It’s distressingly simple to wreck even the best digital magazine, never mind what energy you’ve put into it, with a low grade of electronic magazine package. When you’re determined to produce an online publication the most important next call is to select the software vendor. Formatting the brochure is only a little section of their business. Out of the potential features, being easy to use is the most important. The software could be the most amazing you’ve seen – but if you can’t actually use it, it’s worth nothing to you… Before deciding on a supplier for your ezine, make sure to test it.
The second big piece of preparation you’ll need to do is about security. You want to worry about hackers and spammers. How is the endeavour secured? Is the content secured? Can people simply copy and paste your magazine content or does the digital publishing software vendor have protective measures to stopping such things? Is your content secure from copying and pasting by the everyday reader? Has a business plan been created yet? How have you integrated social media with it? How is ad-handling covered in this scheme? A complete flavour of your business should be current always. Content friendly to search engines is also highly important when considering marketing your flash journal. How about mixing paid for and free content? Try to consider your subscription possibilities after making your ebrochure. Also, the nature of your content – is it monetized in any way or is this only a not-for-profit venture? Will you be providing summaries and teasers to sell this ebrochure? How available is the magazine? Will it be private — in which case you’ll be able to investigate all your hosting options or is it public? You should host directly. What have you planned for as regards back copies?
Technical support is a large consideration in your choice of host. How do you contact them? How long is their response time? Check whichever FAQs or how-tos they have. These things might seem minor now, but in the event that something goes wrong, you’ll be relieved you thought about this beforehand. Consider your choices carefully when picking out your publication’s digital publishing package vendor. You might also Google the term “Zmags” to find further ideas.
