Everyone Can Publish!

This is a post about paying for text online. This is just one, kind of fantastical, idea. In general, I like free content the way it is now. I just want better UIs.

Now…let’s start with this video:

Yes, the tablet looks amazing, but I’m more excited about the fact that Time Inc. made this video. I’ve heard rumors of iTunes-like stores for magazines and I love the idea. I think some publishers could learn a lot from the music industry’s digital failures.

I love reading books. I love reading magazines. I think e-book readers are grand, but I want a good design. Typography, layouts, color. These are important to me in magazines. (Books on e-ink…great! But they can’t really be shared yet. By the way, which one of you readers has my copy of Breakfast of Champions?)

But back to the online marketplace. Why stop at magazines in iTunes? Why not sell individual articles (and related interactive content) for a lower price, but make some pieces only available with a whole magazine purchase? (Like with certain tracks on iTunes) Why not sell short stories from collections one at a time? I use Eucalyptus for the iPhone to read short stories and essays and I’d pay to read something outside of the public domain…I just don’t want to have to buy a whole book or magazine for one or two pieces.

I think selling magazines this way makes sense for writers. Publications could accept more freelance pieces and have some store-only stories. Quality content costs money, but there are inherent savings in a format like the one featured above. How much is spent on printing and distribution and how much would have to be spent on a qualified production staff? Maybe an a la carte model for publications will lead to a new pay structure for contributors. (I’m hoping this will somehow lead to a writer-centric market.)

Now there is the fact that text is free from so many sources online. For magazines that normally put content online for a period of time, switching to a pay model will be difficult, if not impossible. Perhaps archives for non-subscribers (a-la The New Yorker or Harpers) would work. Or maybe these publications will have to offer something more than the text for the money.

But maybe there’s a concern among publishers that no one will buy a whole magazine if they can get the best parts for free. To this, I say Tough. CDs and cassettes made it too easy for labels to wrap filler around singles and mark up the price. Online distribution has helped revive a great medium with a/b sides, and the web could do the same thing for short stories, essays and long-form reporting that isnt already available for free. Micro-payments dont make much sense without something more being offered.

And if a publication is worried about individuals picking and choosing, why not step up the whole magazine? If an issue can offer a good enough experience all-around, I’ll go buy it, even if I can get the individual stories online for free. A publisher and editor should strive to have a package that people want to hold on to. The layouts should be well-done. The articles should be in the right order. It’s a production and too often publishers seem to forget this. Get out the size-wheels and Pantone swatches…or learn to use their digital equivalents.

The magazine in the video looks like a complicated multimedia production. But then again, so did some of the best websites and blogs 10 years ago. A digital format for magazines could democratize the industry. I was interactive editor of my school magazine, and we put out a print and multimedia issue with a part-time staff of 15 students. A group of dedicated professionals (or aspiring professionals) could do the same thing, only faster and better. Plus there would be a revenue stream through the iTunes-esque store.

I don’t think this model will work for newspapers. I already mentioned micro-payments and consistently free content as reasons why a conversion might be difficult, so I won’t go further into this. Plus, what do I know?

The McSweeney’s iPhone application shows that small publishing houses can create quality multimedia around quality text. McSweeney’s is at an advantage, here, though, in that the paid features they offer were never previously available for free. I think people are still interested in reading something that isnt a book or a few paragraphs, but there arent many curators of fine essays and short stories in the digital realm. I know something like a tablet magazine will take years to develop and become ubiquitous, but in the meantime, I’ll keep hitting refresh on the video.