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Autograph Magazine is Going Primarily Online

I’m sorry for the delays getting the magazine out. Autograph magazine needs to primarily become an online publication, for many reasons that I'll tell you tomorrow.

We’ll all miss print issues, but I think you’ll love the online benefits: more and larger photos, discussion forums, and feedback on celebrity address success are just a few! Plus current subscribers will get twice the months of your remaining subscriptions (international subscribers will get additional credit).

If you’re not happy, we’ll give you a pro-rata refund. But I think you will be.

I'm heading to a Jewish High Holidays dinner at my mom's house, so I have to leave now. I'll be back online in the morning with more details. Please stay tuned.

Thanks,

Steve

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Comment by Lou reves on September 12, 2010 at 4:29pm: My question Steve is this, How long will we have to wait to see it?

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 12, 2010 at 7:30pm: Louie, everyone: First of all, thanks for your support and willingness to see what the online edition of Autograph is like. I really appreciate it. I'll have more on it later tonight or in the AM, but to answer your question, articles will start showing up online on Tuesday.

You'll be getting a login email to create an account which will have material strictly for subscribers. It's not going to be smooth for a good week, but there will be 8-10 articles up by the end of the week, and more every week.

One of the most exciting things for through-the-mail collectors is that people can rate their success with an address! And you'll be able to comment on them, too. That should be up this week--maybe even by Tuesday. But that system won't be in its most polished form for a while; we have to build the application. When the full application is built, you'll be able to add addresses and examples of what you got back.

We also have extensive surveys coming online, so people can tell us what they want to see, what they've read that they like or don't, what they need to know, etc.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 12, 2010 at 7:40pm: Mark, thanks and Shana Tova to you, too. This will be a memorable one, because it was Rosh Hashana Eve that I made the decision.

Comment by john reznikoff on September 12, 2010 at 7:52pm: It is good to see the comments are a net positive!

Comment by Stephen Duncan on September 12, 2010 at 8:27pm: I am excited. Change and progress are good. This magazine deserves our support. Who else fights the bags guys more than Mr. Cyrkin.................

Comment by Darrel Wayne Cray on September 13, 2010 at 12:28pm: well you know my situation steve so i cant complain, i cant wait to see the new setup. i spend most of my quiet time on here anyways so it should be nice, as long as my battery stays charged.besides the issues will be easier to store on my hard drive then on my shelves, the wife already complaining between the hunting magazines and this one she will b e happier too. thanks for the heqads up steve.

Comment by will Jenkins on September 13, 2010 at 3:36pm: when will this take place and was there a notice sent out to let subscribers know of the change?

Comment by Robert Chandler on September 13, 2010 at 4:33pm: Since there were no July or August issues, does our online subscription start in Sept? Will we get credit added for the summer issues that we missed? I really enjoy getting into a corner and reading the print issue. I will miss that. I can't always have a computer with me when I want to read the latest issue!!

Comment by Chris Klamer on September 14, 2010 at 6:31am: I will give this a chance at least until my subscription runs out. But I am one of the old fashion kind of guys that likes to have an actual book to read in my hands when and where I want (Like my Library) without having to worry about if my battery is charged in my laptop or my Ipad. I look at a computer screen all day long and sometimes it's really nice to sit back and read something without worrying about going blind from the glare. Now I do understand the need for Steve and the crew to do this but it would have been nice if you had kept your subscribers a little more up to date on the problems and what you were looking at doing over the next few months. I know this was also a hard decision for all of you and I guess we will hang around and see how it goes but all we ask is please communicate with us and don't leave us hanging for months.
I collect many types of items from comic books to original art and autographs from Hollywood, Sports and historical figures so it's pretty extensive. But when they came up with doing comic books online I am pretty much against it and will always want a printed book over digital anyday. It's bad enough that the digital world has lost people there jobs because they have been obsoleted because their job is now being done in a digital medium.
Like I said it's nice to go home and find that copy of Autograph magazine sitting on the counter and immediately taking it and sitting down and thumbing through the entire magazine and then going back over the next several days and reading the articles a little closer.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 14, 2010 at 8:28am: Chris,

You're right, I was not good at communication. I'm sorry. I couldn't work as much as I needed to this summer.

It's ironic: a major reason we couldn't afford the print edition is that we rejected most of the dealers who wanted to advertise because they sold forgeries. Between the economy and competition from the Internet, advertising in all magazines is down dramatically, and that's where most of our revenue comes from. But the forgery dealers wanted to advertise in Autograph both to reach our readers and because it made them look legitimate. We could have easily had another 20 pages of advertising if we didn't care who advertised...as long as they paid their bill. And a lot of legitimate dealers couldn't afford to advertise because the forgery dealers were taking too much of their business. That's especially the case in music and entertainment, and to a slightly lesser extent in sports.