Instead of helping, ecommerce may have exacerbated the financial problems of a publisher of popular niche magazines and books that appeal to collectors,crafters, and other enthusiasts. Niche publisher F+W Media filed for Chapter 11 over the weekend after facing financial struggles for years.

The publisher had turned to ecommerce as a possible savior. But the New York Post reported, "The spectacular flop may serve as a cautionarytale to hard-pressed publishers who try to venture into e-commerce as a way to offset slumping print advertising circulation and revenue."

Craft industry publication Craft Industry Alliance summed it up as follows: "A combination of declining subscriptions and ad revenue, plus a misguidedeffort to shift into ecommerce, led to a whole lot of debt."

Many F+W magazines may be recognizable to EcommerceBytes readers. Collectibles titles include Antique Trader, Bank Note Reporter,Coins, Goldmine, Military Trader, Military Vehicles, Numismatic News, World Coin News, and Sports CollectorDigest.

It also publishes books, calling itself the leading publisher of illustrated non-fiction books in art instruction, crafts, writing, genealogy, antiques andcollectibles, woodworking, and the outdoors. "F+W is a major book publisher, producing and marketing hundreds of new book titles annually, and has a backlistof some 2,000 titles.

Last year, publishing trade publication Folio reported on a house-cleaning effort in January 2018 when the company's board dismissed its CEO, COO,and CTO in one fell swoop.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of the company and its assets now.

To read the complete article, see:
Ecommerce Could Not Save Niche Magazine Publisher(https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2019/03/14/ecommerce-could-not-save-niche-magazine-publisher/)

To read Coin World's coverage, see:
Hobby publisher F + W Media files forbankruptcy (https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/2019/03/numismatic-news-owner-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy.html)

Howard Daniel writes:

https://www.csbankruptcyblog.com/2019/03/articles/recent-developments/new-delaware-chapter-11-filing-fw-media-inc/(href="https://www.csbankruptcyblog.com/2019/03/articles/recent-developments/new-delaware-chapter-11-filing-fw-media-inc/">https://www.csbankruptcyblog.com/2019/03/articles/recent-developments/new-delaware-chapter-11-filing-fw-media-inc/)