Topic: Pre-order Bitcoin Magazine - Quality control, final revisions on proofs - page 45. (Read 93728 times)

Oh! I'm sorry then. That's my own ignorance probably. So you mean charge people, but give it out as a PDF or something?

+100

If your company chooses to go that route, it proves you are more afraid of loss than confident in your abilities.  If I can read this for free on my linux desktop, as well as my barnes & noble nook without special software, I may do so.  And I may choose to compensate whoever provides it to me, whether it is you or a pirate.  Get over yourself, and quit hiding behind feeble locks a competent locksmith can open with a bobby pin.  If your shit is good, you will be rewarded beyond your imagination.  If not, best to fail spectacularly and move on.

Edit:
Digital costs you nothing to distribute other than a choice.  And it will drive physical sales by building your audience.

By DRM, I just mean a protected format.  Anything that you have to be logged in to view, or jump through similar hoops to get to.

I don't think it's unreasonable to release the first volume protected, then subsequent volumes unprotected.  Those who want unprotected volumes can wait a month, and knowing that an unprotected release is coming should be adequate for most of them.  In fact, that might not be a bad model to go by for future releases.  Give the magazine to the subscribers in a protected format for the first month, then give it to those same subscribers in an unprotected format afterward.  I wouldn't say give it away free to non-subscribers, as you'll miss out on sales from people who don't want to torrent things, but don't mind paying for them.  But you should be able to make all sides happy with that sort of arrangement.


Yikes... $80,000 sunk in to the magazine?  That IS a lot.

Anyway, like I said above, it's all about pandering to the crowd you are targeting.  This particular crowd loves free-format files, so to avoid alienating them, you need to provide them with such.  That doesn't mean that none of them will buy it.  In fact, I believe it will be quite the opposite - you will have a lot more support, and more volume, if you offer it in an unprotected format.

Think of it like archive.org.  Likely, very few people here donated to them before they started accepting Bitcoins as donations.  When they did start accepting Bitcoin donations, they had a ton of support from folks here, to the tune of several thousand dollars worth of BTC.  Your magazine could be the same way - you won't have much support on the digital front from this crowd, unless you release an unprotected format, which people would support just because it's an unprotected format and that is rare these days.

Ok, I'm done with my soap box speeches.  I think I've said more than enough for you to understand why I think this is important.  

Unless we're all in this together.

Wait! What? There's an APP hat for that?

I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not suggesting you give away the digital copy for free. I'm suggesting that for those who purchase it, you don't restrict which devices they can read it on by using only specific content marketplaces or DRM laden formats.

Anyway, it's your magazine, do whatever you want. I just think your perception of the benefits of DRM and copying restrictions are flawed.

If I were half the troll people thought I was I'd just never release a digital copy LOL.

When I was a Junior in high school back in '78, I went door-to-door selling magazines, raising funds for the Senior/Junior prom. I'm just throwing this out there without any further input. You get the gist.

Im assuming there will be a page on bitcoin 101, and its simple basics?

I just want a bunch of copies to stick places, gorilla advertising.

Barber shops, dentists, waiting rooms of all types, left at a coffee shops, libraries.

All the sudden, bitcoin will be everywhere..

Kill them with kindness!

Put a different cover on it for the Brazilian market, or any other that that cover won't work.

IF a B&N B&M store stocks it, it's safe to say you'll be able to purchase it off their website via fiat.

Not currently feasible. I'll keep it in mind for the future though. I'd like to remind people who keep throwing around "just charge advertising to offset the cost"-- you need people willing to advertise first!

This thread is long and I'm behind. Forgive me if I double post. My posts will only consist of ideas as they pop into my head.


Place ads on the plastic. That should help offset the cost. Consider doing it in such a way that the plastic is apt to be saved, thereby making the plastic as valuable as the mag. You can even print on both sides of the plastic, as you already well know. Ad advertiser could pay to have a QR-Code on the reverse, only readable once opened, linked to a special offer.

The problem is that "Digital Restrictions Management" is not a well-defined term. In general, e-books on the Apple or Kindle platform will have some kind of DRM. I don't even know if it is possible for the publisher author to opt-out. DRM is used to force device lock-in, so that the publisher can make money on other titles sold through the same platform.

An open format such as an older, DRM free, version of PDF will allow the file to be read in any e-reader.

I agree that "digital" formats are scary for publishers. They allow lossless copying; sometimes with forward error correction, negating the need for re-transmission. That is why I suggested the compromise of having only back-issues available in a machine readable format.

I'm having trouble understanding if this is meant to be a joke or not. I don't think anyone judges a magazine's business model off of the cover for a story.

EDIT: Got a word down from marketing. It seems that if we are basing our income model off of advertisers such as the big boys do, releasing the digital copy for absolutely free won't be an issue, but I have been reminded that at least for the first month our entire business plan seems to be more related to individual sales.

I hope we can bring the volume up to the point that we can safely switch models. I am grateful for getting this far and I know we will only get bigger so I suppose it's only a matter of time.

I like how I sparked this whole conversation about free or not free, DRM, piracy, etc.  Dude, you put a photo of an Anonymous member on the cover and you are now trying to justify charging for it and locking it down.

I guess I can see your side of things, that it will either be a game of cat and mouse or an all-out massive surrender. Either way is fine by me-- I'm just the founder and editor. All I care about is:

If a magazine gives up DRM or simply doesn't offer the digital copy for free-- how does it provide income to cover the costs of printing the physical copies?


Everyone here understands that we're losing money the first month, right? Does everyone here know how much it actually costs to print even 200 issues of a magazine by our specifications and at 64 pages? I literally would need to be charging $40 per issue at this point to break even. Releasing a free issue is not really on the top of my mind right now. Volume is. If that volume is in the form of more free issues, that's the wrong kind of volume. lol

I already purchased a 12 month subscription...

Plus, I know enough so that I can strip any DRM off of a digital copy, and will do so in order to use it on the device of my choosing (thinking my new Nook Simple Touch).


How about this? Do you really want to read a magazine on your phone!?

The fact is, I don't understand enough what "DRM" actually is. If you consider releasing the magazine as a downloadable app "DRM" just because Apple and Android could potentially control it, then I don't really know what to say, and I'll gladly stop commenting on it and let our Marketing manager Mihai Alisie give his thoughts.

If however we are talking about an issue where someone wants to download the PDF and only the PDF, and no other form will suffice, I think I'd have to give them a warm "No thank you" to their business at this particular moment. We're barely 2 weeks old as a business and I'd hate to crush us before we even start.

Everyone already knows my viewpoints, but more important than viewpoints, they know that I am willing to meet needs, adapt and adopt new strategies. I just need in put into a way that makes sense to me. As someone who just bought an Android app and an iPhone app, as well as some stock images the other day, I don't really the arguments and I am clearly in a different school of thought.

Anyone want to help me on this wild and wacky transition?

+1 I solely promise that whoever I pass the magazine will pay me at least 1 bitcoin (current price), digital or print, or he will see only the cover of it. Stick a qr on the back to make it easier   You will get every penny of it just to keep up the good work.