Sample Proposal: Taking the Kiai Echo to the next step

 

In the past two years, the managers of the Kiai Echo have focused on raising its content standards. We established style guidelines. We solicited a mix of stories that ranged from philosophical essays to news to analysis of techniques. We ran as many contest, clinic and promotion notices as possible to reflect the breadth and depth of the American Judo & Jujitsu Federation.

 

Readers of all ranks have responded positively to these changes. Certain professors have encouraged us to take the publication to the next level, putting it on par with commercial martial arts journals such as Black Belt, Asian Martial Arts or the Aikido Journal. Those are ambitious goals. We believe the structure of the Kiai Echo stewardship must change if we are to achieve them.

 

Editing and Production

It currently takes the editor 20 to 30 hours to solicit articles, edit them and layout each edition of the Kiai Echo. It takes six to eight hours per edition to oversee production and mailing duties, including preparation of the Web edition. These are large commitments for any volunteer positions.

 

The editor’s duties require organizational and people skills in addition to technical expertise. Soliciting unpaid freelance contributions requires finesse at times. The technical part of job entails layout, copy editing and proofing skills. In most publications, the editor would assign and edit a story for content. The story would then go to a copy editor, and then to a page designer. The pages could be proofed collectively, or assigned to a proofer.

 

The Kiai Echo’s publisher has been acting as a production supervisor. He is a backup copy editor and proofer, and he converts the final document for review by Professors on the Web. He and the AJJF Webmaster then post the pages to the Web once they are approved. The publisher works with the printer and oversees delivery by mail. To accomplish that, he spends several hours on each edition fixing and formatting addresses.

 

Having one or two people doing all of these tasks degrades the quality of the final product. At a minimum, there should be an assigning editor who works with the initial draft, a copy editor to corrects for style and usage, and a page designer who knows production values and design techniques. The publisher should continue working with Professors and AJJF managers on policy concerns, and should oversee vendors and other cost concerns. The publisher also should oversee distribution, whether by mail or through bookstores, as the professors have proposed.

 

Sales

We routinely publish advertisements for jujitsu videotapes produced by Professors Robert Hudson and Don Cross. We have looked at these ads as content desired by our readers. We run them whether the professors request them or not, and have never billed them for this service.  We also run ads for clinics and seminars when they are submitted. Because these promote the study of Danzan Ryu, we have never charged anything to run these ads. Sometimes, we even design the ads ourselves based on information that we cull from the blackbelt listserv or information that comes in over the transom. This is time consuming, but a service we think is worthwhile. Again, we have never charged for this.

 

We believe the AJJF should continue to give free ad space to professors for jujitsu-related instructional materials. Similarly, clinic notices should be published at no charge. But we think we should be actively selling advertisements for other products. This could be a function of the AJJF marketing staff, or it could be a new position on the Kiai Echo staff.

 

The Web

We currently publish every page of the Kiai Echo to the Web. While this works, it could be greatly improved. A Web designer could format the content for the Web using Flash and other graphic tools that would draw in more traffic. We also should be using the Kiai Echo Web edition to be linking to sales through the AJJF Store. Readers should be able to order products through a secure Web site. We could be selling AJJF-approved gis, training weapons, mats, liniments, massage tables and other equipment. These could either generate revenue for the organization or they could be sold at volume discounts to AJJF members. In addition, we could sponsor the production of books and videos that would then be sold through the Kiai Echo site.

Summary

To take the Kiai Echo to the next level, we should consider making it a paid office. In the alternative, we would need to ad several positions. We propose the following:

1. Publisher
2. Editor
3. Copy Editor
4. Artist/Page Designer
5. Webmaster
6. Ad sales rep

 

The Kiai Echo should interface much more closely with the Marketing Director and the AJJF Store. A Kiai Echo Web site should be developed, possibly in lieu of the printed edition.

 

Note: Editorial content and Ad sales must always be kept separate to protect the integrity of the publication and the AJJF. The liaison between marketing and the store should be restricted to advertising functions of the Kiai Echo.