Good news and bad news for Filament
Feb. 24th, 2011 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseSome of you might recall my having mentioned Filament once or twice. You know, that magazine founded on the idea that women are both intelligent thinkers and sexual beings who like to look at erotic pictures of men. I even did an interview with a female pornographer that appears in the current issue.
It's come a long way since the first issue, and I'm continuously pleased at the niche it fills in the market. And apparently I'm not the only one, as they recently got this letter from their distributor, informing them that Barnes & Noble in the US is increasing its order by five times the volume (and the number of their stores carrying it by nearly that volume).
This is fantastic news - it means the magazine's market is discovering it, and that it's selling. However, thanks to some underhanded deals between the one UK magazine distributor and a major magazine company, the editor is having difficulty getting mainstream distribution in the UK. Which is making it increasingly difficult to get advertising, as (despite how well it sells in the US) American advertisers see the magazine as British, and British advertisers don't see it as a good investment due to the lack of mainstream distribution. Given how only a minority of a magazine's print costs are usually covered by subscription fees alone, you can see why this is damaging to cash flow. As it is, the editor's not certain they're going to be able to afford the massive increase in print volume that B&N's request will entail.
So I'm asking anyone reading this who thinks they might enjoy it (or knows someone who might) - buy an issue, or subscribe. Or even better, if you have something to sell to the "smart, educated, open-minded women" demographic, advertise. You'll be in good company; I've heard rumors that the Rebel Bartender is giving serious consideration to doing so once she has a bit more content with which to impress new visitors.
It's come a long way since the first issue, and I'm continuously pleased at the niche it fills in the market. And apparently I'm not the only one, as they recently got this letter from their distributor, informing them that Barnes & Noble in the US is increasing its order by five times the volume (and the number of their stores carrying it by nearly that volume).
This is fantastic news - it means the magazine's market is discovering it, and that it's selling. However, thanks to some underhanded deals between the one UK magazine distributor and a major magazine company, the editor is having difficulty getting mainstream distribution in the UK. Which is making it increasingly difficult to get advertising, as (despite how well it sells in the US) American advertisers see the magazine as British, and British advertisers don't see it as a good investment due to the lack of mainstream distribution. Given how only a minority of a magazine's print costs are usually covered by subscription fees alone, you can see why this is damaging to cash flow. As it is, the editor's not certain they're going to be able to afford the massive increase in print volume that B&N's request will entail.
So I'm asking anyone reading this who thinks they might enjoy it (or knows someone who might) - buy an issue, or subscribe. Or even better, if you have something to sell to the "smart, educated, open-minded women" demographic, advertise. You'll be in good company; I've heard rumors that the Rebel Bartender is giving serious consideration to doing so once she has a bit more content with which to impress new visitors.
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Date: 2011-02-24 06:45 pm (UTC)Of course, now that I have my subscription, I don't care for myself.
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Date: 2011-02-24 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-24 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-24 07:50 pm (UTC)