Good Idea on CM Board: Digital copies of GRM/CM...

So the idea came up on the CM board about having backlogged years of GRM in digital form for purchase. What say ye GRM? I know I'd love to replace the stacks of mags taking up half a closet with something more compact. Heck, I'd love to have archive copies to read on my tablet/smartphone when i'm waiting in line or doing something else mundane. Some of us weren't subscribers waaaaay back and would love to see the really old mags, I just don't want to fill up the other half of the closet having the old ones reprinted.

Here's the original idea...

Way ahead of you.

Download our apps from the Apple store and you'll be able to buy back issues of both magazines for your iDevice. Right now the back issue catalog is only a year or two for each mag, but we're adding to it all the time as our schedule allows. The guy who does that, whose name is me, is currently up at 12:04am getting the April 2013 issue out the door. But I do set aside some time to get back issues prepped and on the iStore on a somewhat regular basis.

jg

Seems like this in-app subscription is separate from the one I got from http://grassrootsmotorsports.epubxp.com/t/13037 this page?

Yes. This in-app sub is through iTunes, so it's a separate purchase from anything you do with us. (We'd love to be able to bundle purchases, but those nice Apple folk are fairly proprietary about what's theirs and who gets the cash.)

What I was thinking about from the CM thread is selling a CD with digital copies loaded onto it.

Margie

Marjorie Suddard wrote: What I was thinking about from the CM thread is selling a CD with digital copies loaded onto it. Margie

THIS

I was wondering why a print and digital subscription couldn't be bundled. I get a digital subscription to QST (ham radio stuff) for free in addition to my print subscription with my ARRL membership. But, they've gone and rolled their own app for distributing it, and aren't doing it through the newsstand. Now I can see why they did. Unless you outsource it, you guys don't have the time to do that (unless you want JG to get no sleep at all, and imagine how entertaining his articles would be then), and you wouldn't make any money doing it if you included it for free with a regular subscription, so you'd rightfully charge more for that. And if you're going to charge more for a digital subscription, why not just do it the way you're doing it now?

I didn't understand that before. I do now. Thanks for explaining. I found my iPhone's screen a little too small to read the sample issue comfortably, but I imagine it would be awesome on an iPad. Being able to get back issues digitally - through an app or on a CD - would be awesome. I'm moving next week, and the bulk and weight of all those print issues is on my mind.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: What I was thinking about from the CM thread is selling a CD with digital copies loaded onto it. Margie

Yes, good lady, that's exactly what I was asking for! Motor Sport has a proven business model. They do a decade per disc. I think 5 years would be better. Regardless, you scan it (old issues) and pdf it or put the e-version on a disc and sell it. Apple has no fingers in the pie. Have a rolling date where a current issue won't appear on the archive discs until the next 5 year interval - maximize back issue sales. Everybody wins!

Like I said in the other thread, I'm at critical mass with books and magazines. I don't subscribe to anything anymore, because of storage. I would buy a disc in a heartbeat.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Yes. This in-app sub is through iTunes, so it's a separate purchase from anything you do with us. (We'd love to be able to bundle purchases, but those nice Apple folk are fairly proprietary about what's theirs and who gets the cash.) What I was thinking about from the CM thread is selling a CD with digital copies loaded onto it. Margie

This is a great solution. !!!!!

Chet

I like everything except the CD. Physical media is so 2008. PDF's are forever.

It certainly would be great to free up some shelf space in my shop so I'd be all over a 'digital archive' of back issues.

On a related note, is there a table of contents for back issues available somewhere? It sure would make locating articles easier...