200 Words

Andrew Sullivan says he is unlikely to make his 900K target. Granted its a distinct market, and his costs are different, but still, it gave me pause.

So I thought, instead of looking for enough subscription/support to launch and run for a year, I look for one issue. Ireland is a small market, readers here haven’t the familiarity with annual subscriptions that Americans do from years of consuming print that way.

So instead of setting a very high target for a crowdsourcing appeal, set a target for a single issue. Once that target is reached, commission stories, and hand out the keyrings, tshirts, special print editions, and other gifts selected as rewards for supporters. Then start over again, funding the next issue in the same way.

With luck, each issue builds momentum, until there are sufficient funds to plan several issues in advance, or increase the number of stories per edition. The downside of course is that fund come slowly, effort is wasted on continual fundraising, and interest wanes as issues peter out intermittently.

Not to mention things like building a database to track subscribers who sign up for several editions in advance, and the data protection headaches that involves.

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I wasn’t quite ready to go, but over the weekend I set up a basic FundIt page for the Guth newsmagazine. The intention was to at least get the ball rolling. I figured once it was up there, I could refine and re-edit the description, sort out exactly what gifts I would give to subscribers, that sort of thing.

It also allowed me to test drive the pitch and find out if it fitted within the FundIt guidelines.

As it happens, it failed that test.

FundIt applications work for specific projects. The have to have a start, and an end. A newsmagazine doesn’t really have an end date – or at least, an end date twelve issues out is pushing it.

And FundIt doesn’t really do websites (or apps), at least not this kind of website. I need a product.

So it’s back to the drawing board.

One option is to re-think Guth as a proof of concept. One issue, twelve stories or so. Maybe even in print.

Or I could use Kickstarter, which may hit the same problems, with the additional complications of needing a UK address, and incorporation in the UK.

Or I could try somewhere else, like Indiegogo.

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All going well, what was an idea rumbling in the back of my head for some time, and which I seriously started thinking about at the start of this month (and boring many of you with) will be a little closer to reality by the end of this week.

By Friday, I hope to have a video ready for a crowdfunding pitch, and a limited company set up (or at least, in the hands of the CRO for processing).

The budgets keep shifting, and I think I drastically underestimated how much overhead even a minimal operation can incur, but I feel a sense of progress (even if sometimes it feels like swimming in treacle.

So that’s where we are. No fireworks, no huge headlines, but progress nonetheless.

And as a parting thought, there’s this graph (courtesy of @AnMailleach) giving graphic form to the “Silly Season”, when newspapers find themselves scrabbling for stories because the Dáil has closed down.

The Silly Season dip – via @AnMailleach

You can buy your newsmag subscription once you decide on the tradeoff between how much you want to spend and how much you want to save. It costs more for an annual subscription, but it costs more per issue for a shorter period.

But before the newsmag gets that far, it needs its initial capital. The same deal works for crowdfunding as for a subscription. You can pay more, and get more, or pay less and see how it goes.

What do you get for your crowdfunding contribution? A subscription to the newsmag, naturally, but since you’re helping us get off the ground, something more too. Some possibilities are obvious. A USB stick, a branded coffee mug, a tshirt. For extra generous contributions, perhaps a special, limited edition, print edition.

Then comes the tricky part. Contributors get their names listed, either online or in the special print edition. But should there be a provision for more than just a contributor’s name? A quarter or half-page panel, perhaps? Or a banner under a story in the online edition?

I’m not dogmatically opposed to advertising, but the original concept was a reader-funded publication. Does an NPR style sponsorship label dilute that concept?

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This is a brief question aimed at fellow journalists, less that two hundred words, but one of the biggest one I need an answer to at present.

What is an article worth to you? How much would I have to pay you for an exclusive  story, whether a long investigative piece, or an in-depth interview, or simply a comprehensive report on an undercovered (or not covered at all) story? How much for a review column, or a sporting analysis?

I know that’s kind of vague, but it’s intentional. I’m hoping for a broad range of options. In general, Iris not international, national not local, but then again, sometimes the local has national consequences.

I don’t expect anyone to answer publicly, but if anyone cares to drop me a line in confidence at gerard@faduda.net I’d appreciate it.

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Does your company produce corporate knick-knacks? Ballpoint pens with company logos perhaps, or branded USB sticks, or coffee mugs. Or maybe you print t-shirts. Because if so, I think I’d like to talk to you.

There’s a convention that kick starter contributors receive ‘rewards’ for their money, like those I’ve mentioned above.

Producing a newsmag, I can’t help but think your reward is your subscription to the product you paid for, but I know that’s missing the spirit of the movement.

So how about in return for a donation above and buying that which earns you a defined multi-issue subscription, you get a free gift. But since I’m lousy at buying gifts for other people, here’s my question: what sort of token present(s) should I offer? Answers on a postcard please (or even better, in the comments below).

(And if your company does produce corporate souvenirs, I really do want to here from you, so head over to the Contact section of this website. That said, for the moment I’d ask you to get in touch only if you’re an Irish-based company (north and south) please, since the extra headaches and expense of shipping from abroad are probably beyond the budget.)

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Would a demonstration issue increase the level of subscriptions in a crowdfunding round for a newsmag?

The problem such an issue faces is it would have to be comment based, and comment is precisely what I’m trying to get away from.

Breaking news is an impossibility for print any more, and effectively that means online too. News breaks on radio or tv, or on the newspaper’s website. Print sums it up, first with a synopsis on its website, then either the next day or following Sunday in print.

But with the exception of the major front page stories, little of it is covered in depth, and a lot of stuff barely merits more than a sidebar rewrite of the press release before it’s forgotten. I want a magazine that looks in-depth at the stories that are unknown, or undercovered.

As ever, the small size of the Irish market is an issue. Anything less regular than weekly is an eternity online, but I’m not sure a substantial product can be produced more frequently than monthly. Maybe the best plan is to launch with an appeal for subscriptions through a crowdfund for a monthly product, to be upgraded to fortnightly/weekly is there’s sufficient interest.

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