Transform Your Family Newsletter into a Commercial-Grade Family Magazine
MagCloud ‘Print On Demand’ Service Targets Magazine Industry -
I have always wanted to be a magazine publisher. Something about being in control over the production of a final product that involves so much work by so many hands. The creativity, the organization of information, the tactile feel of paper in hand as the pages turn has always drawn me to the printed page (remember, my brother and I had a comic cook company back in the mid-nineties and the same passion applied). My favorite projects as a designer have always been anything that remotely feels like a magazine. Even a 16-page catalog for the non-glamorous jewelry envelope manufacturing industry was a joy to create from cover to cover.
Well, not too long ago an online service called MagCloud pulled themselves out of private invitation-only beta and opened their doors to the masses allowing anyone the capability to become a magazine publisher by simply uploading a properly formatted PDF. Templates are available for many of the most popular word processing and desktop publishing applications.
It couldn’t get any easier than the following steps:
- Create the full-color content in page multiples of 4 (4, 8, 12 etc.) up to a maximum of 60 pages using any software that can output to PDF (final page trim size is 8.25″ x 10.75″ and you can take advantage of a 1/8″ full-bleed. For best results artwork preferred at 300 dpi and remember to leave enough room on the back for a shipping label)
- Upload PDF to MagCloud site
- Set $ markup (if any)
- Hit ‘Publish It!’ button
MagCloud handles everything from printing and shipping to providing a gateway for sales through a unique URL (http://username.magcloud.com) and an RSS feed that links directly to a webpage showcasing your magazine. Anyone can buy your magazine via PayPal or credit card and the beauty of this streamlined print-on-demand service is that pricing is totally up to you!
The cost of your issue to end users will be the production cost ($0.20 per page), plus shipping, plus your own publisher markup (if you specified one). MagCloud will pay you the markup for each copy that is purchased. For example, a 20-page magazine would have a production cost of only $4.00, you put a markup of $1.00 on the issue then the reader pays the cost of shipping the magazine above the $5.00 purchase price. From my research it looks like a 36-page magazine had a total cost of $7.95 so shipping seemed fairly priced and wasn’t viewed by MagCloud as a substantial revenue generator, if at all. Currently, they ship only to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, but are working to add more countries as soon as they can.
One of the other cool aspects of MagCloud is that their proofing process offers you, as the publisher, a printed proof at no cost other than shipping so that you can get a hands-on issue for an up close and personal review of the commercial-grade 80# glossy paper rather than relying on an online prooof approval process only (although that is available as an option, too).
From the NY Times:
“Charging 20 cents a page, paid only when a customer orders a copy, H.P. dreams of turning MagCloud into vanity publishing’s equivalent of YouTube. The company, a leading maker of computers and printers, envisions people using their PCs to develop quick magazines commemorating their daughter’s volleyball season or chronicling the intricacies of the Arizona cactus business.” The New York Times 03/29/09
There has been an ongoing debate for decades about the future of print publishing beyond the infusion of the Internet into mainstream society. I believe a service like MagCloud, in the same vein as Lulu, iUniverse, CafePress among many others in the on-demand printing & manufacturing arenas, not only opens doors but blows them off their hinges creating opportunities for creative expression to flourish within the framework of capitalism. I look forward to watching their current catalog of 300 magazines expand, and hopefully soon they will branch into offering mainstream distribution methods like ISSNs to allow availability to web commerce portals like amazon.com, etc.
End of article teaser: Be on the lookout for a Family Tech Report magazine coming this summer!
Similar posts you may also enjoy:
- Innovative online publishing tool brings yearbook design into the 21st century
- Ecycling 101: Your Ultimate Guide to Recycling Electronics
- Online Rental Service Delivers Toy Wishlist to Your Door
Kevin S. | Apr 2, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for pointing this out. I will probably give this a try as an option to Lulu soon for a kids book I’m working on. Great site!