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happy twenty-fifth - an interview with guy andrews
what gave you the idea for rouleur in the first place?
"We were looking for a shot for a book and I was looking through some archive pictures by Gerard Brown. I found a shot and started messing about with some cover ideas, there were no bikes in it, just a road and it made me start to think about how stale and formulaic cycling consumer magazines had become. It sounds a bit pretentious now, but I thought there was a bit more to road cycling than fitness specials, pictures of bunch sprints and road tests of £1000 bikes. But like many ideas, Rouleur just came to me whilst I was doing something else."
is rouleur a child of its time, or would you figure the same success would have followed had you been starting out now?
"Probably a child of its time, I don't know really, but there are a lot of good mags out there now and I think it would be a lot harder, as once something's out there it's hard to 'catch up'. Publishing is tough and the competition is a good thing at the best of times, so being 'established' is probably a good position for us to be in."
did you approach rapha with the idea, or did they approach you?
"I approached Simon Mottram (Rapha's CEO). I thought that they would be into the idea as there wasn't really a magazine in cycling that would speak to a more discerning reader, like their customer, and there were a bunch of other companies I'd spoken to in the same predicament. He got it straight away. We couldn't have done Rouleur without them. Starting a magazine from scratch is not a simple venture, so to able to use their facilities and resources made it an awful lot easier."
what's the current connection with perren street, now that you've moved to your own abode?
"We're now a fully independent publisher. It was an obvious step, because we are all about publishing and Rapha are predominantly a clothing company, and the businesses are very different. And we were growing, so we had to move out of their stock cupboard. Rapha are still a shareholder, but we are very much in charge of our destiny now."
has the magazine's success so early in its career been a surprise?
"Depends on what you mean by success, we're not resting on our laurels, we know we have a great product and we have a loyal and healthy subscription base, which is a great start. But it's got a long way to go yet and publishing is full of surprises."
has the increasing page count kept pace with the amount of material available, or is there still a tonne of stuff that gets left out?
"There's so much good stuff being done out there, but we've got the next six issues worth of content pretty much sketched out."
was the instigation of 'privateer' at your behest, or is that a different story altogether?
"Partly mine and partly a group decision. I started out in journalism on a mountain bike title so I have an interest and we thought that it was time to produce a more thoughtful, less product test obsessed, off-road title - a dirty Rouleur if you like. Tym Manley brought in the experience and connections to make it happen and it's been received really well."
any likelihood of other periodicals from rouleur towers in the future?
"Oh yes, hopefully next year."
more than a few names have moved through the editorial office at rouleur since its inception. is this quite common in such creative circles?
"Probably, but we've grown very quickly and inevitably that means people will move on. However everyone that has worked on the mag over the last five years has given a lot to its success because they believed in what we are trying to do, and I'm very grateful for that."
is it difficult to keep the ideas coming?
"Ideas are the easy part, especially with our contributors and we have an editorial policy of letting them have a free rein with what they do and how they do it, which pays dividends. Rouleur's managing editor, Ian Cleverly, has been key to this and he's been with us for a while now. He has also taken on a lot of the editorial responsibilities, which has also borne new ideas and directions. But good ideas come in from all sides and it's become a tricky job keeping track of them all. But as any football manager would say with a great team to pick from, it's a nice problem to have."
on its arrival, rouleur was a breath of fresh air to the cycling world in a variety of ways. has it now settled into an editorial style, or is the intention still to break new ground now and again (i'm thinking of such as the incorporation of richard mitchelson's illustrations)?
"We have some very interesting new stuff happening and the magazine is constantly shifting. Change and mixing up the ingredients is essential to what we do. Illustration and design is very important because it gives another approach and an ability to tell stories differently."
is it policy to approach writers and photographers of choice, or are you often approached by those wishing to feature in the magazine?
"Cycling is on a high at the moment and as a result photographers are still finding us. Photographing cycling isn't all about understanding everything either. Some of the best photography we've used has been done by photographers who may be passionate about it, but know very little about the sport. Passion is more important than knowledge. The big problem is finding enough really good writers, not necessarily photographers. Because writers need a good understanding of the sport and that means they've been in the business a while. As it stands I think we've got some of the best contributors in the business working on the mag, but we could always use a few more."
a part of rouleur's appeal is the sheer intoxicating smell of print. any plans to dilute this by offering an ipad version?
"Yes, but print is still our future."
your current title is that of editorial director. does this mean you have less to do with the creation of each issue, and more to the overall publishing strategy?
"I'm still the editor. I'm rubbish at spreadsheets. Our publishing director Bruce Sandell came in over a year ago and his energy and experience has been invaluable on the commercial side of the business. He came in at a time when I was struggling to make sense of it all. Any of it really. It meant we had to shake things up. It's a lot clearer now."
is there a 'five year plan' for the magazine, or do you take each issue as it comes?
"For the company there is a very coherent plan. For the magazine, spontaneity is always a key ingredient."
was the move to becoming a publishing house one that was thrust upon you, or simply a natural progression from the magazine?
"No it was the idea from the outset. We still want to develop a high quality stable of books and magazines to cover pastimes that are poorly represented by the mainstream publishers."
are there any things you wish you hadn't done, or that you'd handled differently?
"A few, but they're best left as they are. However the beauty of print content is that it's always worth refreshing."
now that you've reached the landmark 25th issue, where does rouleur go from here?
"To continue to provide road cycling with our blend of exciting, challenging and considered views. The good news for next year is, and you heard it here first, we're upping the frequency!"
posted friday 28 july 2011
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