Niven says that even though there were signs that Borders was on its way out, she kept sending them copies. “We didn’t want to cut them off because so many readers were going there to buy them,” she says. “We didn’t want them thinking we went out of business.” Due to her witch niche, Niven describes her customer base as one that “isn’t really excited about getting on lists.” The amount of magazines she was sending to Borders was equal to roughly her entire subscriber base, and she says with the store’s closing, she is out between $15,000 and $30,000.
Even though Niven says this is a huge amount of money to make up for, she adds that it’s nothing she can’t fundraise her way out of. She has been letting her readers know about the monetary loss from Borders closing, and says her readers donate because they care about the survival of the magazine. “Basically, we’re back to where we started twenty-five years ago, which is we are living and dying on our subscriber base,” says Niven.
At Mother Jones, Walter is continuing with the newsstand push, and is exploring new markets. They have recently seen success with newsstand sales in Canada, and plan to keep using newsstands as a way to reach out to new readers, “There are people out there who want to buy single copies on the newsstand, and I think that’s going to continue,” says Walter.
Never really thought about how Borders closing would effect the "little guys". I would have been in this same position around 2004.
For some of these publishers, and I'm not saying it will work for everyone, but they should really start investigating digital solutions. Selling their magazines through iBooks, B&N, Amazon and on the iPad.
#1 Posted by Tablazines, CJR on Fri 12 Aug 2011 at 09:55 AM
Now it's the witches, bitches and pagans who are paying the price for the failure of the free market!
When will the madness end, people? Where's the social justice?
Well, in the long run it's nothing a few hexes or sacrifices can't handle.
#2 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Sun 14 Aug 2011 at 08:56 AM
Actually I liked this article a lot. It's shines a light on a little-discussed area of publishing that's under duress. These guys are small entrepreneurs filling a niche market, and doing what they enjoy. Good for them!
Interesting stuff, and I wish CJR did more of it.
#3 Posted by JLD, CJR on Mon 15 Aug 2011 at 05:08 AM
I thought the article was interesting and well written, too.
I was only teasing a bit...
#4 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Mon 15 Aug 2011 at 09:22 AM