The business of magazine publishing

[steve simmons]

There have been previous discussions about magazines and whether to subscribe or buy them off the stand. I remember one post where the responder said he preferred to buy them off the stand to support the small newsstand. However, here are a few facts. If you subscribe to View Camera for one year you pay $25.00 which amounts to $4.16 per issue. We get all of the money. If you buy 4 issues a year from the news stand you will pay almost 28.00 plus spending your time and gas money and most of the money goes to the magazine distribution company. So, for less money you could get all 6 issues and we would get the money. Or, you can use your money to support the big, and growing monopoly of the very few magazine distribution companies.

There may be a point where we have to raise the cover price of the magazine. We will not raise the subscription price. We are also making a commitment to improving the special Subscriber's Section of the View Camera web site. We will put expanded articles and supplemental articles in this section for our subscribers.

We are now putting the password for the Subscriber's Section on the front cover of the magazine. This will make it easier to access.

In the last couple of years we have also worked to improve delivery to our subscribers outside the US. We now have distributors in Canada, the UK, Europe, and the Pacific. We also offer an electronic version for readers outside the US. These distributors are small companies involved in the photo business and they have a real interest in the large format niche.

OK, one more thing. We were severely criticized a year or so ago for sloppy proof reading. However, it has been apparent that in the last year we have made significant improvement in this area and we appreciate the compliments we have been getting about our recent issues.

Thanks

steve simmons

[BrianShaw]

Thanks for the information, Steve. The hassle of driving to the newsstand, ususally multiple times, to find VC is what finally convinced me to subscribe. I'm much happier just waiting for the magazine to arive in the mailbox rather than having to go out looking for it.

Regarding the proof reading issues... I was among the critics. It is quite apparent that you took the comments to heart and have made substantial efforts to improve the situation. The improvements are quite obvious in the issues published since the time of that discussion!

I have no experience at magazine publishing, but I fully understand what a challenging business it is. Thanks very much to you and your staff!

[QT Luong]

One of the things I was wondering about is that for some magazines there is a 5x price or even larger difference between subscription prices (offered at a discount) and cover prices. Why such a large difference ?

[steve simmons]

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One of the things I was wondering about is that for some magazines there is a 5x price or even larger difference between subscription prices (offered at a discount) and cover prices. Why such a large difference ?

When you buy a subscription the magazine company gets all of the money. When you buy the magazine off the stand the magazine itself gets very little of the money. Also, some magazines, and View Camera is not one of them, have a model where they may sell subs at a loss to pump the numbers for the advertisers. This model almost forces the magazine into becoming an advertising vehicle rather than an editorial publication.

steve simmons

[Ted Harris]

For a bit of clarification, advertising decisions are made, in large part, based on audited circulation numbers and those numbers are, in turn, largely based on the magazine's subscription sales only. Thus, both the advertiser's decision to run ads in a magazine and the magazine's ability to fix a reasonable rate for advertisers is almost wholly linked to subscription sales.

[BrianShaw]

Isn't that true no matter what kind of subscription it is - paid or free? I often wonder how mags like Rangefinder and other "industry rags" keep going since they largely offer free subscriptions.

(p.s. Steve, if you ever offer a free subscription, I'd like to be included!)

[steve simmons]

Advertisers do want to know about sub prices, how many people actually read each copy, etc. One of the considerations that has made View Camera important to the industry is that people keep each issue as longterm reference rather than throwing one away when the next one arrives.

When I set up View Camera I wanted an editorially driven magazine that had a simple and elegant design. I wanted the photographs to stand out and not have to compete with the design. I like white space and an uncluttered look. This model also gave me more freedom to cover products, techniques, etc. and not be dictated to by the advertisers. We also run long stretches of just editorial pages which most other magazines do not. Some magazines won't do product reviews unless the company is an advertiser. View Camera does not operate this way.

steve

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

One of the things I was wondering about is that for some magazines there is a 5x price or even larger difference between subscription prices (offered at a discount) and cover prices. Why such a large difference ?

