Sneak Peek: Speed On The Water 2023 Year In Review Issue
One thing is certain at this time of year: Jason Johnson, my partner in speedonthewater.com, is sleeping less and less. Johnson is responsible for design and layout of the annual Speed On The Water Year In Review collectible print magazine, which we are publishing for ninth time and be will ready in time for advertisers to display—and for you to read—before the Miami International Boat Show next month.
But before Johnson started designing and producing layouts for the 196-page magazine—the only print publication we do—he had to pick hundreds of photos for its various sections. And before that, the likes of Pete Boden, Jeff Helmkamp and Tom Leigh had to shoot them.
Loaded with fun features, the 2023 Speed On The Water Year In Review collectible print magazine will be ready in time for the Miami International Boat Show.
So what do I do when it comes to Year In Review? Nothing, mostly, at least nothing difficult.
That means I rewrite/summarize the event-coverage stories I wrote during the year, write new photo captions, gather information from the manufacturers and owners of the boats we feature, and brainstorm with Johnson on special sections of the magazine such as “Best Of” and “People.” Yes, that translates 10,000- to 15,000 rewritten words, not that I’ve actually counted.
But it’s just not that hard if you were the one who wrote most of the original stories to begin with.
Being even more brutally honest, I don’t care if you read a word of it because if you follow speedonthewater.com, which delivers daily coverage of the high-performance powerboating world, you already read most of the stories. As wonderful as print magazines are to hold in your hands and save, they are not vehicles for timely information-delivery.
So the Year In Review issue is by design a jumbo picture book. My guess is people don’t even read the magazine until they’ve thumbed through it a few dozen times to look at the pretty photos, and that’s just fine by me.
Time to get back to copyediting, one of the few other jobs I have to do for Year In Review. The delivery deadline for the printer approaches and we need to make that deadline. For you, our loyal readers. For our advertisers, without which the magazine would not be possible.
And for us—if only to get the damn thing off our plates.
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