get published?

Keep trying and don't get dismayed if your stuff gets rejected, it may take several submissions before you hit paydirt. Also, don't expect to get paid right away, that should be the least of your concerns. I busted my ass at Discorder for only $100 a month, but the experience I gained is priceless. You have to work hard, pay your dues and do your work for the love of it and everything else will follow. Surround yourself with like-minded creative individuals, find a mentor, and become a magazine addict.

Root: What would you say to anyone who wants to start a BMX magazine?

Ha! Good luck. It may look like it, but in the big scheme of things, there isn't much money in publishing a BMX magazine. Like I said, we've been publishing Chase for over three years and we have yet to even break even on an issue. We keep doing it because this is what we love to do. Your heart has to be in the right place and you need to know the publising business inside-out.

Root: Where do you see chase going in the next 5 years?

That's hard to say. Right now, we've been making small, subtle changes with the overall look and feel of the mag. It's paying off in the sense that we are gaining in readership, advertising and editorial content. Two issues ago, we were made available to UK and US bike shops. Last issue we made a big leap in our page count and stepped up to a slicker paper stock. This issue, we dropped our black and white pages, so we're finally full colour throughout. Next issue, who knows? The plans are in the works to get me out to more events, both Canadian and internatinally, so I would like to say we'll be providing better coverage of events. We've been printing more copies as each issue goes by, so maybe we'll go bi-montly soon and there are a few other countries that are interested in distributing us to their local shops.