o, we’re well over a year In The Garage, so to speak, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to not only let you know how things are going from this side of the magazine-making process, but also to get some feedback from all of you on the other side of the page/screen on how we’re doing … good, bad, and/or indifferent.

As I write this, August is coming to a close and we’ve pretty much covered our summer’s itinerary of events (there are still a handful of shows yet to attend before the year closes out though). The reason I bring up the events doesn’t so much refl ect on how we’re doing, rather, how well we’ve been able to interact with people beyond our immediate 6 feet of day-to-day social-distanced interacting. Aside from fi elding some questions/comments regarding whether or not In The Garage Media has any affi liation with a prior publishing company (to set the record straight, the answer’s no—we’re a 100 percent independent upstart company with the only relationship being the fact that we’re all prior publishing company alumni with the same passion for magazines!), I have to say that the majority of everyone we’ve spoken to on the road are just as stoked, if not more so, as we are to not only be publishing magazines but publishing some outstanding magazines! (Yes, there was a bit of egotism in that last part … could you tell?!) And along with that great response came a lot of new subscribers—I’m sorry, prescribers!

This summer also marked our very first foray into giving out awards—we awarded a Top 5 and Top Truck at the recent Tri-Five Nationals in Bowling Green, Kentucky. That said, it looks like we’ll be expanding our awards to a number of various events throughout 2022. We’ll keep you posted as to what, where, and when, of course.

As for our ragtag ITGM team, along with our grassroots crew, we’ve got what I feel is one of the best art directors in the business—Mr. Rob Munoz—who as you can tell by the last 10 months’ worth of killer covers and layouts, has given CTP the stunning look it deserves. Externally, we’ve got the best team of freelancers any editor could ask for—hands down. It’s definitely not like the old corporate days where we had teams of multiple employees handling all the various responsibilities—and that’s probably a good thing from many perspectives!

As far as the magazine goes from your perspective, however, I’d love to hear your thoughts. How are we doing? Are there things you’d like to see more (or less) of? Are there tech topics you’d like to see that haven’t been covered? Would you like to see more variety of feature trucks? (FYI, we will be featuring classic 4x4s!) While I’m doing my very best to fill each month’s pages with the absolute best classic truck content I can get my grubby hands on, having been in this business for nearly 30 years now, I know there are some of you who think we can do something (or everything) better! So, let’s hear it. Email me your thoughts—again, good, bad, and/or indifferent—at rfortier@inthegaragemedia.com.