Essay - A Suggestion for Kalmbach Media to boost readership

 


Here is a suggestion for Kalmbach Media, take a page from 's book and publish Model Railroader in a French edition. No need to translate the ads, just the text would be fine. publishes its glossy Voie Libre six times per year in both an English and a French edition - if they can do it, so can Kalmbach.

French is the official language in 29 countries, second only to English in the world as an official language. It is also one of the recognized working languages of the United Nations.  The only language used for the European Union's Court of Justice, it is also the procedural language for the EU.

So how many people speak French? One source puts the figure at 300 million. And one need not travel far from the United States to find French being spoken - Canada is officially bilingual - English and French.

Lest one forget that French in spoken in some of the world's most prosperous countries recall that in Europe, French is the official language in five nations - Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, and of course France. Not to be overlooked is that model railroading is popular in Europe.

Try publishing a French edition for a year - what do you have to lose? How expensive can the actual translation costs be? The French language edition may just be the ticket to increasing readers and advertisers for Kalmbach. Page count and copies sold, and advertising has been down for years at Model Railroader - when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Good luck from a loyal subscriber.

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