I am convinced that the quality of the first issue is absolutely critical.
Assuming that most of the bitcoin community is distributed internationally and will never see a physical copy in a store, they will order the first copy online and if it doesn't live up to their expectations, they will never buy another copy.
End of story and end of magazine.
As they say: you only get one chance at a first impression.
So: delay the first issue just enough to have time to sell enough "get your name or handle in the historical first issue" individual sponsorships to afford high quality.
Publish the first issue, making it available online as you are already doing.
Eventually get that same first issue in Barnes & Noble.
From then on, release new issues monthly, or every other month, whatever you had in mind.
That way everybody is happy:
- the delay to the first issue is not excessive for those who have already heard of it
- the first issue is sold in Barnes & Noble stores
- the quality is high right from the start
- nerds get their name in the collector's issue
- you don't lose too much money on the first issue
Topic: Pre-order Bitcoin Magazine - Quality control, final revisions on proofs - page 39. (Read 93728 times)
February 02, 2012, 02:00:41 AM
February 01, 2012, 05:49:26 PM
Thanks for the super quick response! I didn't realize you were still deciding distribution timing/channels etc. I am happy that I'm supporting an up ad coming project!
I look forward to the first issue, but also support you doing what is best for the project in total!
I look forward to the first issue, but also support you doing what is best for the project in total!
February 01, 2012, 05:36:14 PM
Yeah, exactly.
On the one hand, if you delay the first issue until B&N is ready for it, you'll have an angry mob here of people who were expecting to see the mag in Feb, but now don't get to see it until May.
On the other hand, if you start publishing the first issue now, then B&N never gets to even carry the first issue.
On the third hand (for those mutants among us), you could release the first issue now, and re-release the first issue at B&N a few months from now. Possibly accelerate the scheduled release for the next few issues at B&N (or decelerate the release of issues ordered from you directly) until B&N is all caught up.
None of those is really a good option, TBH.
On the one hand, if you delay the first issue until B&N is ready for it, you'll have an angry mob here of people who were expecting to see the mag in Feb, but now don't get to see it until May.
On the other hand, if you start publishing the first issue now, then B&N never gets to even carry the first issue.
On the third hand (for those mutants among us), you could release the first issue now, and re-release the first issue at B&N a few months from now. Possibly accelerate the scheduled release for the next few issues at B&N (or decelerate the release of issues ordered from you directly) until B&N is all caught up.
None of those is really a good option, TBH.
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February 01, 2012, 05:32:15 PM
I suppose I am confused. If it took 3 months to get it going at B&N, would B&N be carrying the first issue, or the third? In other words, would B&N NOT carry the first issue, ever?
I'm going to skillfully avert attention to another topic to avoid answering your question directly in an effort to avoid outrage from the community on the ramifications of either choice. lol
It's a tough call, for sure. Setbacks are never fun to deal with.
Well, that's true, and let me be the first to say that all I ever really need to know is if the community supports me when it's time to make those tough decisions. It's true that we're selling a product, but it's not just a product that people are buying ownership of, it's a promise they're buying ownership of as well-- and that's the dangerous part for me. Gotta be featherlight with this shit.
So I've tried to read most of these 16 pages of posts, but I ordered earlier today.
Is the digital version available? Will it be e-mailed? Or is that being mailed on a USB drive or something with the paper copy?
Is the digital version available? Will it be e-mailed? Or is that being mailed on a USB drive or something with the paper copy?
Thanks for the order! Digital copies go out via any of our available digital channels which haven't been decided fully yet.
February 01, 2012, 05:24:55 PM
So I've tried to read most of these 16 pages of posts, but I ordered earlier today.
Is the digital version available? Will it be e-mailed? Or is that being mailed on a USB drive or something with the paper copy?
Is the digital version available? Will it be e-mailed? Or is that being mailed on a USB drive or something with the paper copy?
February 01, 2012, 05:23:17 PM
I suppose I am confused. If it took 3 months to get it going at B&N, would B&N be carrying the first issue, or the third? In other words, would B&N NOT carry the first issue, ever?
I'm going to skillfully avert attention to another topic to avoid answering your question directly in an effort to avoid outrage from the community on the ramifications of either choice. lol
It's a tough call, for sure. Setbacks are never fun to deal with.
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February 01, 2012, 05:17:19 PM
I suppose I am confused. If it took 3 months to get it going at B&N, would B&N be carrying the first issue, or the third? In other words, would B&N NOT carry the first issue, ever?
