You know your audience are on facebook for about half their time online, so wouldn’t it be great for them to be able to read, share and importantly purchase your magazine through facebook?  Tapping into a market of 800m rather than just the 150m or so on iOS and other app stores?  That possibility has come just a little bit closer with the launch of several magazines in the US and Europe on the Paperlit Social Reader.  Read on for a glimpse of the future…

For consumer publishers, facebook is a fact of life.  Editorial teams now have to post content, respond to questions and build an audience as part of their job.  It’s a great traffic driver, but up till now it has been hard for publishers to make money from their facebook presence.

In the last few weeks, several publishers in the US and Europe have launched on Facebook using the Paperlit Social Reader service.  This is now available to UK publishers from Istek Media.  Readers have to download an app from the facebook page (for free) and can browse the pages of the magazine within facebook, comment on content and recommend it to their friends.

Reaching a global audience – with greater download volume

Niche content has global appeal – British heritage magazines sell well in the US and Fly fishing magazines are popular in China.  Facebook has 800m users worldwide and the viral sharing tools help readers worldwide find content.

In the first few weeks on the Paperlit Social reader publishers have seen far higher download volume from Facebook vs the App stores, so this could be the tipping point for monetising digital content.  Several titles are receiving over 10,000 views already.

How to charge for facebook magazines 

Publishers can either make the magazine completely free, or provide free access for a limited time period (eg 2 minutes).  After that readers have to pay for access using Facebook credits.   So this creates another easy micropayments channel that could in time rival Apple’s or Amazon….

Magazines using the system so far include:

Boston Phoenix in the US (published by the Phoenix Media Group)

The Games Machine, a video games magazine in Italy

Turkey’s Daily Sabah

Internazionale

More titles are due for release in the coming weeks.

How is the facebook magazine set up?

Istek Media's main business is creating apps for smartphones and tablets from publisher PDFs, with options to add video or other interactive content.  They work with a number of publishing partners, who can already publish and enrich their magazine.  Facebook is just another option from the back office alongside Apple and Android, providing another international digital distribution channel for publishers.

How can publishers make money from their facebook magazine?

Readers can easily share magazine content with their friends, and if there is a free viewing period, they can sample the magazine for a short time before deciding to buy. 

Publishers can send a simple link to their contacts allowing them to view the magazine on facebook for a few minutes before being required to purchase.

Publishers will also be able to add advertising to the facebook edition of their magazine, providing a revenue source even for free views.

About Istek Media

Istek Media is the partner of Paperlit in UK and can be contacted directly for more information. 

Paperlit is a business dedicated to the publishing sector, it doesn’t produce APPs for any other industry. Paperlit works with traditional print publishers  across the US, UK, Poland, Turkey, Spaın, Italy, Dubai, France and Russia to provide access to digital channels.  It makes it easy for publishers to access readers on web, tablet, smartphones and now facebook.  Paperlit clients include Conde Nast, Glamour Spain, Wired Italy, The New York Magazine, Real Madrid, The Boston Phoenix, Turkavaz Media, Gruppo Espresso Republica, Il Sole 24 Ore, RCS Periodicals and Edizioni S Paolo.

Flexible agreements are available for publishers in the UK:  contact Atila Madakbas for more details.

atila@istekmedia.com

+44 (0) 207 193 8498

+44 (0) 777 614 7304

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