Thursday, September 13th, 2007...5:23 pm
To Print Or Not To Print
My head is in a tizzy, as research into print options has scrambled all the gray cells into jelly. It’s a wonder my fingers can still press keys; must be muscle memory!
Lulu.com forever, expensive as that is, or actual printing, with all of the risks and peril that entails? In this electronic age, are people satisfied with PDF files and the occasional home-printed page, or is there really demand for an actual printed magazine at all? If we go with batch printing, how many do we print? The more we print, the less the price-per-unit, but the overall amount we must pay skyrockets. Spending thousands of dollars only to end up with a garage full of undistributed magazines doesn’t sound appealing, obviously.
Then again, Lulu.com is the main reason we kept this first issue at 20 pages, in some cases squeezing what should have properly been a two-page spread into a single page, and leaving out several things that are now trickling onto the website. (A nice variation on the Nature Journal is due in the next day or two, so check back!) Going with a “real” print process would give us a bit more flexibility on the number of pages, too, so long as we stayed evenly divisible by four.
I paged through some magazines last night, counting pages. Huge magazines, with page numbers in the multiple hundreds, were more than 50% advertising. Of the non-advertising pages, an amazing — truly astounding — number of them were “wasted” with full-page photos and three words of text, or two (2!) pages of a table of contents, and so on. Our recipes done according to that style would take at least three pages each. At least! I suspect the multitude of pages was intentional, to sell yet more advertising. One wonders, with all of that advertising, why they can’t afford to give the magazine away for free! We have no advertising, so we don’t need to space things out quite so much. And yet 20 pages does seem a bit slender. It’s the equivalent of 60 pages of some popular magazines, in my opinion, but one only realizes that after sitting down and spending time with it.
My head hurts, so I’m taking the evening off and going to a concert. Tomorrow night, too, oddly enough. I’ll get a year’s worth of concerts in two nights! (It’s the multiple concerts that might push the Nature Journal project post to the weekend.)
As always, we covet your input. Are you interested in a print edition of Seasonal Delights, or would you rather stick with the PDF edition? Should we make it larger, or keep it the same size? Keep in mind that more pages does tend to mean higher costs associated with printing, especially with Lulu.com. Any other thoughts related to printing? Either comment here, or email us using the name ‘kelli’ followed by the usual at symbol and then see the next paragraph.
Follow that name and symbol with this domain: sdquarterly.com to make the full email address. Sorry for the extended and odd description, but this is a public post, and spam-harvesters are quite clever these days. 
- Phillip
22 Comments
Filed under Print
22 Comments
September 13th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Hey guys, I have been reading your post and thinking…I am just a lowly reader. Happy with WHATEVER you give becuase it is BEAUTIFUL! But then I realized, there may be people on here that really and truly were hoping to actually GET a REAL magazine out of this.
So, here is my two cents…
I would like and am happy with the pdf version. I printed mine on color at home and three hole punched it and placed it in a binder where it anxiously awaits the “extrs” to add!
For those that want it printed more professionally, I say let them encure that cost…they can take it to a printer and have it printed…or save them all to disk and save by having them printed all at once. (much patience needed for that)
All in all, this is the most beautiful magazine I have ever gotten and I would have actually paid for it too!
So do whatever you choose but know that I am happy as is, and I think the bonuses added after it has been published are an EXTRA SPECIAL bonus for joining your site!
Thank you and my kids are just itching to get at that popcorn!!!
September 13th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
I have fallen in love with your format. It is easy to skim and yet your projects are completly pictured enough to make even me want to try them. I have never seen such an easy to load and read pdf file. I now wish many of my other magazines came in this format as I don’t like to skip around ads so much. If you wish to advertising in the future I wouldn’t mind to have them between the articles as long as they were in the same tone as the rest of the magazine with a little blurb on how the product or service can be helpful to me. I am ok with Paul Harvey style endorsments. Thank you, I can’t wait to see more.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Hi y’all!!
I LOVE the magazine, but personally would really, REALLY love it in printed form in my mailbox. I want this printed very nicely so that I can keep it and use the ideas for years to come. I am definitely willing to pay for it. Kelli, your ideas are always SO wonderful!! Your family is blessed!
His,
Mrs. U
September 13th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
My preference is PDF. I can read it online or print it myself which is what I’d do anyway. Thanks for asking for our thoughts about it.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I too loved the PDF file. I printed it out using the booklet setting on my printer so it was smaller but too up less ink and paper. The pictures are still lovely and the instructions are good too. I could not afford to have it printed and apprecitate the opportunity to print it myself.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
I’d probably only use the PDF, however, the idea that whomever had about offering a print version that people order and incur the costs is, I think, just the solution that would work.
At Lulu, you can open your own bookstore, for free, and you can have people order what you have offered there, paying for the cost of printing (and a little extra for your pockets). When I started selling my children’s cookbook, this is the format I went with, and all I’ve made from it is pure profit, as I didn’t incur the expense of printing a ton of books and trying to sell them. This way, demand is met for the people who want the hard copy, but you don’t go broke doing it.
