The document outlines key lessons in digital publishing by Mike Haney, emphasizing the transformation of the media industry into a bifurcated landscape of struggling traditional publishers and innovative, entrepreneurial platforms. It introduces mag+, a tool for easy app publishing without coding, as it outlines its history, functionality, and strategies for utilizing apps effectively in the digital ecosystem. Additionally, it discusses the importance of creative content delivery and analytics for ongoing project success.

1. Mike Haney · August 22, 2013 · New York
5 Lessons of Digital Publishing

2. Mike Haney, Chief Creative
Officer and Co-Founder, Mag+
• Set editorial and creative
direction for the platfrom
• Former editor and graphic
designer
• Contributing editor at
Popular Science and Conde
Nast Traveler
Who’s this guy?

3. Jobs introduces iPad
Tablets become our
robot overlords

4. “Visionaries see a future of telecommuting
workers, interactive libraries and multimedia
classrooms. They speak of electronic town
meetings and virtual communities. Commerce
and business will shift from offices and malls to
networks and modems. And the freedom of
digital networks will make government more
democratic. Baloney.”
-Cliff Stoll, Newsweek, Feb 27, 1995:
“The Internet? Bah!”

5. “The media industry is bifurcated into two distinct
worlds: the struggling traditional segment that
longs for a simpler, more profitable past that will
never return; and the vibrant, entrepreneurial
segment that is reinventing the industry before
our eyes. The simple act of choosing to live on
the new, wide-open frontier is a powerful step
toward success.”
-Justin Smith, Bloomberg, August, 2013

6. magplus.com
What’s Mag+?
• Publish content to your own custom branded app on iPad, iPhone,
Kindle Fire and Android Devices
• No coding required! Just design your issues in InDesign (or let us
do it for you) and serve them through your app
• Works with Adobe InDesign CS4-CS6
• Instantly preview on any device
• Flexible pricing with no issue download costs
• Download our tools for free at magplus.com!
Full publishing ecosystem for designing and distributing
content through apps on touchscreen devices

7. magplus.com
History
• 2009 - Project begins with
months of research and testing
• 2010 - Popular Science+
launches with the iPad
• 2011 - Becomes independent
company licensing platform
• 2013 - Reach 1,500+ apps,
3 million+ installed apps and
35 employees, with offices in
New York and Stockholm

8. magplus.com
Today: 1,500+ Apps Built

9. magplus.com
How It Works

10. magplus.com
A Mag+ App
An App in two parts

11. magplus.com
Platforms
Supporting different devices: iPad, iPhone,
Kindle Fire, Android tablets and Android smartphones.

12. magplus.com
Regular Mag+ Apps
Per Issue
• One app
• One device
• Pay per issue
$999/issue
Additional device: $99/issue
All devices: $199/issue
Monthly
• One app
• One device
• Unlimited issues
$399/month
Additional device: $99/month
All devices: $199/month
Unlimited
• Unlimited apps
• Unlimited devices
• Unlimited issues
$2,999/month
No mandatory download fees, ever

13. magplus.com
Regular Mag+ Apps
300mb issue with 20,000 downloads/month
Mag+ $.17/GB = $.05/issue = $1,000
Others $.12/issue prepaid = $2,400
Savings of $16,800/year

14. • Build your own Mag+ app!
• Includes two components: the MIB
reader and the Connection to the Mag+
backend
• Allows you to use the Mag+ design tools
and backend, while creating a custom
end user experience
• Customize the navigation, features,
functions, menu, etc.
• Or build the Mag+ functionality into
another app—add a content tab to
games, utilities, larger apps
Mag+ SDK
$3,499/month

15. magplus.com
Creative services & consulting

16. Five Lessons in Digital Publishing

17. magplus.com
Strategy =
Goals + Content Inventory + Resources
What do I
expect to get
out of this app?
What will I/we
consider
success?
What content do I have?
What content could I have?
What content does the
audience I want to get
expect from this app?
What kind of money do I
have?
What kind of talent do I
have? What kind of time
do I have?
What should you do?

