Subcompact Publishing

The world of publishing is changing rapidly. Ad revenues — once the lion’s share of revenue for most publications — are falling precipitously. Consider these data from the New York Times Company’s financial statements:

(source: The New York Times’ Shifting Model)

Advertising — and readership — are fleeing traditional print publishing. So what will replace it?

The link above is to a great piece by Craig Mod about the emerging “subcompact” model of digital publication.

First, the existing, print model of publication, summarized:

• Each issue contains a dozen or more articles.
• Issues operate on a monthly cycle.
• All articles are bundled and shipped at the same time.

Almost all of these qualities are the result of responses to distribution and production constraints. Printing and binding takes a certain amount of time. Shipping the issues takes another chunk of time. In order to find a balance between timeliness of content and shelf-life, a month makes a pretty sensible — if brisk — publishing schedule.

So why, he wonders, given the fact that shipping and production are non-issues, have digital publications for the most part continued under the old print model? Mod provides an obvious answer:

Of course, they do because it’s easier to maintain identical schedules across mediums. To not design twice. To not test twice (or, at all).

It’s a shitty way to do business.

Thankfully, the failures of the Condé Nasts and the New York Timeses of the world provide ample opportunity for disruptors to destroy the old model of publishing and replace it with something more interesting, responsive, and content- (instead of ad-) focused.

Mod provides a framework for this new future that he calls Subcompact Publishing. It has the following qualities:

• Small issue sizes (3-7 articles / issue)
• Small file sizes
• Digital-aware subscription prices
• Fluid publishing schedule
• Scroll (don’t paginate)
• Clear navigation
• HTML(ish) based
• Touching the open web

His example of this model in practice is Marco Arment’s The Magazine. Minimal, content-focused, and Apple Newsstand-enabled, The Magazine is a joy to read and experience.

Mod’s message is clear: get out there a make something. Disrupt. The world will be a better place for it.