FREE DIGITAL EDITION OF NEW MAGAZINE
The recently launched Southeast Asia Globe Thailand magazine is offering a free trial digital version of its first October edition. Click here for access.
If you have never experienced a digital magazine please do have a look, and also leave your views here. I'd be keen to know whether you would buy a digital edition of a magazine instead of the print version, and how much you would be prepared to pay?
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing our digital version with your readers. We are offering the October version of Southeast Asia GLOBE completely free to give people a chance to get used to digital editions.
As your recent articles suggest, Thai readers may not be so inclined to read, or especially pay for, digital editions but we think it is one of the ways forward for publishers.
Yes, we save on printing and distribution but we are now concerned with delivering engaging readable content and images along with all the new possibilities a digital edition brings: streaming video interview clips from interviews didn't make it into the final article, digital photo galleries that take up the same real estate as one image, advertisers with animated ads, and whatever else we can dream up.
Most importantly, though, the reader can have his copy sent directly to his email inbox the night before publication—no matter where he or she is in the world!
We are interested in seeing what kind of comments you receive as this is a first for our magazine. Your readers can also leave comments directly on our Facebook site (facebook.com/southeastasiaglobe) about their feelings and ideas on digital magazines (we'll even give away a number of half-yearly free subscriptions to those who provide forward thinking, thought provoking, or just down right interesting ideas).
Thanks for getting the word out and investigating this new world of digital publishing.
Jeff W. Richards
Southeast Asia GLOBE
Jeff, thanks for your comments.
My own experiences with digital editions in Thailand have had limited success. Ultimately it proved impossible to convince readers to pay for a digital edition - even just for a fraction of the price of the print edition.
I agree with everything you say about the easy of delivery and the huge possibilities for global distribution, and to be honest I am going to predict that most of your digital edition readers will likely come from outside Thailand and not have access to the print edition.
Thanks again for your comments. They're much appreciated.
Any magazine must be a must-have whether in print, digital or as a website. To get people to pay anything you have to give them something they cannot get elsewhere.
I have never bought a digital magazine and I have never paid for a website. I prefer something real in my hands rather than something virtual.
If I did ever buy a digital magazine I would expect it to cost much less than the print version. As Jeff written there are big savings so those savings should be passed on to readers. That's my view.
Francis.
The key here is access to information and each person's individual value system - what they are willing to pay for something.
While I agree with the comment, to get people to pay, you have to give people something that they can't somewhere else. Many people are happy to pay for "quick and easy access" to something that they feel is of value to them. Premium content i believe is the new term.
Online/digital versions of magazines are becoming a natural extension of traditional media products just like it was with music and MP3s. And just like some music lovers prefer to buy vinyl or CDs to enjoy the experience of holding the complete package in their hands, others are just as happy to download MP3s, so there will always be those that prefer classic and those that prefer modern.
For publishers of music or media, the global online marketplace is obviously the best bet for quicker and easier access to a much greater audience. However, most people seem to forget that even though digital mediums have a much lower "per piece" cost to produce, the raw materials that create the content still cost the same.
i think there is a balance that will be found and traditional media will always have its place as will online/digital.
Barry
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