I'm going to skillfully avert attention to another topic to avoid answering your question directly in an effort to avoid outrage from the community on the ramifications of either choice. lol
February 01, 2012, 04:26:13 PM
I always figured it would be saddle stiched, which is fine by me. Perfect binding is nice, but the "glue" binding tends to crack or fall apart; Think paperback novels.
You know, I've always wanted to try out an eMagazine on the kindle...
You know, I've always wanted to try out an eMagazine on the kindle...
February 01, 2012, 12:19:04 PM
I suppose I am confused. If it took 3 months to get it going at B&N, would B&N be carrying the first issue, or the third? In other words, would B&N NOT carry the first issue, ever?
I'm sure you could sell all prints of the first issue just through your site eventually, especially once some members start receiving/reviewing their copies of it here. What is B&N's cut of every sold magazine? You could probably find community members to buy in bulk at that same price, and leave it up to them to resell them.
Personally, I don't mind a cheaper binding or print quality. Probably somewhat of a staple for startup magazines anyway.
I'm sure you could sell all prints of the first issue just through your site eventually, especially once some members start receiving/reviewing their copies of it here. What is B&N's cut of every sold magazine? You could probably find community members to buy in bulk at that same price, and leave it up to them to resell them.
Personally, I don't mind a cheaper binding or print quality. Probably somewhat of a staple for startup magazines anyway.
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February 01, 2012, 11:35:53 AM
Before I even respond to this idea, let me say that everyone's opinions and suggestions are very warmly welcomed and well received, but that vague recommendations to "just offer a _____" only work if someone is willing to pay for that "_____". (I.e. we can offer the entire world in a basket, but it's worthless unless someone actually pays for it). Okay and now to a suggestion:
This is a good suggestion and almost exactly what Mihai had already planned (who was working on crowdfunding for the magazine until I ruined it by going live on the forums (Sorry Mihai
) and letting everyone know without consulting him.) and I think there might be room for this, but we're planning on sending to the printers in less than a week so I don't believe that would be fair to do on such short notice.
...unless you meant for every issue, in which case you're fucking brilliant.
How many subscriptions would you need to sell in advance to pay for the higher quality product?
Since the first edition has the potential to be a collector's item if this product and Bitcoin ever go mainstream how about a single page which supports can buy a spot for their name. You could bundle this in with subscription or offer it as an upsell.
Normal Subscription: 12 month subscription = $xx
Supporter Subscription: 12 month subscription + your name (either real name or forum nick name) in first edition + extra first edition (collectors item) = $yy
Since the first edition has the potential to be a collector's item if this product and Bitcoin ever go mainstream how about a single page which supports can buy a spot for their name. You could bundle this in with subscription or offer it as an upsell.
Normal Subscription: 12 month subscription = $xx
Supporter Subscription: 12 month subscription + your name (either real name or forum nick name) in first edition + extra first edition (collectors item) = $yy
This is a good suggestion and almost exactly what Mihai had already planned (who was working on crowdfunding for the magazine until I ruined it by going live on the forums (Sorry Mihai
) and letting everyone know without consulting him.) and I think there might be room for this, but we're planning on sending to the printers in less than a week so I don't believe that would be fair to do on such short notice....unless you meant for every issue, in which case you're fucking brilliant.
February 01, 2012, 11:32:40 AM
How many subscriptions would you need to sell in advance to pay for the higher quality product?
Since the first edition has the potential to be a collector's item if this product and Bitcoin ever go mainstream how about a single page which supports can buy a spot for their name. You could bundle this in with subscription or offer it as an upsell.
Normal Subscription: 12 month subscription = $xx
Supporter Subscription: 12 month subscription + your name (either real name or forum nick name) in first edition + extra first edition (collectors item) = $yy
Since the first edition has the potential to be a collector's item if this product and Bitcoin ever go mainstream how about a single page which supports can buy a spot for their name. You could bundle this in with subscription or offer it as an upsell.
Normal Subscription: 12 month subscription = $xx
Supporter Subscription: 12 month subscription + your name (either real name or forum nick name) in first edition + extra first edition (collectors item) = $yy
February 01, 2012, 11:32:01 AM
something insane like put Atlas's photo on the cover.
Special collectors edition… 
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February 01, 2012, 11:24:47 AM
But I think that Matthew knows what he's doing so no point in repeating this anymore.
