Using Magcloud magazine POD service–first impression
When I announced that I would be using Magcloud to provide printed issues of Apex Magazine to our readers, I received a number of emails from other publishers, editors, and fans wanting to know how the final product turned out.
In a nutshell, I’m quite pleased.
Magcloud is a new POD targeted at magazine publishers. What sets them apart is their promise of high quality full color publications. On the Magcloud website’s About page they state simply
“We’re MagCloud and we want to help you to publish your own magazines. All you have to do is upload a PDF and we’ll take care of the rest: printing, mailing, subscription management, and more.”
And sure enough, all I had to do was upload a print-ready PDF and everything else is handled for the publisher. They have a preview system that provides a near-real digital proof of your magazine. Ordering a proof is easy and free (there was a $1.50 shipping charge). Delivery time of the proof was a quick five business days and came in a clear plastic bag (I’m assuming this is standard).
The magazine is available immediately after you give it final approval. The user interface for ordering and previewing the product is straightforward and nice.
The magazine’s paper is slick with a slight gloss. It’s a decent stock, but nothing to be excited about. The HP Indigo printing process does a great job with images and text. Magcloud takes the bottom third of the back cover for shipping information.
In general, I think the quality exceeds that of two other popular magazine PODs, Createspace and Lulu, but the concern is the cost. Magcloud charges a base 20 cents per page to print your magazine. The current issue of Apex Magazine is 32 pages, so the base cost is $6.40. Apex only makes $1.60 on each sale at a retail cost of $8.00.
Despite the 20 cents per page charge, I think Magcloud beats the heck out of Lulu for magazine publication. Lulu charges an outrageous shipping fee that offsets the more expensive printing of Magcloud (Magcloud’s shipping is only $1.50). From my indirect experiences, it’s only slightly more expensive than Createspace, though I’d be interested to hear of other publisher’s experiences in the comments. In fact, I’d love to hear about any and all other potential ‘zine PODs you might have used. While I think $8.00 for the latest Apex Magazine is a good price, I’m always open to finding ways to bring customer costs down.
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3 Comments
I’m still waiting for them to come up with something that’s reasonable at 200 pages. But good to hear the quality is good! :)
Well, Kaolin…it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it.
Jason,
I used CreateSpace for Shock Totem. I am more than pleased with the product. There is a high S&H rate when using the CreateSpace store, which is probably expected as that’s what generates more royalties. But with it also being available on Amazon.com, that makes for a great alternative for those not looking to pay higher S&H costs.
Issue #1 of ST is $5.99. Through Amazon.com, S&H is $3.99. Through the CreateSpace store, it’s $6.08. But that’s standard S&H. Economy S&H, which I assume is media mail, is just $3.58. So not that bad if you can handle the wait.
International shipping through the CreateSpace store is a bit outrageous, though. But the solution to that is to simply buy stock for yourself at the author rate (ex: $2.15 each for a 100-page, 6×9 book) and personally ship international orders.
CreateSpace is also capable of producing the same sort Apex Digest of old. Either way, I tried MagCloud, too, and I liked it, so it’s a great option for Apex. But I found CreateSpace to be the better of the two. Lulu, on the other hand, isn’t even worth trying.
Ken