I'm curious to know why, if your model works, no one uses it?
New Indie Film Magazine
- Thread starter etnad0
- Start date
I'm curious to know why, if your model works, no one uses it?
No one uses it? When was the last time you saw a major advertising campaign for your local newspaper? When was the last time you saw a Cannes commercial? How about a Sundance Festival commercial outside of the Sundance channel?
MLMs use the exact same means of getting the word out. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising there is. Just because you see people doing it a certain way doesn't mean that's the way it has to be done and it also doesn't mean that they've tried any other way. Monkey see monkey do. People think that because the traditional way is what they see, that is the only way that works. Tell that to the people that shot Blair Witch.
There are tons of companies using POD services for distribution for film, music, and print. Amazon completely leveled the playing field by striking a deal with B&N which offers everyone the opportunity to be listed with them, bypass the traditional application process, and have their product appear on the site in 4-6 weeks after publication. In addition to the B&N deal, and the distribution I mentioned before, they also make it available at nearly 100 other online retailers. Once again, the book stores that would distribute the magazine would be able to get it from the same people that distribute major magazines so there is no extra step to the ordering process for them. The hardest part is putting the thing together, then pitching it to a distributor.
My question was serious as to why you think I need to have a certain number on hand. If you don't want to give an actual answer, that's fine, just say so.
I'm not talking about your marketing model, I'm talking about your printing model.
The reason I think you need to order a 'certain amount of prints' is because that's what every magazine, to my knowledge, does. From what I can gather you seem to want to apply the print on demand principal that some 'publishers' use for books to a monthly (or quarterly) periodical. I just don't see how that can be feasible and, if it worked like you say it will, why nobody does it that way.
I just want to reiterate that if you can put together a top notch magazine that won't bankrupt you then I'd be the first to subscribe and get behind the project. I just think the absolute, most important thing before investing time and money in a project is to make sure that you've covered every angle and, at the moment, your business plan has me somewhat confused.
I believe there is more money to be made writing about filmmaking than actually making films. The key here is marketing. (Again.)
IMO this forum leans towards people who DON'T WANT TO READ BOOKS. They rather come here and ask even the most basic questions found in all filmmaking books and prefer get answers from people who sometimes may very well know less than they do.
IMO majority of people who learned the most of what they know about filmmaking from books are not in this forum.
This is not to knock those who enjoy the people here and come here for that and bounce ideas off each other.
To the OP etnad0, this forum is a good place to get writers for your publication, but not to get feedback on whether your publication is a good idea.
I'd say go for it and if you have a print edition, I will buy a copy. Reading it on the internet? Blah.
Good luck!
<commence flaming>
IMO this forum leans towards people who DON'T WANT TO READ BOOKS. They rather come here and ask even the most basic questions found in all filmmaking books and prefer get answers from people who sometimes may very well know less than they do.
IMO majority of people who learned the most of what they know about filmmaking from books are not in this forum.
This is not to knock those who enjoy the people here and come here for that and bounce ideas off each other.
To the OP etnad0, this forum is a good place to get writers for your publication, but not to get feedback on whether your publication is a good idea.
I'd say go for it and if you have a print edition, I will buy a copy. Reading it on the internet? Blah.
Good luck!
<commence flaming>
Amen!
Yepppppp!
Yepppp, again.
I think this forum is best suited for some pretty specific questions books and classrooms aren't able to economically address, especially timely issues.
You got it.
I think I agree that people use this forum as a way of getting a quick answer to a question (rather than reading a whole book to find something specific) but I'm not sure that necessarily good or bad.
What I am curious about is why you think that this forum is a good place to get writers for your publication but not get opinions on whether your publication is a good idea? People who don't read books and spend most of their time on the internet tend not to be the world's best writers and there's an unaccountability about internet forums that means that relevant experience is not as important as bluster. I think you're much better off approaching working writers, especially if you want to make it a serious, well-put-together publication.
As to whether his publication is 'a good idea', I assume that comment was directed at me. I've not said it's a bad idea but if I were pushed then yes, I would say that. I see no sign that this venture has a USP or a proper marketing strategy. The OP has simply said that he will be able to get money and that he will be able to sell copies. That's what everyone thinks until they have to raise money and sell things. Print media is one of the hardest businesses to make ends meet in.
And, I might add, if the OP wants to have this discussion in the 'Indie Talk' forum rather than 'Promotion' then it's fair to discuss the feasibility of magazine publications in general.
I'm not in the least bit interested in debating the marketability/profitability of yet another filmmaking low-margin paper magazine.
http://www.world-newspapers.com/film-magazines.html
Film Threat - On May 11, 2011, Film Threat announced that it planned to produce a quarterly print and e-book edition beginning in September 2011, relying upon crowdfunding for the resources.[11] The campaign to return Film Threat to print raised only $5,111 of its $60,000 crowd-funding goal (based on two coinciding $30000 campaigns, one of which was cancelled on June 11th), and were unsuccessful in its attempt to raise the necessary monies by the conclusion of the crowdfunding campaign.
