Delay release by a week; reduce costs; limit $subscription.
Posted Aug 1, 2002 17:27 UTC (Thu) by
dwheeler (subscriber, #1216)
Parent article:
Is it really The End?
I think a subscription model would work; it's at least worth trying,
and I know I'd be willing to subscribe. But you'll need to
"make it work", as you're clearly trying to do.
First, delaying the release by only a few days isn't really a
sufficient return for my hard-earned money. I would, instead,
suggest delaying release of your material for one week
(when the new material surfaces). In many ways that
makes sense; you release publicly the "old" material when
there's something new. I _do_ think that eventual
public release is important -
it keeps LWN influentual even on non-subscribers, and it's
also important to YOU (the old articles act as advertisement,
showing potential readers what they're missing by not
subscribing), and it's important for the
community (so they can link and respond to your analysis).
Second, you need to reduce your costs. I respect your desire
to include the "Commerce" section, but Linux is so common
in the commercial world now that there really isn't a need
for this section; others are doing most of what that
section contains. Also, couldn't you do what you do with
4 people instead of 5? (I know, letting someone go is
terrible, but if it's done with grace, there's always the hope
that there will be enough money to re-hire later if it's
mutually agreed on... and it beats having EVERYONE go).
This is similar to
what happened in the software announcements; when LWN
started, it listed every new software release, but then
switched to a freshmeat.net link when that list became
a torrent. Things change; you need to identify the areas that
LWN is uniquely capable of doing, and CONCENTRATE on
just doing those things well. Handling subscriptions will
cost money, too, so even if you were sent your target amount,
there's a cost to handling checks, credit cards, software to
implement and track subscriptions, etc. DON'T try to
go to paper print.. that will just increase your costs, and
I doubt you'll increase your readership.
Third, I can't afford a big-buck subscription. $10-$20, yes,
$30 probably, but I can't justify $100. I've no idea what
number you're planning - and you probably don't either.
But I doubt your goal is 10 readers. It'd be far better to
have a lower rate and then work to gain the money through
volume - a lower rate means there will be more subscribers.
I don't know what the "sweet spot" is; perhaps you could
check on other magazines to help you figure out a process
for determining the best rate.
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