The Encore iPad experiment – how we’re doing so far
So you may recall that a fortnight ago I somewhat rashly promised to update you on how sales of our Encore iPad app went, “even if the number of subscribers is embarrassingly small”.
I can now share those first numbers. And I’m feeling optimistic but not ecstatic.
Our experiment began on April 5, two weeks ago today.
It’s our first effort at an iPad app. You can download it here.
As someone with an interest in e-publishing this is amazing info that you are sharing. Thank you Tim 🙂
I’m one of the subscriptions. My rationale was that I read Mumbrella every day and pay nothing, so $20 was a risk worth taking.
I’ve not read the whole first edition yet (hence no feedback until now; busy time of year) but it’s very impressive. The content is up my alley anyway, but the layout and navigation make perfect sense on an iPad. I also appreciate you not lazily chucking the text into giant images, a technique that results in a 130 MB download per issue (I’m looking at you, Condé Nast).
The only quibble I had out the gate was that the reader must stare at Hinch’s face for the entirety of a rather lengthy interview, the text of which is jammed into a small box in one corner. It’s a format that’s used throughout the edition, and it doesn’t really work with feature-length articles.
I’ve no idea what Newsstand uptake is like in Australia, so I can’t comment on potential customers or subscribers, but I didn’t know Encore existed at all – in print or otherwise – until I saw your plug two weeks ago. That could be your single biggest barrier.
Thanks for the feedback, Adam. And the text box issue is one we’re looking at for future issues. I agree that we need to give more visible text at once on the longer reads.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Woo! I’m one of the 75 single issue subscriptions. I feel like a limited edition — let me know if you’d like me to sign myself.
I’ve only started reading the mag, but I did find the QR code in one of the advertisements linking to a conference website quite amusing. Because, you know, it’s not like you can click on a link on an iPad and open a website directly.
(Single issue sales, rather.)
I thought it was a solid effort. I was looking at any chance for it to break. I was also, unfairly,comparing it to my Esquire USA and FastCompany Digital efforts, which was totally unfair of me, but although it wasn’t as ‘sexy’, IT WORKED. Great effort Tim and team and as mentioned- thanks for the details. One question- was Apple hard to work with or did Oomph deal with the whole thing?
Hi Eric,
Oomph certainly helped with that relationship, but the dealings we had were pretty smooth. The main advice I’d give is to allow plenty of time and make sure you communicate everything you have in mind ahead of time.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Have you looked at In App Purchasing? While not directly comparable, 8 of the top 10 grossing apps in the app store are games that use the free + IAP model, number 7 is the latest Angry Bird’s and number 10 is a $75 TomTom app. I’m currently building a free + IAP version of one of my children’s book apps, Ten Giggly Gorillas. It’ll be interesting to compare how it goes versus the existing $4.49 complete version. I’ll let you know.
Tim, congratulations to you for taking the plunge and thank you for sharing your early results. You should rightly be proud. I am confident your advertisers will appreciate the engagement your app delivers. They too will be just beginning to explore what the medium has to offer. Good luck to you and the team.
I can’t seem to find the review of Encore from the article on iTunes, has it been deleted? http://itunes.apple.com/au/app.....90348?mt=8
Hi Seahorse, once you land on the link you’ve given above, click on the button “view in iTunes” and the customer review section is towards the bottom of the page.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I love iPad apps and the magazine subs etc, but I’m not an iPad/Android tablet owner today. I use an iPhone all day, a MacBook at home and a Windows box at work and feel like the world is moving onto iPad magazine subs but leaving the mainstream platforms behind.
Don’t forget us! 🙂
I’ll admit i’m ignorant of what Encore magazine, either in print or digital form, is, but by looking at that cover I don’t really want to find out more. It looks very dated – the photos, layout and colours.