Another writer here, rather more ex than I would like to be.
The best UK mag of recent years was generally acknowledged as British woodworking. But then I used to write for it so I am biased. But Nick, the editor, had a bicycle accident a couple of years ago and is no longer publishing the magazine.
As Mike has pointed out above, rates of pay are poor, and it's not just the writing. The photographs, diagrams, cutting lists etc, are all extra and by the sounds of it, the writer is now expected to provide that for free. It can take longer to do the drawings than it does to write the words. Nick always paid me relatively well (but then I provided him with material that needed little post-processing). I know that some other magazines are a lot less generous. And even my pay went up just 10% in 16 years.
The first time you get a piece published it is a real buzz, and getting paid is a bonus. But for many of the regulars it was an important part of one's monthly income. I certainly miss it.
I still write a bit for LegnoLab in Italy, but it's not generous and they take out the costs of translation. I do it to keep my hand in, to be honest.
There is an enormous amount of free stuff on the web, varying from excellent, by people who know what they are talking about but don't need to make a living from it, to poor and positively dangerous stuff, to stolen IP offered for sale at very attractive prices, when none of the money goes to the owners of that IP.
Unfortunately, ultimately, people who could produce IP but who need to be paid for their work will simply stop going to the trouble of writing, photographing and drawing. It takes time to do well and if it's not producing an income, why bother?
I'm glad you want to buy a magazine and are interested in quality. But that costs money and unfortunately there are far too few people who are prepared to fund the creation of that material.
I'm trying to get going with video again and the issue of how to get paid for it is still the bug bear. YouTube is free, why should anyone fork out for my stuff?
Magazine sales, of all genres, are in decline. The more successful ones, notably Fine Woodworking, have made a good job of going digital, but the days of trad paper magazines are, I'm afraid, very numbered. And there is not very much that has come along to replace them.
And it's all down to money.
