On the "other site" there has been some discussion about how this might work including how it might be possible to develop a joint effort with the CCOA. Here is what I posted over there, and I wanted to post it here to get more input from the members over here.
I am still kicking around different ideas for how to do this and here is what I am thinking at the moment. I would really appreciate any honest feedback.
I think it is important to make it possible for people to see the magazine, or at least a sample magazine for free. ( I am on the drug dealer program... give 'em the first taste for free and get 'em hooked! LOL!) Plus I think it is really good for the hobby for people to see that such a title exists. The Classic Cougar Network had a lot to do with my getting back into Cougars, I think this title can do the same. (Steve E. hats off to you and the gang!)
So here goes:
Subscribers get access to all issues, from the first day published. Starting out with 6 issues $12. I think we can get 6 issues out in year one, but just in case I want it to be clear that you are buying 6 issues, even if it takes us 14 months.
Non subscribers could get access to any single issue for $4. (think of this as the news stand price)
Non subscribers could also see the first back issue for free. (They would always be at least 60 days behind on what was published).
I don't want to jump the gun on CCOA stuff, but here are some ideas to kick around:
First off, I want to work with the CCOA. I think the CCOA does things, (like setting the judging standards, the registry etc.) that no magazine can ever do well. I am concerned that a successful magazine might whittle away at the foundation of the CCOA, something that is not good for the community. So the idea here is to explore how we might be able to work together.
We could do a special version of the magazine, title it At the Sign of the Cat, (produced by Legendary Cougar Magazine for the CCOA in small print) We could include the CCOA specific pages with in certain limits (8 new pages max?) We would host it on our server, but the CCOA would control the distribution (send out the link in the same way they send out the PDF now) We could also password protect it if desired.
There would be some cost associated with lay out and publishing of the new pages, but the rest of the content would be the same, so other than the hosting set up and so on it would not be too expensive. We would offer a bulk rate subscription price to the CCOA, but instead of paying for the entire subscription a year in advance we would need to charge on a per issue basis. (since the CCOA memberships all start and end at different times). As an additional bonus we could also give the CCOA a full page ad in the regular version of the magazine to help them recruit new members.
One thing that I have to keep in mind is that CCOA members won't become direct subscribers, since they would already be getting the magazine as a part of their dues. This is a very significant part of the market so we can't just do this for free.
I would like to get some feedback from CCOA members as well as non members: Your $.02?