This issue will mail next Wednesday. I stepped it up a couple days to avoid the holiday mail crunch. If you need to renew, please do so no later than Monday. Thanks.

Subscriber tickets to the 2014 RodMaker Reception will be in the Volume 17 #1 issue that will mail the end of January.

Congrats Ross for getting the cover shot. Always liked your version of the redback spider!

Beautiful!

Damn Tom.. rumor has it that you halted the mailing of a competitors magazine and forced them to reprint everything before it could go out. Poor way of doing business if you ask me!

Not the least bit true. In a nutshell - They placed an article in their upcoming journal that had been published in RodMaker three months prior. I let their president know this was a copyright violation. He said they would pull it from the printer and correct it. I told him that if their journal had already been printed he could just issue an apology in a subsequent issue. I felt I was being magnanimous by not pursuing the matter any further.

To spin their lack of oversight and subsequent tardiness as my fault is absurd.


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I get my magazine very late in the delivery month. Will it arrive before the Expo? Hate to miss the reception.

I always mail the pre-Expo issue about a week earlier than normal. Most get it prior to the Expo and the very few who don't are taken care of. If you're a subscriber, you'll get in to the Reception.

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Larry, taking a "rumor" and then adding an opinion that is based on false information is a poor way of communicating poor judgement!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2013 05:53PM by Phil Erickson.

The "rumor" came directly from their editor. But I will admit that I did not have both sides of the story. I see it in a lot different light now. Feel free to delete my original post.

Tom was not responsible for the delay in publishing the competitors magazine. They could have issued an apology or just pulled the one article. As simple as that. I know, I wrote the article and submitted it to both at the same time. Since RodMaker is published every two months and the other is supposed to be published every 3 months, Tom published it first. That is all there is to it. No more @#$%& about it.

To begin with it was more of a tip than an article, and I was not sure that anyone would be interested in publishing it. As far as I can tell, there hasn't been much interested in what I wrote and I don't really understand all the hoopla over it. I just thought it might help some rod builder out there. If anyone thinks Tom is to blame for any of this, they have another think coming. Randy Ruwe

Is this the thing about turning a long rod on a short lathe bed? I tried it for kicks with a junker rod and was amazed!

Yep, that's it.

It's wild! I have no idea why it works but it does. The reason I tried it with a junker first was because I thought the end would just whip and snap off. It didn't. Stayed mostly true and calm. Great tip. Thanks.

As far the antics of that little group goes, you can't go anywhere on the different rod building forums and not find one of them taking a cheap pot shot at Tom about something or the other. They're like little kids. It's been going on for years. To Tom's credit he stays out of it and just keeps making the magazine better and the ICRBE larger. I think that's what really bugs them. They have never been able to duplicate what he does. Maybe if they left Tom alone and tended to their own business they could get their magazine out on time for once.

It’s okay. They’re not hurting me. In fact there’s a good lesson in advertising to be learned here.

Some years ago an automobile dealership owner told me about some very negative publicity his dealership had received over the weekend. He said, “We’re really going to sell some cars this week!” I found his statement confusing and told him so. He said, “Any talk is good talk, just as long as they’re talking.” He set a new sales record that week. I found it hard to believe at the time but have seen the same thing happen over and over in many similar situations. It’s true. Any talk is good talk if it keeps your name or product out there in front of people.

In the last 48 hours since they started this nonsense, I’ve had 63 new subscription orders. That’s four times the normal amount for that time period. Coincidence? No. Guys see the uproar, wonder what’s going on, go to the magazine website out of curiosity and many end up buying a subscription.

So all is well. Let’s get back to rod building topics.


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Ken has got it right about the antics. JEALOUSY's a curse!!!
I found Tom to be a first class guy when I met him at this years Expo. He does more for rodbuilding than anybody on the planet and a few can't handle it.
Also a big congratulations to Ross for getting an Aussie redback on the cover of Rodmaker.

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Not to change the subject much but to make sure, Tom do I check the address label to see when my renewal date is. Cant remember when its up. Damn getting old thing I guess. Don't
want to miss an issue!
Thanks!

Look to the right of your name on the mailing label. There will be two numbers there. The first is the volume and the second is the issue number of the last issue remaining on your subscription.

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Thanks Tom.