Dogs in Canada magazine may bound back if publishing partner can be found

You may be able to teach an old dog new tricks. The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) is circulating a request for proposal for a contract publishing partner to relaunch Dogs in Canada magazine and its annual.

"CKC is seeking a publishing partner who will act as a single point of contact and will coordinate the entire lifecycle of the publications. Candidates should outline a revenue model that will cover all costs from concept to delivery of the magazines, and will generate revenue for the CKC [the RFP says, in part]."

The RFP says that the prospective partner would handle all project management, ad sales and marketing, design, editorial planning and development, printing and circulation management with the CKC approving annual sales and editorial plans and the layouts of all issues, supporting ad sales and keeping the publisher abreast of changes in the industry that would affect editorial and sales planning.

It was announced last September that the December 2011 issue of Dogs in Canada was to be its last, including the well-regarded Dogs in Canada Annual. The magazine had been published by Apex Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the CKC and at the time had a paid circulation of 42,000, including 19,000 members of the club.

There is a certain urgency since there is a clear hope is to issue an annual in December; acknowledging this, the RFP (which has a submission deadline of July 23) asks interested parties to include an interim strategy to achieve this rather daunting goal as well as a longer-term approach to managing the magazine and annual. A publisher will be selected from a shortlist of candidates by September.

The  proposal is for four issues a year (the magazine had been monthly) -- three regular, 88-page issues of DIC and a 248-page annual. Submitters are also asked for capabilities to undertake a possible French-language edition in the second year of the contract.

In a note to its members, the CKC says

The initial and immediate rebuilding of the valuable Dogs in Canada brand has already occurred with the launch of a DIC blogsite at www.dogsincanada.com. This blogsite will be minimalist for the duration of 2012, but already has the Breeder Listings online, which are currently listed in the 2012 Dogs Annual. Top Dogs are back as well and the "unofficial" standings for Conformation have been posted and will be made official at the end of July, after a 30-day review period for point adjustment and verification. Obedience will follow next, then Agility and Field by the end of the summer! Along with these offerings, the blog site will be recalling some of the best of the past articles from the archives of Dogs in Canada magazine and Dogs Annual - and of course the Dog Blog!