Zines: How do they work?

[wolffyluna]

I have had this problem for a week, and it's only now that I've realised that I probably know a bunch of people who know the answer to this question.

How much should one pay for a pay-what-you-want pdf zine?

I know the answer is technically 'whatever you want!' but I have no clue what a reasonable amount is. Is there a formula of pages to dollars, multiply it by this number if it's in colour, or something like that?

Comments

[lb_lee]

know the answer is technically 'whatever you want!'

Damn! That's what I was going to say. :p

I can't speak for others, but when I put something up as "pay what you want," I fully accept "free" as a reasonable response, and have put the thing up with that understanding. People who offer a free option, only to then get shirty if you take it, shouldn't offer a free option, if you ask me.

That said, if you really are hellbent on paying, I usually price my books ENTIRELY based on printing costs, and ebooks are half the paper cost. So if a book costs me $5, the ebook is $2.50. (Or $3, since sometimes round numbers are just plain easier.) So if you prefer, and if the listing offers a page count, you can try to imagine how much you'd pay for a paper thing of that size, and then halve it. So like, would I buy (or, in my case, print) a 300 page paper book for $20? Then $10 is cool for the ebook.

But for real, pay-what-you-want is, in my books, "pay IF you want. Any and all is good." (Though it never fails to surprise me how generous some folks are!)

I can't speak for color. Printing color is hell on wheels and I hate it. And come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I bought a pay-what-you-want thing that had color in it...

--Rogan

[wolffyluna]

Ooh, 'half the price of the physical thing' is a useful guideline! Thank you!

I know that technically 'free' is an option, but I feel a little weird taking it. And I'd definitely feel weird taking it if I was willing to pay, and just couldn't work out how much. (That has happened a couple of times. Not my finest moments :P).

I think this pay-what-you-want thing I'm thinking of is in colour because it only exists as an e-version? So printing isn't an issue.

[lb_lee]

No problem! You buy those zines, friend! You enjoy them!

[contrarianarchon]

If it's a digital file, I pay nothing, and maybe go back and pay 5 bucks if it's notably good. Maybe not top ethics, but eh. It works.

[wolffyluna]

It's a method!