AMC 2006: DIY Publishing

Coverage from sessions at the 2006 Allied Media Conference

Representatives from the newspapers Critical Moment, out of Detroit and the NYC Indypendent presented a session on the basics of publishing a newspaper.

Arun Gupta of the Indypendent describes five areas of focus when starting a publication: target audience, content and design, financing, distribution, and structure.

I've been developing a Wiki book on DIY publishing since last year. You can read and contribute to the book here.
“Is it for the general public or is it for activists,” Gupta asks. It could have a niche focus, such as queer or environmental issues. He says, insofar as content, the Indy is reader driven, not writer driven – this means that, “...you're always asking...what is the audience looking for?”

“Design cannot be emphasized enough,” Gupta says. He says that four-color process helps the paper be visually appealing and that clear images and words help the reader – or potential reader – know what's inside, quickly.

Gupta says he prefers photos for the cover rather than graphics. A clean, clear image helps, he says.

Gupta mentions that the Indypendent has recently launched a new publication, IndyKids. He says you have to decide if you're going to have a newsy publication or cultural, with a first person point of view (POV) or a more traditional style.

Gupta says that you should publish articles that have a shelf life that is 1.5 times as long as your distribution cycle. (eg: A monthly paper should run articles that are good for six weeks.)

Donations were discussed as a major revenue stream for small, upstart papers. Gupta suggests that people wanting to use this sort of revenue stream should study direct mail solicitations. He says 1-2 percent is considered an excellent return on a direct mail solicitation, though, once when the Indypendent had Naomi Klein write an appeal letter for them, they had a 12 percent return – more than $10,000 from 3,000 solicitations sent.

Posters – a US map of our domestic weapons of mass destruction – and t-shirts have also been major revenue streams. 5,000 posters sold delivered $30,000 in revenue, Gupta says.

Free versus paid subscriptions: Both have their advantages, he says. Free distribution means the Indypendent reaches a wide audience. “We didn't want to be gettoized,” Gupta says.

On structure of the organization, Gupta says you must have clearly defined roles.

Max Sussman says that his publication is two-and-a-half years old. They publish every two months and Critical Moment is free.

Sussman says his project has an open submissions policy. He describes the process of collecting content as a kind of mixed bag – some is assigned by the collectives – they have two, one in Detroit and another in Ann Arbor – and other content comes in unsolicited.

“One of the things we've started to do more recently is to put on more events,” Sussman says. “We think that really increases our visibility.”

Sussman says they've hosted speaking engagements with featured writers. Music show fundraisers are also helpful, he says. “We do dance parties,” Gupta adds.
Sussman says they raise money through ads, primarily, but are developing plans for donor streams. The paper carries an ongoing, 20 percent debt, he says, that's shouldered by cash infusions from members of the collective.

“Our ads go through our editorial policy,” Sussman says. If an ad is outside of their values or if ads are blatently offensive, without a purpose, they ask the advertiser to redesign the ad. He gives as an example an ad that read something like, “Fuck the War – Shop at my store,” saying that the Critical Moment collective objected on the basis that 1) shopping at this proprietor's store clearly would not end the war and 2) that the large word “FUCK” was used without a real purpose – just for shock value.

Gupta says the Indypendent does not use a union print shop because of the costs involved. He says that his team has threatened to drop their printer to negotiate a better deal.

Ad sales is a major hurdle for Critical Moment. Sussman says the paper has no paid ad reps at this time and garnering advertising is a difficult task. Gupta says that they try and focus their ad sales on indie culture producers in New York such as poetry and music events. One member of the audience suggested publishers focus on wealthy non-profits towards the end of their fiscal season.

Both newspapers operate as collectives – this means there's a lot of work that is shared and members wear many hats.

Sussman says they judge their success as a publication by how many copies are left at newsstands at the end of a cycle. Gupta also discusses a story that they ran on an Iraq War vet who became homeless. The Indypendent broke the story and it was later picked up by major dailies and CBS.

“They're never going to credit you,” NYC says. “But they use the same sources...”