It's all about advertising. The more subscribers, the more advertisers. A magazine would rather lose money and get more subscribers than make a profit off of subscriptions. A lot of the consumer magazines that are geared to large audiences do this. Focus, VC, etc. are kind of horizontal... as in they're both trade AND consumer. Our audiences are smaller and our magazines cost much, much more to print, therefore, our subscription prices must be higher. 6 issues for $25 is a hell of a deal.

There is a theory that you can make more money in a shorter time due to volume. To date, I've never tried this. It's something I'm considering when the next issue comes out... 6 issues for $12, 12 issues for $20.

[Eirik Berger]

In the last couple of years we have also worked to improve delivery to our subscribers outside the US. We now have distributors in Canada, the UK, Europe, and the Pacific. We also offer an electronic version for readers outside the US. These distributors are small companies involved in the photo business and they have a real interest in the large format niche.


Improve? The vast majority of europeans don´t speak french, and I honestly dont´t think it is much of an improvement making us navigate through a poor french webshop. I dont understand french and I will have to use a trial and error method to be able to subscrie (Live in Norway). I dont even now if they accept paypal.

And no, PDF is not an option. :mad:

[Mick Fagan]

I believe that the View Camera magazine is probably exceptional value for the money, if you live if the USA.

This August I was in Germany and spoke on my last day there to a view camera user, he was appalled at the French costing of the magazine.

What costs $25 USD in north America, cost him a shade under $100 USD. Whilst he realises that there are costs associated with getting an issue to Europe, also that the European distributor has to make some money on the deal, he has come to the conclusion that it was robbery under another guise, his words!

Eventually he asked someone in mainland USA to become a subscriber for him, he gets it forwarded via airmail to his home.

I myself emailed the Australian based distributor of your magazine regarding subscription about 4 months ago, after I returned from my German trip, I didn't receive any reply. A few days ago I sent them another email, we'll see!

I realise that when you are running something on the smell of an oily rag, in what has been a reducing market, you are doing alright, but it can be a bit frustrating from our end sometimes.

Mick.

[steve simmons]

Mick

send your e-mail address to

amiles@viewcamera.com

and she will make sure the Australian distributor contacts you

Eirik,
We also have a distributor in the UK that might service Norway.

Mike@walkercameras.com

We've done the electronic version to get around the shipping costs overseas but if you want a hard copy it just does cost money to get it over there.

steve

[Peter Collins]

Just want to say that I like the magazine, and the writing/proofing is getting better and better.

I especially note Steve Simmons' remark about the uncluttered look, and having photographs stand out.

I'm glad I subscribed this year.

Happy New Year 2008 to all!

[Eirik Berger]

Mick
Eirik,
We also have a distributor in the UK that might service Norway.
Mike@walkercameras.com
We've done the electronic version to get around the shipping costs overseas but if you want a hard copy it just does cost money to get it over there.


Thanks, I will check with the UK distributor if they will send here.

Of course there are shipping costs involved, but that is a cost that should be included in an overseas subscription. It could cost $50 or $100 per year - all I care about is that I have the option to subscribe.

[Dave Henry]

For a bit of clarification, advertising decisions are made, in large part, based on audited circulation numbers and those numbers are, in turn, largely based on the magazine's subscription sales only. Thus, both the advertiser's decision to run ads in a magazine and the magazine's ability to fix a reasonable rate for advertisers is almost wholly linked to subscription sales.
Hi Ted,

That's not entirely accurate. I come from the newspaper end of photography and the audited circulation numbers are comprised of both subscription AND stand sales. The research folks do their thing to determine readership. Advertisers base their buys on circ. numbers, readership (number of people per issue) and penetration into the market. As a side note, circulation only pays about 12% of the cost of doing business. the rest comes from other sources of income.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

Hi Ted,

That's not entirely accurate. I come from the newspaper end of photography and the audited circulation numbers are comprised of both subscription AND stand sales. The research folks do their thing to determine readership. Advertisers base their buys on circ. numbers, readership (number of people per issue) and penetration into the market. As a side note, circulation only pays about 12% of the cost of doing business. the rest comes from other sources of income.

The day circulation pays for 12% of the cost of me doing business, is the day I buy a very expensive bottle of champagne. I would LOVE for that to happen... the champagne and the 12% part.

[Dave Henry]

The day circulation pays for 12% of the cost of me doing business, is the day I buy a very expensive bottle of champagne. I would LOVE for that to happen... the champagne and the 12% part.

Well, I'm not familiar with the magazine business nor your magazine. It seems to me that if your revenue from subscriptions is such a small part of your operating income, why not lower the subscription price or just make it free like a number if industry magazines and increase your subscriber base and charge more for advertising then? wouldn't this help in the Champaign department?

[Ted Harris]

Dave, note I said in large part from subscriptions .... sure the stand sales count but the subscriptions are weighted much ore heavily. With magazines stand sales v. copies sent to stands by distributors and not sold/destroyed is a much less accurate number than subscriptions.

[Robert Brummitt]

I'll still buy my issues from the local book store. Its gives me reason to browse the other publications and books. I just found a nice treasure of a large book on Man Ray.
The other reasons is that I can decide if the newest issue of VC or any other photography magazine is of interest. It's rare but I don't purchase very issue.
Finally, I feel I'm supporting the book store.
:) :)

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

Well, I'm not familiar with the magazine business nor your magazine. It seems to me that if your revenue from subscriptions is such a small part of your operating income, why not lower the subscription price or just make it free like a number if industry magazines and increase your subscriber base and charge more for advertising then? wouldn't this help in the Champaign department?

First of all, I couldn't reach the number of people I do if I or anyone else made their magazine "free." I do give away, as gifts, a dozen or so copies every now and then, but most of those people wind up subscribing.

As far as lowering subscription prices, it's something that I think every magazine publisher would love to do... have cheap subscriptions. Unfortunately, the reality is that magazines like View Camera, LensWork, et. all are very expensive to produce and we need all of the income we can get. Personally, I'm thinking about a subscription discount program, but I don't want to get into that in a thread about VC.

Really, I think you guys have it great. You have magazines like VC, LensWork, B&W, CameraArts, etc. no other group of consumers is treated to such high quality publications... even fashion magazines are cheaply produced and full of a billion ads that get in the way of articles.

I think it would be a nice idea for the publishers and editors of all of the magazines to join together and see how we can better cater to our market. The better our magazines are, the more people who buy them all and the happier all of you are. It's a win-win situation.

[Eirik Berger]

Eirik,
We also have a distributor in the UK that might service Norway.
Mike@walkercameras.com


That worked real fine. Mike sends all over Europe. Thanks.

Eirik

[BarryS]

I didn't realize so little of the newsstand price gets to the publishers. I'm just starting in large format, but I've always liked View Camera a lot. The layout and content are excellent and it's pleasant not to have to fight a million ads and those awful cardstock inserts. My favorite aspect is the nice balance between the images and the technical information. I like to have some good technical information for learning and experimenting, but the images shouldn't take a back seat. Putting in my two-year sub today.

[Photojeep]

Just wanted to also say that I think View Camera Magazine is a very good magazine. And since I am a world class miss-speller, I didn't notice very many errors in the past. Steve, I know you do this to earn a living but I think you are also doing a great service to the photographic community and I thank you for it.

To a great 2008!

Randy

[vickersdc]

This is a very interesting and pertinent thread for me. I'm just starting out on a new project to set up an online magazine for the traditionalist photo-community, and offering a paper version once a quarter.

In order for me to offer this world-wide, I'm going to use the self-publishing site lulu.com to distribute - the reader goes to the website, selects the magazine and lulu will then print it and send it out. They obviously take a cut, but for me it's ideal. Unlike Steve and FocusMag, I'm not out to sell thousands upon thousands of copies, but I do want to offer something to the community - I'm well aware that plenty of people like to hold a magazine in their hands rather than read online.

I'm not going to mention the projects website here (it's on another thread) as I have no desire to hijack this thread! However, what I will say is that after exchanging emails with both Steve and FocusMag, I hope that you do support them with their magazines - the sheer effort involved in producing the quality that they offer means that you really are getting a great deal by subscribing to them.

David.

[Stephen Willard]

View Camera has always been a class act for me. It is informative, applicable to what I do, and the images are wonderful. The ad space is just right, and useful. Although, I have let my subscription lapse, I do plan on renewing it when I have time.

I personally have never been offended by any of the proofing errors. I am more concerned about the esthetics and content of the publication which have been excellent. Thanks Steve for your vision and commitment to the exciting field of LF photography. Your contribution has been historic!

[Mick Fagan]

Well I have finally subscribed, the local distributor contacted me via my last email, which was sent late in December, it takes time and they have had some holidays.

Interesting to note that the cost of the magazine is right up there. Having subscribed to magazines from the USA for over 25 years, this is the first time I have subscribed to something where the subscription price is well over double the newsstand price.

However, as there is no newsstand price in this country, it doesn't matter, getting it is more important at this stage!

I'll give a follow up in 12 months time.

Mick.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

This is a very interesting and pertinent thread for me. I'm just starting out on a new project to set up an online magazine for the traditionalist photo-community, and offering a paper version once a quarter.

In order for me to offer this world-wide, I'm going to use the self-publishing site lulu.com to distribute - the reader goes to the website, selects the magazine and lulu will then print it and send it out. They obviously take a cut, but for me it's ideal. Unlike Steve and FocusMag, I'm not out to sell thousands upon thousands of copies, but I do want to offer something to the community - I'm well aware that plenty of people like to hold a magazine in their hands rather than read online.

I'm not going to mention the projects website here (it's on another thread) as I have no desire to hijack this thread! However, what I will say is that after exchanging emails with both Steve and FocusMag, I hope that you do support them with their magazines - the sheer effort involved in producing the quality that they offer means that you really are getting a great deal by subscribing to them.

David.

David, while I appreciate your intentions, I do not believe you are being realistic. Running a magazine is a VERY time consuming job. And unless you are personally amazingly wealthy, it's going to interfere with a lot of your life to the point where you're going to have to decide to either want to do it full time or just stop doing it at all. And if you want to do it full time, you're going to have to figure out a way for the magazine to be profitable enough to do it full time. You want to give something back to the community? Great. Do it. But do it right. All the people in the world want to be able to do something kind for other people, but it's the actual execution of those ideas that really matter. You want support, help and advice from magazine publishers? You've got it. When was the last time you picked up a magazine on the newsstands in which the publisher did this as a side job and not to make money? The answer: NEVER. Everyone here wants to see you succeed and print a GORGEOUS magazine. You want my advice? Make the articles as interesting and as in-depth as you can make them. Don't have articles shorter than 1500 words. Make sure they're edited well. Make sure they're interesting. Make sure the quality of reproduction is the best it can possibly be -- do not use grayscale printing to print black and white photographs. Use 4C or at least tritone.

Again, David, I want to see you succeed. I want to be able to pick your magazine up on the newsstands. I have some connections where I can help you do that here in the US, but you've got to either commit to this full time, or hire someone else to do it full time for you (an editor) or just do this online without having the goal of one day going into newsstands.

Your goal SHOULD be to produce thousands of magazines. How many thousands of photographers could you help with your magazine?

[Kirk Keyes]

When was the last time you picked up a magazine on the newsstands in which the publisher did this as a side job and not to make money?

Emulsion mag? Did it even make it to the news stand? Is it even in existance still?

[vickersdc]

@FocusMag: thank you for your truthful insight - your experience counts as you are actually doing this right now.

I had to smile when you mentioned about personally wealthy! I've only got a website for the e-zine as a kind person gave me a donation to go and do it! I have enthusiasm and a passion to get this project done, but not money :-(

When we've spoken via PM in the past you mentioned about advertising and that's something I'm still thinking about - or rather I'm still thinking about how I'm going to make contact and get this sort of deal (asking for advertising revenue is not something I've done before, so I want to tackle right rather than go off 'half-cocked' as it were).

As for the actual paper magazine, I'm just not ready yet to seek worldwide publishers / distributors. For me (at this time) lulu.com appears to offer what I want (at least initially). Let's see where the project goes...

Rather than turn this thread in to something about my project (as it's not my thread), can I PM you again and we'll chat? Or, we could use my thread about the new magazine instead?

@Kirk Keyes: I believe Emulsion is still going... isn't it?

Cheers,
David.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

sends all over Europe

I am one of the European subscribers to View Camera (V.C.)
So let me add 0,02 euro to the price I have to pay to receive V.C. at home.
Living in France, of course I use the services of the French distributor.

There has been a short period of time where postal rates within Europe were only marginally more expensive than domestic rates. Internatioanl European rates have increased substantially in the last years and the situation is probably less favourable here than within the Fifty-States. Yes we now have expanded the Union to 27 countries but postal rates from Oulu (Finland) to Cyprus are almost as if there was no Union.

I am also a subscriber to LensWork. The situation is the same, the magazine is much more expensive when delivered to Europe but like Eirik for both magazines I am not interested by the pdf version.
I like the touch & feel of a real thing in a real world where more and more objects are "de-materialized".
It started when my savings account, traditionnally maintained by printing the account figures on a small booklet, was "de-materialized", as the bank called it. At the time only Sci-Fi movies had de-materializing machines that allowed the heroes to jump in the 6-th dimension. So to me it could not be anything but a Real Progress.
About at the same time, when I got my first credit card, most of my money was de-materialized. Then they tried to de-materialize the pictures of my family album by promoting the digital camera and the digital display thereof. And they want to prevent me to send real hand-written paper postcards for the New Year !! STOP !

--------

Now to Eirik (I hope you'll not get angry against me ;) )

[KIDDING-MODE-ON]

The real problem,IMHO, is that the Norwegian government should think about re-locating Longyearbyen near Castelnaudary, France.

There would be many benefits.
- Longyearbyen-ians would make substantial savings on electricity and heating in January
- They could enjoy a real cassoulet instead of the tinned cassoulet that Longyearbyen-ians have to live on year-round (Castelnaudary is the World Capital of Real Cassoulet, postage costs to ship tinned cassoulet worldwide are a nightmare when compared to shipping V.C. worldwide ; a cassoulet company has recently suggested a pdf version for their product but uncompromising amateurs overseas have declined the offer)
- Last & Best : combining with a stop at the baker's shop to get a fresh baguette, they could pick-up a fresh copy of View Camera hand-to-hand from the French dealer, by bicycle, this would actually reduce delivery costs (V.C. is shipped to Longyearbyen by ice-breaker, kayak and snowmobile and the Norwegian government only partially supports the extra costs)

[KIDDING-MODE-OFF]

Post-Scriptum and not kidding : Eirik, my wife has visited Svalbard twice, and our local university in Besançon maintains a research base in Kongsfjorden, so to me Longyearbyen is like a 2nd home that I dream to visit some day with a LF camera !

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

@Kirk Keyes: I believe Emulsion is still going... isn't it?


The last I heard from Aggie's son is the magazine is still going -- Aggie has not been well. Her husband and son are supposed to send the magazine to print this month.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

David Spivak, did you get Timothy's permission to publish that email ?

No? Did I make a mistake in publishing this? I was just informing everyone what Aggie's son told me... I didn't think this was top-secret information???? Instead of being so hard on Aggie, I put that on here so people could empathize with her... maybe send her a get well e-card or something?? I'm sorry?

[QT Luong]

David, you may be well-intentioned, but you should know it is extremely bad etiquette to publish someone else's correspondence without asking them first. My understanding is that there are also privacy concerns when dealing with medical information.

It would have been enough to say that Timothy told you that his mother was severely ill, therefore requiring his priority attention.