Re: AGA (this is about TAG)

[Neil Frank <nfrank@mindspring.com>]

At 09:25 PM 1/7/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>We have not yet pinned down actual cost, because we would LIKE to be able to
>pay contributors a small amount for articles, which BB doesn't do.  It also
>depends on our subscriber base, as you know.  The numbers for the old-style
>TAG are all over the place because of varying numbers of pages varying
>amounts of color and varying numbers of magazines printed.  It's almost
>impossible to sort that out give give a clear idea of "added" cost. (at
>least for me)  I feel that we are really working from ground zero here, but
>I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

Hope it is not the same as working from ground zero. 

How about some rough estimates or ranges for planning purposes. It sounds
like you and David have kicked around some numbers... is it possible to
share them with the other members of the SC so we can give you an informed
answer to your question? 

 There are some basic parts of the old TAG printing costs that I can try to
help you figure out. It would be really difficult from the paid invoices.
It seems that one can reconstruct the cost on the basis of X pages, Y
copies printed including up to Z pages color (0<Z<X). Another BIG variable
is the commercial firm that does the printing. I think when I stopped doing
TAG, it was costing around 1.25-1.50 per issue with ~$1 per page extra for
each page of color. (it started out at 50cents in 1990) Even better than
reconstructing old TAG is to go to a few local printers and ask for
proposals on different options (X,Y, Z including full color). They wont
charge you for the information and can be back to you in less than a week.
You can even get a baseline from Dave for full color comparison.
>
>
>From the numbers David and I kicked around the other night, we will have to
>risk that TAG may NOT completely pay for itself at least for the first few
>issues if we want to make the leap to a better magazine.  I personally think
>that it is well worth the risk.

I am comfortable with taking a calculated risk. 

Neil
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