Here’s how the listing page looks, if you choose to sell in that format:
http://www.lulu.com/content/284028
And I know Lulu feels expensive, but trust me, compared to what you would pay elsewhere, they’re a better deal… Especially if you sell through the store system they have.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Do you need to make the decision now? Maybe do a few issues PDF only, and then after you’ve made some $$ from online subscriptions rethink the print option.
I’m a real “paper and ink” person, I like to hold something in my hands, and will likely print out the ezine myself.
I’m not familiar with how Lulu shops operate, but what Jerusha girl is suggesting sounds like a good option.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Assuming this new copy from Lulu turns out okay, I do think we’ll stick with that for this first issue. I suppose we’re mainly trying to plan for the Winter 2007 issue in December.
September 15th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I just want to say, WOW! I admire you so much for doing this, I love the magazine, and I personally would want a printed copy to keep and use over and over, I’m a magazine addict! This is something I hope to do someday so I appreacite you sharing the inside work with us. It’s lovely!!
September 18th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
You are right, it is like sitting down with a 60 page magazine, everytime I read it I get something new out of it. I CAN’T wait for the next issue! We checked out all the books on the book list from the library and Daddy reads them to the girls every night. They love it! Pdf has been great, I just printed them off and stuck them in my Avery clear pages and stuck in a binder. Phallin
September 19th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
You might want to get in touch with Lisa Vitello, who puts out an ezine every 2 months. She sends it electronically to my inbox and I print it off from our printer. It’s black and white but she only charges….now I can’t exactly remember, but I think it’s $12 per year for 6 issues. The last issue was 42 pages.
You can ask her advice, if you like, at
http://www.newharvesthomestead.com/
I hope this helps someway in your decision process.
Joanna in Ca.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I would really love a print version because of the dial-up situation. It takes a good 1/2 an hour to download at least! :0(
But, it was worth it! Just a LOVELY magazine!
Thank you!
September 28th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
PDF works for me. I download, three-hole punch and save in a notebook that I will cover. It’s easy to read, beautiful to behold and with a variety of intersting information. You are doing a splendid job and feel fortunate to have found your site so I could get the first issue. I look forward to the December issue as Christmas is my most favorite holiday and know your Seasonal Delights will be a beautiful gift.
April in NC
September 28th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I agree with Heather. The PDF file is beautiful the way it is and we can print what we want or reference online too. Save a tree (or a thousand) just as long as I still can get your sweet emails!
Thanks so much for offering such a creative source. I love it!
September 28th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
I would prefer a print version of the magazine. The current length of the magazine is fine. Thank you for the work that you have done. Karen
September 29th, 2007 at 12:08 am
I think the PDF Is just fine. However, if you did print it, I would gladly pay. I have gotten so many wonderful ideas from the magazine. I think my kids and I are using everything you put in it! Just glad to have any access. Thanks for the great work.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:24 am
I prefer pdf. I printed mine off quiet happily and put it in a binder.
Happily awaiting Winter issue.
Great job Kelli and Philip.
Thanks for all your hard work.
God bless,
Cathie
September 29th, 2007 at 8:31 am
I think the PDF version is very adequate! I was able to save it quickly, and print off the recipe and puzzle pages I wanted.
I forgot to blog about it when I subscribed, so I posted about it this morning. Thanks for the email reminder!
Great job on a beautiful magazine!!
September 29th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
As much as I love holding reading material in my hands, I also love the instant gratification of a high speed internet connection and downloading a PDF file. If the reading is so great that I want to read it in a cozier place than in front of the computer, I print it out.
I tend to tear out magazine pages anyway, so I can file them in 3-ring binders that serve to inspire me (one for crafts, one for household, one for baking). Even if a magazine is gorgeous, I still tear it up these days. I had years’ worth of Victoria magazines before figuring out that I will only use the advice if I can see it!
Your issue was deemed worthy of printing upon first glance, by the way.
Lori Seaborg
September 30th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I have just stumbled onto this site from a friend’s suggestion. I am intrigued by what you have to offer. I like the pictures to go along with the written directions (I am not crafty and need to see it as well as read directions). I like the pdf format and will choose to stay with that if you offer both a print option and a pdf option.
Thank you for your hard work and lovely site.
Susan Brown
October 1st, 2007 at 5:25 pm
The pdf version is just perfectly fine for us. My daughter (almost 9) and I enjoyed sitting down and looking through it - then my husband had his turn! He loves to cook and was very interested in the recipes. By the way, the soup recipe is fabulous! Yummy! Thank you - this is wonderful!
October 1st, 2007 at 6:03 pm
We’ll actually have an announcement about printing tomorrow morning, shortly after the Tuesday Recipe of the Week update!
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