I Am Not a Believer in Digital Magazines

Okay digital magazine vendors: don’t freak out yet…read the whole post. 

I moderated panel today hosted by ASBPE (american society of business publication editors) about digital magazines at the McGraw Hill Companies.  I’d say the turnout was very good, the panelists were articulate, and, in general, we all learned a lot.  I came away with three things that I’d like to share.

1. I am not a believer in digital magazines.  Of course I know they exist, but, what I mean is, I don’t read them.  Let me first say that my usage habits are perhaps not typical.  I’m a print guy.  I love holding magazines, reading them on the subway, in the john, etc.  I like glossy covers, and photo spreads.  I consume on the Internet, too, but not nearly as much.  Really.  But, you know what?  My own experience doesn’t really matter (and neither does yours).  To judge what our readers will want based on what we like is ludicrous.  The key is to….

2. Survey your readers.  The fact is, having a digital edition available can save you a lot of money in paper, printing, and distribution costs, as well as make you some money in added subs, especially overseas.  But at least some of your readers will need to want one to make this work.  I would guess that if you contact one of the vendors (NXTBook, Zinio, and Texterity are three that come to mind and that were present today), and tell them that you’d like to use them, but want to survey your readers first, I’m guessing they’d be happy to help.  And why not survey your readers with help on the cheap?

3. Experiment.  It probably doesn’t cost very much to make a PDF version of your products and find some way to distribute it to subscribers.  I’m not saying that this will be a great revenue source, but if you don’t want to spend time and money investigating a full-fledged digital edition, and you still want to get into the game, this is a good way to start.  Digital editions may not be huge now, but they might be in the near future, and do you want to go into that future with zero experience with the medium?

Of course, there was a lot more said at the session, and we all learned a lot, but, it’s Friday before Thanksgiving, and I think I’ll keep this short and sweet.

Ps - One last piece of advice: if you want to expand overseas, a digital edition is probably the best way to do it at this point: no time delay, no mailing fees, and limited startup costs.  This might even be a good way to launch new products.