I HAD a dream

[Robert_Moriyama]

Comment on some more stuff, please? Just so the authors and editors know that there are a few appreciative eyeballs out there.

(Speaking of which -- do we have any recent hit counts? And can we distinguish between Forum hits and editorial content hits?)

RM

[doc]

I have a marketing idea I'll be posting about presently. (Well, ok, I'm *stealing* a marketing idea that I'll be posting about presently. But it'll be fun.)

[kailhofer]

We've been averaging 10,000 unique visitors every month, between 600 and 750 hits a day, with a peak of around 1000 on the day a new issue goes online. That doesn't mean that Aphelion has 10,000 regular readers, but that does mean that there are enough regular readers coming back to the website day after day to total that amount. I would *guess* that there is a core readership of roughly 2500-3500, with lots of other traffic from search engines and links to Aphelion from other websites. I lack the skills to find out the actual number of individual readers who come back regularly. This month, there are 231 links to Aphelion from other websites, not counting any hits from search engines.

So far this month; there are Aphelion readers in 94 countries around the globe, the Forums index page has gotten 21,000+ page views, the Editorial has gotten 800+ page views, the Short stories index page has gotten nearly 600 page views, the Serials index has gotten nearly 300 page views, the Features and Poetry index pages have gotten around 200 page views each...

Last Tuesday alone, our readers looked at 19,214 pages on the website. So far today we've had 75 unique visitors who have viewed 473 pages...

Oh, and there have been 296 views of the Private Message pages here on the Forums, so far this month.

I can't help wonder how this compares to a similar discussion that took place in June '07. Rob's post then about 'real' circulation numbers seemed a lot less optimistic here.

I don't understand web stats & how they translate into 'real' numbers. I just want Aphelion to continue to succeed & grow. To that end, I hope the flash challenges and eventually the Bill Warren series are helping.

Nate

[Robert_Moriyama]

...
However, I absolutely promise to wait for the feedback at large before I loose the Pet Monster of my mind, for monster it is, and like all pets, it controls me rather than the other way around. However, I control the leash, so it's a truce. Sometimes.

Sincerely,
Aphelion's Pet Monster

Any relation to Ralan Conley's pal, Fil?

RM

[doc]

As usual in this discussion, people are getting way far from centre. I know I seem like a grumpy guss every time I do this, but let's establish some perspective:

Aphelion is a fanzine. It's not going to be a 501(c)3 organization, because it has no revenues, nor is there any interest on our part to establish any.

Most non-paying markets are scams. They're trying to get something for free by promising something illusory and then using that fee content to generate wealth for itself. One of the reasons I can solicit material from people in good conscience is precisely because we're not that kind of place.

Saying "writers should pony up and share the load" sounds very noble and egalitarian, but it also sets off every red flag alarm in the publishing world. Remember the old adage: "The only place a writer should ever sign a cheque is on the back."

We need to do some promotion, but it's for growing awareness of this community, not to establish the financial health of the zine. (Trust me, the financial health of the zine is fine. The people whose names appear on the masthead are much too invested in this project for it to slip away. In the worst of all possible worlds, I could manage to create a hosting environment that would cost us less than this does now, though with less performance and reliability than we now have.)

So, as we're thinking of promotional material, remember the goal: new readers, new writers, new forum participants. That's what we want, and all we're focused on.

[doc]

I don't know what you're talking about concerning "non-paying market scams" but my offer was based on not realizing that it costs $1,200 a year to run this work. It is easy to say not to worry about it when you're not the one paying the bill. I wasn't suggesting that money was to be asked of those visiting and newly contributing to the zine, just those like myself who are not editors who benefit from the work as a whole, seeing editors contribute their time in helping to publish the zine. If I had known the costs before now, I would have ask to contribute sooner.

Also, I wasn't worried about the overall financial stability of the work, I just think it is fair to distribute the financial obligations with those who do not contribute time in putting this publication out.

Mark

I know YOU weren't suggesting any such thing, and I apologize if my remarks insinuated otherwise.

It is vitally important, though, that we not only avoid impropriety, but the appearance of impropriety. When I said that such could set of alarm bells, that's what I'm talking about. Now, if some people want to throw money in a virtual tip jar of their own accord, well, that's their decision, but anything that appeared to be soliciting such things might give the wrong impression to someone just stopping by, and they won't come back.

The reason why we've never had ads, never sold subscriptions, never asked for a single dime of anyone's money is because, quite simply, the moment you have revenues, you have to start answering the question "Why don't you pay for stories?" Since actually running a paying market (with all the accounting that that would require) is beyond the scope of the project, we've hewn to a very hard line about what gets done in the name of the zine.

The problem with publishing a book is also problematic.for other reasons, which have to do with rights and payments. Even if people donate their stuff under some sort of Creative Commons arrangement, there's all sorts of paperwork to do to make sure that everyone's treated fairly.

Most of this is tangential to what you were saying, but....we've had this conversation before in this space, and I know where that path leads, and just wanted to head it off before it went that way.

[kailhofer]

Only have a minute here, working late.

Looking at all these posts, I see two underlying things:

One - We all love Aphelion and don't want it to go away, ever. Sounds like it won't go anytime soon, thank heavens.

Two - A general perception that it might not be doing as well as it could be (not necessarily financially, but in terms of numbers), and a non-specific wish there was something the average Joe could do about it.

So, either the perception is right, or it isn't. If there is a marketing effort, it might need to be about reassuring the populace that the numbers are good.

Just a thought.

[doc]

The numbers are fine. For them to not be ok, there'd have to be some target number that we were falling short of. Like all numbers, without context, they don't mean much.

Having said that, bringing new people into the community is always a good thing.