Way back in August, I mentioned that I was the new Editor-in-Chief of the ex-pat magazine “The Korea Sun.” I signed on, worked with the existing authors and photographers, recruited a few more and had put together a fine looking set of articles. It was all for naught, however.
The publisher had set up the magazine on a advertising-paid basis. The magazine, which was free, was distributed to many of the places foreigners and tourists go. The advertising never seemed to take off and he could not generate enough ad revenue to cover printing costs. I didn’t quite understand that since they had never approached any of the advertisers of the previous foreigner paper, the “Ulsan Pear.” Regardless, with revenue off and costs high, publishing was put off for September and the October issue was targeted. Before that could even happen, it was then slated for a January release and meant to go quarterly. That never happened either and the publisher has since tried to sell the Sun to a Korean news tabloid that would charge around $2 an issue. The all English magazine would be relegated to the back pages of an otherwise all-Korean paper. I have no idea of the financial terms he was asking for the paper. But since all the writers and photographers and even the editor were volunteer staff whatever price he was asking must have been too high. It never sold and The Korea Sun has set.
Meanwhile, one of the former Ulsan Pear founders and rock-climbing buddy, Fin Madden, has started up an online foreigners magazine. I’ve joined him in the effort and have begun editing and writing articles. The new publication, is UlsanOnline. I’ve already contacted the authors I worked with on the Sun and have been re appropriating the stories they wrote for print to online. Small now, but we hope it will grow.
The business model for going online is so much more compelling. We ship only electrons, not protons (there’s a geek-of-the-week explanation in there somewhere.) We needn’t cut trees for paper. There’s no printing costs. Deadlines are non-existent since we don’t have to publish on a regular basis. The only cost is computer hosting, which for a year’s service is a fraction of the cost of one month’s printing cost. The only drawback to online publication is that you can’t roll it up and take it with you. But even that is rapidly changing as more and more mobile phones and other gadgets have internet accessibility. Some even have a “read-it-later” feature that lets you download an article your iPhone. I don’t think print is dead, but there’s becoming more and more reasons not to use paper, especially for limited life-span articles and news.
So, check out UlsanOnline and see what the other foreigners (and me) do in our spare time.