18. magplus.com
What should you do?
AppsYour Brand

19. magplus.com
What should you do?
AppsYour Brand
Your App

20. magplus.com
1. Apps are not a fad

21. magplus.com
1. Apps are not a fad

22. magplus.com
1. Apps are not a fad

23. magplus.com
1. Apps are not a fad

24. magplus.com
$4.5 billion
in iTunes revenue in June 2013
12 million songs per day
$11 billion
paid to developers
800/second
app downloads
20 billion
app downloads in 2012
575 million
credit cards on file
1. Apps are not a fad
Source: Apple

25. magplus.com
• Immersive
• Designed
• Easy to monetize
• Works offline
• Greater experience control
• Native to device
1a. The unique value of apps

26. 2. You have to go native
This is not your competition

27. 2. You have to go native
This is

28. 2. You have to go native
And this

29. 2. You have to go native
And this

31. WHAT’SNEW GREENTECH
SIMPLERSOLARTIMELINE
SUN POWER GETS EASIER WITH NEW LIGHTWEIGHT PANELS
Solar power sounds great: electricity from sunshine, for free, no
carbon footprint. But solar panels often come with hefty price
tags or require complex installations. Now lighter materials are
making them less expensive and more convenient, whether you
carry them with you or snap them onto your roof.—Sarah Parsons
Power Pack
Plug-and-Play
Panels
Click together a rooftop solar
system in a few hours, saving
days or weeks on design and
installation. Armageddon’s modular
kit consists of metal frames light
enough to carry up a ladder, plus 18-
pound solar panels—coated in Teflon
instead of heavy glass—that snap
onto the frames’ tabs. The easy-to-lift,
ready-made parts mean that installers
don’t have to build frames on top of a
house and also eliminate tricky wiring,
since each frame has its own DC-to-AC
converter that lets it plug straight into
a home circuit breaker. Armageddon
Energy SolarClovers From $8,000;
armageddonenergy.com—s.p.
Solar Shingles
Rather than laying solar panels across your roof, use them as your
roof. Dow built thin-film photovoltaic cells directly into polymer
shingles. They’re as protective as ordinary shingles, nail down in
the same way and, in place of exposed wiring, hook together with
simple electrical connectors at their ends. Some units go on sale
later this year, with wide availability next year. Dow is also working
on other building materials with sun power built in. Dow Power-
house Solar Shingles Price not set; dowsolar.com—arnie cooper
NOW
SOON: FALL
LATER: 2011 MIX AND MATCH Dow’s
solar tiles blend in with
standard roof shingles.
This take-anywhere electric plant
won’t weigh you down. Tonino
Lamborghini’s bag is the first
product to use a new solar panel
that’s as light, thin and flexible
as fabric yet absorbs rays in any
light, including artificial light or
under clouds. It’s made of dye-
sensitized solar cells, which trap
more wavelengths in less space
by wrapping each individual
particle of a conductive layer in
light-absorbing dye molecules.
Charge a cellphone in six to eight
hours, indoors or out. Tonino
Lamborghini Solar Bag with G24
DSSC Panel $200 (est.);
www.tlmm.com—s.p.
FROMTOP:COURTESYTONINOLAMBORGHINI;COURTESY
ARMAGEDDONENERGY;COURTESYDOW
BEAM DATA Your
phone can display power
output and other stats sent
by Armageddon’s solar units.
POPSCI.COM26 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2010