Hehe. Appreciate the vote of confidence. Just the same, I need to be reminded of the feelings of our readers everyday to make sure I don't do something insane like put Atlas's photo on the cover. (Never...)
February 01, 2012, 11:19:20 AM
I think going 100+ pages would be a bad choice right now. Keep it at 40-50 pages for the time being with excellent quality content. Quality over quantity any day. If in the future, you can have 120 pages of awesome content, that's perfectly fine.
+1This is the same issue that companies have in regard to pricing, it's better to set too high of a price at first than too low because it's always better to lower the price than to increase it. Same applies here but in reverse, less in the beginning is good and then if there is an excess of good content, the page count can be increased. But I think that Matthew knows what he's doing so no point in repeating this anymore.
February 01, 2012, 11:01:52 AM
I think going 100+ pages would be a bad choice right now. Keep it at 40-50 pages for the time being with excellent quality content. Quality over quantity any day. If in the future, you can have 120 pages of awesome content, that's perfectly fine.
February 01, 2012, 10:47:34 AM
I think you need to go ahead with what you got. Postponing won't be helpful I think, may even make your mag seem like old news before it even comes out. Besides it may give you some more experience before you hit the brick and mortar stores.
"Oh that mag I heard about so long ago? Gosh nobody has even talked about it, bet it was terrible. Or canceled."
"Or Matthew is locked in a basement in Texas by an unremorseful fanatic."
"Oh that mag I heard about so long ago? Gosh nobody has even talked about it, bet it was terrible. Or canceled."
"Or Matthew is locked in a basement in Texas by an unremorseful fanatic."
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February 01, 2012, 10:28:03 AM
There are plenty of good writers still enrolled in higher education that would love to have a chance to get published, some free while others at a very low cost. They'll know the subject matter one way or another. Remember, they have strong opinions and view points of the world that we current reside in.
No offense but, I've seen the difference between "writing" and "entertaining writing" and that difference spells out "career".
I'm always open to what people submit though, I just hope they realize that just because it came from their fingertips and it's technically accurate and factual, doesn't mean it's fit to be published in a magazine. That said, one of our own writers is from the Bitcoin community
February 01, 2012, 10:26:31 AM
Then you have those stand-alone newspaper/magazine racks that display only their periodical, albeit most of them are for free, but some are for sale.
Those spots are typically around $800 per store in fact. Also, have no misconceptions-- everyone goes through a distributor. The market is pretty well owned. I've researched it and what we're doing now (and some of the things I haven't mentioned in this thread) seem the safest and most logical direction to go. Understand that when I mention things here, we're already balanced the risks and done the homework. We're just looking for the feelings of the community on A or B.
My other comment is regarding the amount of issues and I was especially shocked to see the comment on increasing the amount of pages to 100+.
We're not doing it for sure, and we'll only do it when it's financially possible. Your fears of quality of content are well heard and felt all across the board, but money fixes all problems as they say. When you can afford good writers from existing major magazines to cover certain subjects, your problem stops being "how much content" and "how can we make this other dumber shit look good in the face of this newer awesome shit". I'll be more than happy if that was our biggest issue.
There are plenty of good writers still enrolled in higher education that would love to have a chance to get published, some free while others at a very low cost. They'll know the subject matter one way or another. Remember, they have strong opinions and view points of the world that we current reside in.
~Bruno~
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February 01, 2012, 10:19:45 AM
Then you have those stand-alone newspaper/magazine racks that display only their periodical, albeit most of them are for free, but some are for sale.
Those spots are typically around $800 per store in fact. Also, have no misconceptions-- everyone goes through a distributor. The market is pretty well owned. I've researched it and what we're doing now (and some of the things I haven't mentioned in this thread) seem the safest and most logical direction to go. Understand that when I mention things here, we're already balanced the risks and done the homework. We're just looking for the feelings of the community on A or B.
My other comment is regarding the amount of issues and I was especially shocked to see the comment on increasing the amount of pages to 100+.
We're not doing it for sure, and we'll only do it when it's financially possible. Your fears of quality of content are well heard and felt all across the board, but money fixes all problems as they say. When you can afford good writers from existing major magazines to cover certain subjects, your problem stops being "how much content" and "how can we make this other dumber shit look good in the face of this newer awesome shit". I'll be more than happy if that was our biggest issue.
February 01, 2012, 10:19:25 AM
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