North & South Magazine

Eric – Thanks for the post. I’ve followed the discussion at “Civil Warriors” and bit over at Kevin’s, but since I visit your most frequently, I thought I’d leave a short comment here.

I won’t address the business aspects, but will take your word for it. What I will address is something you have touched on and is a subject of many of the comments on the other blogs: Keith’s lack of civility, professionalism, courtesy, calli t what you want.

I have had several shorter articles published in N&S over the past few years (in Knapsack)…my communications were most often with Al Nofi, but I had my very first contacts with Keith, have communicated with him over the years, and have even talked on the phone a couple times. As a rule, he was cheerful and prompt with his replies.

I treasure very much those articles in N&S…they formed the backbone of my first book and I acknowledged N&S, Keith, and Al by name in the book.

My most recent article was late last year…I actually did get a check…kind of…it was actually written for and sent to the wrong person…I took the time to mail it to the right person myself…I sent him polite e-mails and polite letters by post…no response…I even sent him a signed copy of my first book…no response.

Look, I’m not getting rich writing and certainly not off of Keith and N&S, but what I had always counted on – and what I am most disappointed in – is the recent absence of courtesy and professionalism.

I won’t be writing for N&S anymore…I don;t expect that Keith cares or the readers care, but I do.

Thanks,

Jim Schmidt

Eric,

Was it Dan Mallock’s article you’re referring to that got clipped?

Eric

Since Eric went into such detail on his issues with Keith,
I’ll tell my stories. If Eric thinks it is too long, he can
delete it.

Back in the day, I used to be a serious wargamer. At one
point I actually designed a Civil War wargame — not the
hex-map and counters kind, but one based on decks of cards.
Each card would be a regiment or a commander, other cards
would allow you to do things, etc. I took it to an informal
gathering of Civil War gamers and got a lot of good feedback,
so I sent it to Keith to see if he would be interested in
publishing it.

Keith liked it, he said, but it needed development. No argument
on that point. I would contact Keith periodically and ask what
the status was, and it always was the same: “It needs
development.” I talked to Keith at Origins, the annual
gaming convention, and got the same response. One day I
was looking through the latest issue of Keith’s magazine
(The Wargamer) and saw that they were going to publish a
game called Dixie, a Civil War wargame based on cards! The
details of the ad made it clear that Keith had stolen my
game! Obviously I was angry, but just as obviously I
couldn’t do much about it. I insisted that Keith return
my prototype immediately, which he did.

Fast forward to 2000 or so. I was doing a lot of research on the
formation and collapse of the Dix-Hill Cartel, and thought it
would make a good article for N&S. I knew Keith was the man
behind N&S, but I figured he couldn’t be the same kind of
unethical fool he was before, because he had done such a good
job putting the magazine together, etc. So I pitched an article
on the POW Cartel to him. He initially didn’t think it was a
good idea, but I talked him into it and he said he would look
at my article when it was done. Well, because I changed jobs
and moved my family from Alabama to Michigan, it took longer
to finish my article than I had planned. When I emailed Keith
the finished product, he claimed he had completely forgotten
about our previous discussion. And, by the way, he had someone
else doing a similar article! I have no doubt what happened:
Once Keith was convinced that doing an article on the cartel
was worthwhile, he went and found someone else to do it. I
argued extensively with Keith that it was *my* article he should
publish, but to no avail.

I should never haved thought of working with him 🙁

The last couple of issues they’ve had an offer for a lifetime subscription for $150.00 and I’m glad now I didn’t do it. Its such a shame, because until recently I’ve enjoyed the magazine.

Sounds like there’s a lot of unpaid bills in the N&S offices. I can relate to that. Once upon a time, “Civil War” magazine, “The Magazine of the Civil War Society,” was a fine competitor in the world of Civil War glossies, based in Berryville, VA. I was the last of its book review editors, brought on when Bill Miller took over as editor.

It was a good gig for year or two, but the then-owners, always struggling, accepted a buy-out from Poulter and North & South. All of the staff had varying amounts of back pay coming, and part of the terms of the sale was that Keith would send a check to each of us to square things, and close the books on the old enterprise.

