Just four months after their first sell-out digital magazine conference, the Magazine Publishers of America are hosting a second event: Magazines 24/7: Profiting in the Digital Age. The scheduling of this event so soon after the first demonstrates the importance of a digital strategy for magazine publishers. If I were a publisher I would have been riding the digital wave for some time now since it’s where the growth is – especially in the special interest area.
Here in Australia only a handful of titles are playing actively in the digital space. I expect many more to enter this year. Digital magazines pose a threat to newsagents beyond the loss of sales. In the period of transition, while consumers migrate from over the counter to online, newsagent display of the title helps the publisher. Newsagents cannot cut the titles because of contractual obligations so they have to carry them even if loss making while publishers build new revenue models online.
The fair approach would be to recognise that at the non mainstream end of the marketplace especially titles will migrate online. This should lead to newsagents being paid for providing access to low cost real-estate to maintain presence. The only other option for a newsagent for these bottom end titles is to return them immediately and short pay the distributor account. But that only ends in tears.
Dear sir or madam, I decided to start a web base magazine in 2005 and I am a bit apprehensive about the over all results. As I began this crazy project and decided to inform myself a bit more about the subject, I encounter several huddles with digital base publications. 1. How can you keep readers in, if I link them to other sites as part of link ads or articles from other sources? As you know, paper magazines have first and last page, but digital magazines do not because of links. 2. As you know, only two kinds of people go to the internet, the browsers and the searchers ….so under which category the magazine fall into. 3. As I keep thinking in ways to create this magazine, how would I compete with the magazines on the rack or any area where magazines are…displayed…example the doctor’s office or the high end lounge? I came up with several ideas as I go along, however I don’t know if I can afford them. Thanks for the time.