Help me out!

[Ariake]

Hey guys and gals!

I am doing research in a college technical writing class as to which format otaku would best like their magazine(s) presented in. If you can help out, I would greatly appreciate it!

Also, if you could post to tell me how much you would be willing to pay with each given format, that would be great!

Again, thank you so much for participating.

 

[Big B]

Depends on what it offers. Newtype USA (magazine) is like $10 or so per issue and comes with a DVD that has a full ep from one or two series on it for preview purposes. Off the top of my head, I don't know if NT USA offers a yearly subscription or not, and if it does, what the cost would be.

As much of a geek as I am, sometimes it's nice to be able buy something and keep it on tap, so I'm not as much into the web subscription thing yet. But, I'd go for that over a PDF file. I just loathe navigating PDF files, especially if I have to open them on-line.

One thing that I thought was pretty neat tho was Launch magazine. It's a music mag (kinda like Rolling Stone, minus political content), but it came on a CD. Something like that on CD or even DVD would be pretty cool, especially if it were laid out well, something I feel Launch sucked at hard.

 

[Ariake]

Here's a visual

Here is a visual for a print version:

Reviews of anime and manga, as well as touching on Japanese culture, such as music and cosplay. The magazine would also look at the American side of this growing culture. Additionally, either interspersed throughout, or an addition read right-to-left from the back cover would be original manga from reader-creators or even imports from Japan.

Let's price this at US $4.99 for a full-color & black & white (for manga) on high gloss stock at 100 pages including cover.

What are your thoughts? Would something of this sort be worth the price? What else would you like to see in a magazine of this sort?

 

[Big B]

That's a pretty good deal actually, especially considering when I was into comic books, a 32-page issue of most series were running $2.50 a pop. That's a great deal actually.

 

[Anti-Trend]

I certainly agree with B about the PDF format... dear Lord I hate PDF. And maybe moreso than B, as the Linux Acrobat client is even worse than the Windows one. It's really hard to get web junkies to pay for an online subscription of any type though, as so much very similar content is freely available all over the Internet. A print version does seem more likely to actually sell, as at least people feel they are receiving something tangible for their $5. Perhaps offering a choice between the web format and the snail-mail magazine copy? And a few free online issues would surely jumpstart sales.

 

[Ariake]

I just want to thank everyone who participated. Your input was invaluable in helping me to ace my technical writing class.

Thank you!