Be the Change

how many?

Want to know how many magazines we sold at the festival today?


...zero.

This is how I felt earlier -

But I'm feeling better now. I think we learned a few lessons from today. First, before agreeing to pay for a vendor permit, find out how many people are expected to be at the festival. (Paying $55 to be there only to see 20 people who weren't in bands sucked! We spoke to about 5 people about the magazine, but no one was willing to pay for it.)

Festival crowds may not be our ideal customer.

Also, we're considering converting to a free magazine. We'll focus on getting ads to pay for the printing and get stores to put stacks of the free 'zine near the door or something. There are a few free mags in our area (which is why we decided not to go that route earlier), but ours is the only one with a lot of content focusing on supporting local, original music. Venues are more willing to advertise in a free magazine because it basically guarantees a readership. Who wouldn't pick up a free music magazine?

So today I learned the best thing to do with setbacks is to learn from them and move on. I was quite upset at first, but I think we've learned some good lessons from this experience.


ps - It's going to really bug me if no one sees the hard work we put into this first issue. If anyone here wants to see it, just email me your address and I'll mail you a copy.