

Finally, Hacker Monthly Subscriptions - mnemonik
http://hackermonthly.com/subscribe.html

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wwortiz
I am curious as weren't you (bearswithclaws) advertising to advertisers of the
huge reader base, which included free pdf readers, in order to get people to
advertise with you.

I for one would be pretty upset if I found out I paid good money for an
advertisement and the reader base dropped off insanely because of the new paid
model.

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jpcx01
It's a good point. That and the job board seemed pretty lucrative. But I doubt
it compares to just having everyone subscribe.

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barmstrong
This is a great idea....but was a little surprised by the pricing.

Why didn't you go free on the digital and a monthly subscription on the print
subscription?

Free digital copies will be great (free) lead gen for your paid product, and
you can pitch the print subscription inside.

Seems like monthly subscriptions might be a lower hurdle (and price point) to
get people started too.

Awesome work though!

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c1sc0
Don't agree, just start by charging the early adopters to cover your costs &
figure out a more freemium-like pricing model later on. Congrats!

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mkuhn
I think making a few of the older editions available free of charge could be a
good way. There are quite a few articles that won't loose their value over
time.

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mkuhn
I just got a digital subscription. I think all the effort that goes into this
needs to be rewarded and I also get something out of it.

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bearwithclaws
You are our first digital subscriber (and followed by a whole lot more).

Thank you all.

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eogas
Might I suggest throwing something up on the subscription page that advertises
the fact that the first three issues are available for free in digital form?
As a first time visitor, I was obviously reluctant to subscribe without having
seen a single issue. With some nominal site scouring, I was able to find the
first three issues, but there really should be something on the subscription
page I think.

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india
So in India, the print will cost me about 10 grand per year and the pdf a
grand. I wish I were in college. I could just get my library to subscribe to
it.

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jpcx01
Issue #3 finally looks like a real magazine. I know, its way too expensive.
But I dont care, I love the thing. First time I found a magazine that I'm
really actually interested in reading cover to cover.

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pvg
I realize printing in small runs is more expensive so such a magazine might
cost more than, say, Harper's or the Atlantic Monthly or maybe even the New
Yorker. More than all three combined, though?

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bearwithclaws
We are trying hard to reduce the cost of the magazine (especially deliver
international) and by having the subscription plan is our first step.

Let me explain.

