[HOE] Re: hoe-digest.20020208

[Shad Bolling <stuttermonkey@yahoo.com>]

This is my two cents as far as magazines are concerned
(I used to work in a bookstore).  Magazine publishers
do not, as a rule, print magazines without product
placement (ads) in them.  The ads pay for the
magazines, cause publishing mags doesn't make a whole
lot of money.  Some money (not a whole lot) comes from
selling them to stores, which, in turn, sells the mags
to consumers.  In general, stores loose money on mags
due to several factors including loss of commercial
space due to magazines' "face-out" requirements, the
time-sensitivity of mags (they get "old" quick), the
virtual non-returnability of old-issues, and minimum
quantity orders.  Much like soda in supermarkets,
magazines are considered "loss leaders" in that,
because a certain segment of the consumer market will
"just stop in for the latest issue of...", stores hope
that, once inside, the customer will see something
else they want to buy and thus, purchase something
that actually makes the store a profit.  So, Pinnacle
might not want to publish supplements in magazine
format due to any of the above issues, or simply due
to the fact that, after a while, magazines bend and
swell due to gravity, humidity, customer damage, etc.
and cardstock just holds up better in the long run. 
Plus, black and white magazines don't sell so well
(the ads have to be in color anyway), and, if Pinnacle
wanted to include full-color interior pages, that
would be an additional headache (not to mention
expense).  Publishers also don't like small magazine
print runs, and some charge prohibitive fees that only
decrease when the quatity printed reaches a certain
threshold, like 10,000 copies (for example).  Pinnacle
may have already checked into the subject, and is
probably more knowledgable about the state of magazine
publishing than I am, so until you hear something
different, don't hold your breath.  That said, if
Pinnacle did publish a mag, I'd buy it :)

Shad


> Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 20:26:34 -0500
> From: shoffner@usit.net
> Subject: Re: [HOE] Epitaph Opinions... [attn: Shane]
> 
> Okay, but my second point still holds up; would it
> be better to publish
> Epitaph as a magazine rather than a softcover book
> to keep the price down &
> make it quarterly?  Shane?
> 
> Jeff S
> 
> >> I remember when Traveller had a magazine come out
> called Journal of the
> Travellers' Aid
> >> Society or some such--the Epitaph is essentially
> the same thing.  Hmmm,
> >> Shane, would it be cheaper to publish the Epitaph
> in a magazine format
> >> rather than a soft covered book format?  Kind of
> make it a "Dragon"
> magazine
> >> devoted to DL et. al......[snip]
> 
> >It's not the same thing. Traveller was a single
> setting, with a single time
> >frame. This is very different from multiple
> settings spread over multiple
> >times. Since I don't rund Deadlands, at *most* 50%
> of the material in the
> >Epitaph is going to be useful to me. While in the
> typical HOE sourcebook,
> >90% of the material is useful to me.
> > -Loki
> >
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> End of hoe-digest.20020208
> ***********************************


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