Filmmaker Magazine - Paid circulation is about 32,000 an issue
iF Magazine - no circulation info
MovieMaker - bimonthly distribution of 42,000,... and a direct subscribership of more than 14,000
I wouldn't get near it with a ten foot pole believing I could offer a product, tangible or not, that stood out from whatever was already available to people interested.
GL!
http://www.world-newspapers.com/film-magazines.html
Film Threat - On May 11, 2011, Film Threat announced that it planned to produce a quarterly print and e-book edition beginning in September 2011, relying upon crowdfunding for the resources.[11] The campaign to return Film Threat to print raised only $5,111 of its $60,000 crowd-funding goal (based on two coinciding $30000 campaigns, one of which was cancelled on June 11th), and were unsuccessful in its attempt to raise the necessary monies by the conclusion of the crowdfunding campaign.
Filmmaker Magazine - Paid circulation is about 32,000 an issue
iF Magazine - no circulation info
MovieMaker - bimonthly distribution of 42,000,... and a direct subscribership of more than 14,000
I wouldn't get near it with a ten foot pole believing I could offer a product, tangible or not, that stood out from whatever was already available to people interested.
GL!
Maybe nobody has tried it because many of the established magazines were around before the current type of POD. Even now there are some POD that charge large upfront fees. In early 2000 I looked into publishing and it was expensive. More modern POD service have no minimum orders like early POD models had. Maybe its much easier to keep the established relationship than to switch over. There could be a lot of reasons. I have no idea, but I'm willing to try it to see if it works. If not, no major loss. I'd rather try it and fail than not try it and never know.
While it may confuse you, its perfectly clear to me lol. You only live once, so why not try? I'm sort of reckless like that when it comes to starting things. With that said, lets say I publish a quarterly magazine that never sells a copy. The fact that there is a print magazine available for purchase along with back issues available for purchase ads a sort of prestige to everything else I plan to do with the company. I don't see any downside at all yet.
The biggest problem that you seem to have is your line of thinking:
1) What I posted on this forum is not my marketing plan. My marketing planned can't be summed up in a few short sentences.
2) Just because it confuses you doesn't mean it confuses everyone else. I actually have a pretty decent fan base and a lot of local support with this project.
3) Several people that have lots of connections are supporting this project via word of mouth. Someone with a ton of local pull in the film community is in my corner as well.
Its not a knock on you by any means, but assuming that because your friend does it and doesn't do it well, that it means nobody else can is a bad line of thinking. I'm not trying to get rich on this. Positive cash flow is great whether its $400/month or $4,000/month.
Everyone you listed uses the TRADITIONAL printing model.
I know people that write books that think because they spend $10k to get started they will sell. I spent $40 and I sell a lot more books than they do. They listened to people and bought a ton of books so they could acquire distribution and mail the books out.
Much like Film Threat they needed to spend a large amount of money so they can distribute their own product which makes ZERO sense at all. I have a distributor to handle orders in bulk or one magazine at a time. It doesn't cost me a dime to lay it all out, convert to PDF, upload, and approve. If I choose to get a proof copy, which I will, it will cost me $2.18.
Amazon prints, packages, and ships all orders, including the bulk orders through the distributors. I get up to the minute updates in my sales panel and I get paid every month. Last month I sold just over 700 books total and guess how many I had on hand to ship... not a single book. The days of traditional publishing are all but dead. POD is the perfect solution for any startup. The problem is all the people that keep thinking that they need a ton of money for print and they really don't.
I agree. You only live once so why not try? Go big or go home. The worst that could happen is you lose some money. Like I've said many times before, if it were easy then everybody would do it. The problem with most small magazines sits at the core of the creators: bad business management. There is still a market.
I've seen little gems here and there in this forum from people that know their stuff that I hadn't seen elsewhere. One doesn't need to be world's best writer to convey information (and there are copy editors that'll help fix things too).
As one that has a "day job" in the publishing business, I can tell you that the publishing business is a whole other ballgame and you really can't make business decisions based on what works in film and vise versa that's why I suggested opinions from this forum might not be entirely wise.
Interested.
Keep us posted on your progress. I don't like reading magazines on an e-reader and much prefer the printed version. Then again, I prefer printed books to e-books despite the fact that I have three readers.
I'm with you on that. I love hard copies in my hand.
As far as progress, just found out that a guy I did a favor for is an editor at a local mag and the photographer. He said he'd help me out and just get in touch, so hopefully things will be a little smoother going now.