Is $10 a year too much to pay for a pro magazine? (No.)
From Apex Overlord, Jason Sizemore:
There’s been some debate on the series of internet tubes about workable business models for online content. Some, like Cory Doctorow, believe free is good. If you give out a quality freebie, people will shell out money for more of that product. I like to think of this as the ol’ street dealer’s trick of giving out samples of coke to get people hooked on their drug. Others have argued to me that offering content such as short stories online, you have to go to a subscription or pay-per-play system. I can’t say either one has worked for Apex Magazine. A combination of the two has not worked. Sponsorship worked for two months before enthusiasm for it died. I’d like to try an alternative. I’d like to see how many fans of short fiction (and Apex Magazine) are out there that would donate $10 (or more) on a recurring, yearly basis to help pay for magazine costs. Our yearly cost is around $10,000. Doctorow was given $10,000 to write one single story. For your $10,000, you get 24 months of Apex Magazine. If you want to help keep Apex Magazine alive then please send me an email to jason@apexbookcompany.com. I don’t want to start collecting $10 (or more!) from people unless I know there are enough fans interested. Please spread the word if you want to help keep Apex Magazine around. Jason Sizemore editor-in-chief
What I say:
Look, Apex has made every effort to be dynamic, ground-breaking, interesting and entertaining. THIS is one of the magazines to support. Please pass on this info and prove to Apex (and Jason) that we love our SF and want to keep it around. (Cause, ya know I can’t break this market if it’s not still in publication.)