I was only owed something in the low 100s, but others, including Bill, had quite a bit of money owed them. I don’t think any checks were ever forthcoming. I inquired about my money for some months, with nary a response. Eventually I sent a sarcastic letter to Keith inviting him to keep my money, and congratulating him on the new magazine business model where everyone works for free. The “shame” tactic didn’t get him to send a check, but it did prompt his one and only communication to me — he wrote back to thank me for being so generous.

I know at least one of the other staffers took legal action, but I don’t know how that turned out. This was when North & South was seemingly at the top of its game, acquiring a rival concern, but I couldn’t get the guy to write a check for a few hundred bucks that allegedly had been part of the purchase price.

David

Mr. Poulter’s rep, sadly enough, became a bit infamous in the Wargaming world – lifetime subscriptions and all. Too bad, because he is not without talent, and seems to come so close to success – very Greek Tragedy of him.

Dave Powell

I, too am a subscriber to North & South and have seen the difference in the magazine’s quality from when it was first published. From everyone’s comments, the answer seems to be, simply, lack of money. No money for staff and printing and trying to keep the magazine going on a shoestring budget. Eventually, the plug needs to be pulled on the patient and, sadly, this seems to have happened. Maybe, somehow it can be revived, but from what I am reading, that won’t happen unless a big pockets publisher appears for the rescue.

WOW. If you would have told me 5 years ago that N&S would come to this, I would have refused to believe it. Seeing all of the respected names in this comments thread who had negative interactions with Mr. Poulter confirms it for me. I guess I shouldn’t ask for the subscription money I had invested for the next two years back eh? Ouch.

On a more upbeat note, I have noticed the positive improvement in CWT and ACW since Dana Shoaf took over.

Anyone who was familiar with Keith Poulter should have seen the end of N&S from its inception. He wrecked 3W as well S&T. Not to mention his unscrupulous and self absorbed business reasonings. I’ve known Poulter for a long time my mother worked loyally with Keith for a long time (near 20 years) and throughout that time he remained half loyal to my mother and all his employee’s. He was notoriously late in paying my mother as well asked too much too often. The readers of North and south will never understand the level of commitment Joyce N. Gusner put into N&S. That Was My moms magazine, Cover to Cover!!! I watched years of her live spent talking to Cadmus placing ads and getting her layout perfect and that is just the tip of the ice burg. Keith burdened my mother with an excessive work load near the end of their association in order to facilitate his “hasty” trips to China to see some woman. Keith has always had great ideas too bad his values and morals are kaput. His business practice and execution are impaired by his personal agenda unfortunately to the detriment of N&S subscribers, stockholders and employees.

It is truly a shame too see all the hard work by the real N&S engineers be thrown to the side like an unwanted toy.

I, too, have a sad story to share about N&S. I submitted an article to Keith in the last spring of 2007. It was an article about the civil-military conflict between Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont and Gideon Welles over the ironclad attack on Charleston in April 1863. The article was adapted from my book, “Lincoln’s Tragic Admiral: The Life of Samuel Francis Du Pont,” UVa Press, 2005. I should have realized that something was not quite right when he “misplaced” several copies of the article, always asking for “just one more.” He told me via e-mail that the article might make a good addition to the magazine. I didn’t hear from him again for months. Imagine my surprise when in June 2008 my article appeared in print in N&S. I never signed a contract, never gave him permission to print the article, never had a chance to do a final proofreading, and was not given the opportunity to review the final copy before printing. He also got my title wrong in the author’s bio. I still don’t know where he got that. Oh, and it goes without saying that I never got paid. In fact, I have no idea if he ever paid anything anyway. Needless to say, it was not a good experience.

I was impressed with the articles in the third issue of Military Chronicles. So my wife ordered the three year subscription and the first two issues. I guess that’s money down the drain.

Even though I have had no direct contact with Mr. Poulter except by phone on two separate occasions, I was sorry to see North and South Magazine as well as Military Chronicles Magazine bite the dust. I wasn’t impressed by the conversation I had with Mr. Poulter and it would seem that he saw these publications as cash cows with out thinking about the time and dedication needed to make these magazines successful. I was wondering if anyone knows about an article written on the war of Florida’s rivers that was published in North and South Magazine. Any help would be appreciated and I would like to see if I can obtain a copy of that article. Any help would be appreciated and thanks.

Respectfully Submitted-Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard