Topic: SP 51??

Cary said

I'm almost sure I mentioned this elsewhere…but here's my take on SP mag.

Why?

What I mean is what are we doing it for? Is it to showcase Small Press books coming down the hill in the last…month, two months, quarter or even year?

Is it a preview of what's yet to come, show casing reviews, interviews, and previews?

Is it some homage to small press going back 30 years?

Is it a review mag of things past and present including mini comics no one can even get their hands on anymore?

Is it a catalog?

What's the thing for? When you can answer that, you can then build your framework.

For me personally, I think a small press Wizard style mag is totally doable, especially on a quarterly basis. With some business sense applied I think it would be a wonderful thing.

First off, make it primarily a downloaded PDF ezine. And make it free right on the front page of the website. Yes, I said free. Don't make people register, or jump through fifty hoops to get there, just let em have it. We'll get to why later.

Next, have a print version set up for sale on a POD basis. This not only removes the need to pay out a big chunk of money for a print run, it also saves storage space. If you want a batch for a convention, plan ahead a bit, and have them on hand. You can carry the ones that don't sell out of that run at future cons, but you don't have to guesstimate what your print to sales ratio will be and risk eating that.

Now the free part. Look, as much as I'd love to sit here and say we'll all make millions on downloadable content and comics…that's crazy talk Spongebob, and you all know it. And forcing people who just show up to join and go through a crazy registration process so we can hammer them with unwanted spam is lame. If they like it, they'll come of their own volition. The SPA has in the past accumulated massive email lists of these so called "members" who might have hit the site once a year on accident. Truth be told, that approach was less than effective. So if we're serious about the new approach, then we need to walk the walk and dump the old ways for something new. Offering even a casual visitor the chance to download some real content for free is a great way to build love for the community. If the production is good, people will keep coming, and want to look around more. It's how we catch rats on the farm these days. You gotta do more than put out a bit of cheese to get those wily buggers.

So what I'm proposing is we produce an ezine that features full length reviews, a 'spotlight of the month' preview where we feature someone's CURRENTLY available book with an interview and some preview pages, an UP TO DATE catalog section where we sport the Distro wares a bit, Some prose by guest writers, pin ups and such by guest artists, and an editorial by whoever's crazy enough to run this thing.

That's my proposal. Feel free to rip it at will.

[ From “SP 51??” ]