Online vs Print

[ben]

Nowadays it seems as though print publications are running into all sorts of financial and readership issues as people shift their focus more and more fully onto the internet. Is the future of literary magazines purely online, like The Writer's Block? Or is there still value in having them in print and available at small bookstores and coffee shops? We've toyed around with the idea of doing both: offering print versions in addition to the online one, but due to printing costs, logistics, and time (we're all volunteers here), we've decided to stay online for now.

Should The Writer's Block move into the realm of printed publications?

[julian]

I feel that if you are going to move to Print versions I would consider a few things.

1) Your readership base. If it is small - then it may not be worth it.

2) Distribution and publishing: Are you only looking to publish independently? or will you be looking for a publisher? Are you looking to get into every corner coffee shop and town book store? Or are you looking to go nation wide and get into all the Chapters, Coles, et cetera.

3) Consider doing Anthologys of issues. Ie - combine the first 5 issues into one.

[amberlee]

Interesting idea for the anthology. We do have a pretty large readership, but it would be work looking into where we would get the sponsorship to publish.
I think it would be an exceptional magazine to publish. Looking at the calibar of writing and art that is being published it would really be an art peice as much as a great writers venue.

[uglypigmonster]

so, is this the kinda situation where print on demand companies like lulu would come in handy?

[jpazdziora]

Part of the reason I found and began following the Writer's Block was because it was online. It's exciting to see a fresh voice letting itself be out there to be heard by anyone, and not just the privileged (non-student?) readership that can pay subscription costs for a literary arts mag.

That said, what you guys are doing is on the same level of most print mags I've seen. And, I admit, when it comes to it, I prefer hardcopy to e-content. Part of what I enjoy about W'sB is that it feels like a printed journal, even though it's just pdf.

I completely agree with julian's questions. You'd do well to consider how many print copies you'd need to sell to make it worth your while. Another question would be whether the additional time and energy needed to prepare a print edition would drain your resources to the point that you wouldn't be able to produce the quality of product you want?

I'm less convinced about the anthology--seems like it would cost more to produce, and be harder to sell. Perhaps you could release a print journal annually or semi-annually, containing the online content as well as new material. Something that would make online readers, like me, want to buy it instead of just wanting to jot down the website for free downloads.

A final thought--a print version might give WB more attention in the writing world at large. A lot of books on publishing discourage submitting to freeview web publications as unhelpful for 'breaking into the "real" market'. Even just a yearly print version might provide a respectability that could draw more aspiring writers, to say nothing of critical attention.

[amberlee]

These are all very interesting and helpful points. Thank-you.

It's hard to say how many print copies we might be able to sell as we're in three different places now editing content almost completely through electronic communication.

I think we could possibly hit a target audience, and do this cheaply if we had university sponsorship, but the networking and continuing fiscal support would be unsteady at best unless there was some real support from an English society as well as faculty with influence concerning budgeting.

I like the idea of selling an annual copy with added content. This makes sense and hopefully would have a better chance of "breaking into" the market. The question really leading to that point though is who is our target market and how do we best encourage readership and patronage?

I'm not sure. Over the internet it is much more difficult to gauge if there is a specific demographic we are catering to.

[teilo]

Just to let you guys know, we are currently looking into grants and other funding to start a print version of the magazine (in some shape or form), to maintain the website, and possibly get some publishing programs to make the overall appearance of the magazine better. We love the feedback we're getting and more is always useful, so thanks, and keep giving us your thoughts and ideas!