Post by KT on Apr 16, 2015 23:09:48 GMT -5
So apparently some folks have voiced frustration over the fact that Black and Green Review isn't free and that we haven't encouraged getting the PDF version, nor have we put it out for free.
One purpose of the journal is to force the discussion to go offline or at the very least, to remove the internet from interactions with the text. That's an important point which is why I talk about it in the introduction and it's a point that resonates clearly throughout "The Suffocating Void". Echoing Carr's "The Shallows", your brain doesn't respond the same to things read online or in e-formats. The ONLY reason we've offered a PDF option at all is in respect to the fact that mailing costs and logistics can make the journal cost prohibitive outside the US. I would greatly prefer to just get copies out there cheaper and spread more widely than offer any PDFs for free.
But here's the deal: print is expensive.
Doing a newspaper style is cheap, but for lengthy articles it's hardly an easy to read format. The biggest draw back though is that they never like going back to their neatly folded original form.
Magazine format was the original idea, but it didn't turn out to be all that much cheaper. Magazines are exempt from media mail rates now, so that wipes out a lot of benefit.
After a lot of soul searching and random questioning, the book format seemed the logical way to go. The format holds up well. I can personally attest to that as the 4 issues of Species Traitor all came out in different formats from newsprint with glue binding, newsprint with stapled binding (a serious adventure), photocopied with staples, and book format. There is no doubt that the book format is the lasting one. As far as fitting the content and approach, it favors the book format hands-down.
Cost-wise books aren't necessarily the most expensive way to go, but they aren't cheap. Mailing a single copy of BAGR 1 within the US costs an average of $3, international goes as high as $13. Future issues will probably be a slightly lower page count, so that might trim it down a bit on shipping costs. Bulk shipping immediately helps pull that cost down.
In the end, I think the cost is worth it, but for anyone thinking we're pocketing money on this, the amount we're getting over cost wholesale or for subscriptions is right around $1 per issue. The idea behind the pricing is simple: get more books out there just above cost. If we were venture capitalists, we would have run away pretty quickly. But in the publishing world, it's also risky business: publishing the next issue based on sales of the current one is a hard sell on long term viability.
So here's what it comes down to: I want to keep Black and Green Press and Black and Green Review, in particular, moving smoothly and be able to get these projects into hands as cheaply as possible. While I have no problem sharing content, the project isn't free and I feel like doing a PDF only format eliminates the probability of elevating this discussion. So I'm very open to hearing suggestions or having people step up in terms of trying to figure out different ideas about distribution to reduce prices and keep the project fluid.
Does that look like 1000 or more people paying cost plus actual shipping? Does that look like doing fundraisers every issue and just giving books out as much as possible? Does it look like people paying cost and figuring out elaborate punk-mailing networks to handle distribution?
This is a genuine question. I would love to just be able to give these out for free or even cheaper, but there is no free lunch here. If this is free to you, it's just because someone else is covering the tab.
If you have better ideas, I'd love to hear them.
One purpose of the journal is to force the discussion to go offline or at the very least, to remove the internet from interactions with the text. That's an important point which is why I talk about it in the introduction and it's a point that resonates clearly throughout "The Suffocating Void". Echoing Carr's "The Shallows", your brain doesn't respond the same to things read online or in e-formats. The ONLY reason we've offered a PDF option at all is in respect to the fact that mailing costs and logistics can make the journal cost prohibitive outside the US. I would greatly prefer to just get copies out there cheaper and spread more widely than offer any PDFs for free.
But here's the deal: print is expensive.
Doing a newspaper style is cheap, but for lengthy articles it's hardly an easy to read format. The biggest draw back though is that they never like going back to their neatly folded original form.
Magazine format was the original idea, but it didn't turn out to be all that much cheaper. Magazines are exempt from media mail rates now, so that wipes out a lot of benefit.
After a lot of soul searching and random questioning, the book format seemed the logical way to go. The format holds up well. I can personally attest to that as the 4 issues of Species Traitor all came out in different formats from newsprint with glue binding, newsprint with stapled binding (a serious adventure), photocopied with staples, and book format. There is no doubt that the book format is the lasting one. As far as fitting the content and approach, it favors the book format hands-down.
Cost-wise books aren't necessarily the most expensive way to go, but they aren't cheap. Mailing a single copy of BAGR 1 within the US costs an average of $3, international goes as high as $13. Future issues will probably be a slightly lower page count, so that might trim it down a bit on shipping costs. Bulk shipping immediately helps pull that cost down.
In the end, I think the cost is worth it, but for anyone thinking we're pocketing money on this, the amount we're getting over cost wholesale or for subscriptions is right around $1 per issue. The idea behind the pricing is simple: get more books out there just above cost. If we were venture capitalists, we would have run away pretty quickly. But in the publishing world, it's also risky business: publishing the next issue based on sales of the current one is a hard sell on long term viability.
So here's what it comes down to: I want to keep Black and Green Press and Black and Green Review, in particular, moving smoothly and be able to get these projects into hands as cheaply as possible. While I have no problem sharing content, the project isn't free and I feel like doing a PDF only format eliminates the probability of elevating this discussion. So I'm very open to hearing suggestions or having people step up in terms of trying to figure out different ideas about distribution to reduce prices and keep the project fluid.
Does that look like 1000 or more people paying cost plus actual shipping? Does that look like doing fundraisers every issue and just giving books out as much as possible? Does it look like people paying cost and figuring out elaborate punk-mailing networks to handle distribution?
This is a genuine question. I would love to just be able to give these out for free or even cheaper, but there is no free lunch here. If this is free to you, it's just because someone else is covering the tab.
If you have better ideas, I'd love to hear them.