Firstly, the readers get some savings by subscribing other than purchase
individually (not to mention the hassle). Secondly, when we reaches a certain
number of print subscribers (let say 500), we could confidently do a print run
with our local supplier for a cheaper price. Then, we could significantly
lower the cost (and thus lower the subscription price). And to be fair to the
existing subscribers, they get to extend their subscribing period for free.

~~~
pvg
It sounds a bit like you want to have your first customers bear your entire
initial costs (500 * 88 is over $40k). This is great if you can swing it seems
very unlikely if you price yourself entirely beyond what people are used to
paying for a monthly print magazine. I think it also cuts out any potential
customers who might be willing to pay some non-excessive premium.

There are less blunt instruments than sticker-shocking your entire market -
for instance you can offer cheaper print subs and a fancier, Super Platinum
Premium Founder's Club version for those who feel like being generous - let's
say, 3 years, maybe throw in some advertising space and a mention on a thank
you page, etc.

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sstrudeau
I think this is a reasonable strategy. It's easier to lower prices than to
raise them. This is a relatively novel experiment in publishing and as far as
I can tell it's totally boot strapped. I'm happy to pay for this essentially
"at cost" to participate in the experiment, but I wouldn't be likely to be
taken in by a gold star to subsidize other. I think it's ok to try to grow
something like this slowly, to buy time to learn without overexposure.

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random42
If I were you, I would go for,

1\. Ad supported _free_ digital copy (which will help advertisers achieve
attention of lot more targeted crowd, that is hackernews readers).

 _Free version would ascertain the momentum for the product (and probably
interest for advertisers)._

2\. A premium print version _with_ extra premium only content (eg. additional
essays, interviews etc.), with probably lesser/no ads (Which I dont find
annoying in print, to be honest).

A typical Freemium model, where everyone wins.

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covercash
You guys really do some beautiful design work on these.

I'd really like to see you partner with PG and release a 'book' of his essays
done in this fashion. I'd buy that in a heartbeat!!!

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kloncks
You should read Hackers and Painters.

It's exactly what you're talking about and includes most of his essays.

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covercash
I'm looking for something in magazine format... to put on my coffee table, in
the bathroom, etc.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestion, I've actually read a lot of the essays
online. Like I said, just looking for something to throw on the table for
casual reading material.

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prat
This reminds me of google's April fool's joke "gmail paper" about converting
emails to traditional post.

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albertsun
So the next step is going to be working out payments for people who's articles
are included right?

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philcrissman
This is actually a really good question. I would think the copyright of each
article is owned by the blogger or media outlet which produced it. While
bloggers in general probably universally love more exposure, I can't imagine
that as a group they would love the idea of someone reprinting their articles
for profit... ?

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edw519
Now let me see if I got this right:

Hacker News:

    
    
      - interactive
      - real time
      - available 24/7
      - the participants are the stars
      - the beauty is in the substance
      - an example of new technology we embrace
      - free
      

Hacker News Monthly:

    
    
      - read only
      - time delayed
      - available once/month
      - the stars are chosen by editors
      - the beauty is in the appearance
      - an example of old technology we replace
      - you pay for it

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bearwithclaws
It's a fair comparison, Ed (though I never think good ol' paper magazine is
something that we could be replaced. It's just a different reading
experience).

Let's put it this way: This is the only way Hacker Monthly could move forward
and sustain.

Don't get me wrong. I love working on Hacker Monthly and enjoyed every seconds
I spent on it (this came by surprise, actually). I love sending email to
authors asking for permission (and sometimes have a lil conversation),
spending days after days on the design, curating articles and so on. I love it
all, except one thing, it took too much time.

The money we made on the past issues (advertising + print magazine sales) is,
simply put, so little that it could not justify 10% of the time we spent on
making for the magazine. I have to spent the rest of my time working freelance
contract work to pay bills. And honestly, the past two issues wouldn't be made
possible without the voluntary help from Ricky (who worked so much more than
just a proofreader, thank you!).

We believe Hacker Monthly provides so much value for the readers that we could
charge for it. The subscription revenue would enable us continue to produce
really high quality stuff for years to come, without burning ourselves out.

I hope that explains well.

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jacquesm
I'm fine with the pricing, mostly because I'm not going to pay it. The reason
for me is that HN is worth so much more with the comments and the ability to
follow all those links. But I can completely understand that you have to
charge this much at the current volume to make it worth the time you invest.

What I don't get about the whole thing though is that you seem surprised by
how much time it takes and how little money it makes from advertisers. But
that really shouldn't come as a surprise, after all, whether you get this
circulated to 50 or 50,000 people the editorial work is the same. Only with
50K readers your financial picture would look a lot better, both at a lower
price-point and from an advertising revenue perspective.

Maybe it was too early to start charging, maybe you should have counted on
some more runway to get the volume up to a point where the price would be low
enough that it would not become a substantial barrier to the success of the
magazine?

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epi0Bauqu
Alternatively, have you thought of having the price drop automatically if x
users signup?

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benofsky
Looks fantastic but too expensive for anywhere in Europe other than the UK,
maybe consider using Royal Mail for elsewhere in Europe too?

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jerguismi
Yeah, I would order it instantly if the shipping would be cheaper... 10$ per
issue? Come on, that's 120$ for a year.

edit: just ordered the digital subscription. Please try to find cheaper
shipping option to europe, and you will have one customer more :) I order
several magazines from US/US to Finland, and they never are more expensive
than 80 bucks, including shipping...

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coffeejunk
$10 per issue is insane. i'd love to order the subscription but this is just
too much.

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jan_g
Good magazine, I'd love to have it in paper, but too expensive. 10$ per issue
only shipping cost.

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mkuhn
Yeah, shipping was the killer for me as well. That's why I went with the
digital edition. If needed I can even (selectively) print it myself but I
assume I will be quite happy with it in digital form only.

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MarkBook
Where I live I can see a house where the delivery cost is $8 per issue less
than mine

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DavidMcLaughlin
The border between Ireland and Nothern Ireland?

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MarkBook
That's one name for it! ;)

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kenpratt
Having a suggested $3/month subscription for having the PDF mailed to you but
ALSO having the PDF available for free on the website could be the best of
both worlds. Those who can afford to pay, do so, but you can still link to the
free version (which could have nag pages inserted).

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bearwithclaws
We will create a 'Content' section in magazine issue page on the website,
where we list and link to all the articles appearing in that particular issue,
along with its HN discussion.

Hopefully this provide an alternative for other readers.

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jackowayed
> _Your favorite digital format (pdf, epub, mobi)_

Will we be able to get several? I could see wanting all of the above for
different devices.

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bearwithclaws
Yes. You'll get all in a zipped file delivered to your email.

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rdela
Is zipped really better? I can see people on mobile devices preferring raw
links in email, and maybe not wanting such a big file in the first place,
unless they were actually going to use all 3 versions. Should be a option in
user settings to enable each format. Then in the monthly email, whichever
files they subscribe to. Thoughts?

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lfx
3$ per month for something you can read for free online. It's not so much, but
makes me think if I really need it.

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martey
I think the value-add is the editing and layout. Yes, you could find all of
the articles online, but you would have to wade through several hundred
articles of lesser quality, and it would not look as nice.

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shin_lao
When I checkout and go to paypal the price doesn't include the shipping cost.
Isn't this a bug?

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bearwithclaws
E-Junkie should've that handle. If it miss it the first time (while you're at
the shopping cart), it will include it when you are about to pay in the PayPal
page.

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bitdiddle
sorry but these prices are way out of line. It's a monthly and with all due
respect, I've read a couple issues, it doesn't compare to something like
Harpers which if I recall is about 17/yr. for high quality print and
incredible content.

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francoisdevlin
This is a great idea for those that have a really big #noprocrast

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lowglow
as a Hacker, I hope to be pirating this very soon.

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tszming
Would like to have a print friendly version.

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SteveC
I'd pay for a Kindle version.

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zackattack
if you guys don't already have an ad out in 2600, i'd suggest it. they'd
probably be into it (they take ads from "competing" mags all the time) and ads
are free for subscribers.