35. WHAT’SNEW GREENTECH
SIMPLERSOLARTIMELINE
SUN POWER GETS EASIER WITH NEW LIGHTWEIGHT PANELS
Solar power sounds great: electricity from sunshine, for free, no
carbon footprint. But solar panels often come with hefty price
tags or require complex installations. Now lighter materials are
making them less expensive and more convenient, whether you
carry them with you or snap them onto your roof.—Sarah Parsons
Power Pack
Plug-and-Play
Panels
Click together a rooftop solar
system in a few hours, saving
days or weeks on design and
installation. Armageddon’s modular
kit consists of metal frames light
enough to carry up a ladder, plus 18-
pound solar panels—coated in Teflon
instead of heavy glass—that snap
onto the frames’ tabs. The easy-to-lift,
ready-made parts mean that installers
don’t have to build frames on top of a
house and also eliminate tricky wiring,
since each frame has its own DC-to-AC
converter that lets it plug straight into
a home circuit breaker. Armageddon
Energy SolarClovers From $8,000;
armageddonenergy.com—s.p.
Solar Shingles
Rather than laying solar panels across your roof, use them as your
roof. Dow built thin-film photovoltaic cells directly into polymer
shingles. They’re as protective as ordinary shingles, nail down in
the same way and, in place of exposed wiring, hook together with
simple electrical connectors at their ends. Some units go on sale
later this year, with wide availability next year. Dow is also working
on other building materials with sun power built in. Dow Power-
house Solar Shingles Price not set; dowsolar.com—arnie cooper
NOW
SOON: FALL
LATER: 2011 MIX AND MATCH Dow’s
solar tiles blend in with
standard roof shingles.
This take-anywhere electric plant
won’t weigh you down. Tonino
Lamborghini’s bag is the first
product to use a new solar panel
that’s as light, thin and flexible
as fabric yet absorbs rays in any
light, including artificial light or
under clouds. It’s made of dye-
sensitized solar cells, which trap
more wavelengths in less space
by wrapping each individual
particle of a conductive layer in
light-absorbing dye molecules.
Charge a cellphone in six to eight
hours, indoors or out. Tonino
Lamborghini Solar Bag with G24
DSSC Panel $200 (est.);
www.tlmm.com—s.p.
FROMTOP:COURTESYTONINOLAMBORGHINI;COURTESY
ARMAGEDDONENERGY;COURTESYDOW
BEAM DATA Your
phone can display power
output and other stats sent
by Armageddon’s solar units.
POPSCI.COM26 POPULAR SCIENCE APRIL 2010

38. 3. There is money here
• 40% spend an hour or more with an issue
(80% spend at least 30 minutes)
• U.S. consumers spend on average 2 hours
and 38 minutes per day on smartphones and
tablets - 80% is spent inside apps.
• 94% “any action taken” for a Curel ad in
Prevention magazine
• 67% “considered purchase” for an Oscar
Meyer bacon ad in Better Homes and
Gardens
• 81% “used any interactive features” on a
Chevrolet auto ad in Motor Trend
Consumers
Advertising
Sources: Popular Science; Flurry 2013; GFK MRI, June 2013

39. Source: Strategy Analytics,App Revenue Forecast, November 2012
Global App Revenue Forecast 2008 - 2017 ($M)
Tablets Phones
3. There is money here

40. Source: eMarketer, Dec 2012
3. There is money here

41. 3. There is money here
Source: Distimo, March 2013

42. British Journal of Photography iPad App
• 16,000 subscribers
• 200,000+ downloads (7,846 print readers)
• Phenomenal growth overseas with 2,000
downloads a day in the US alone
• Average session length is 5 minutes, but over
10,000 sessions lasted longer than 10 minutes
• Live news function doubled the number of iPad
users to BJP - online
3. There is money here

43. 3. There is money here
• Around 40,000 annual
subscriptions at $14.99 each
(net 70%)
• Total rate base: 350,000
• More than 10% of that rate base
no longer has to be printed and
shipped

44. magplus.com
4. Think beyond the magazine
• Think about this as a new channel,
not just a replacement for print
• Be creative with issues
• Remember what you do well:
delivering curated content to
focused audiences
• Question everything:
price, frequency, size

45. magplus.com
4. Think beyond the magazine
Click to play + turn audio on.
Source: PopularScience+

46. magplus.com
4. Think beyond the magazine
The Bulletin
• Digital only app by The Tribune Co
• Issues produced immediately after every
game
• Initially sponsored by the Illinois Lottery
• Additional issues preview games
• Replicated for Bears, Padres and others

47. 4. Think beyond the magazine
The Atlantic
Magazine
The Atlantic
Weekly Digital
Editions
The Atlantic Web
Properties
The Atlantic
Daily Photo
Blog - In Focus
Theatlantic.com
The Atlantic Wire
The Atlantic Quartz
The Atlantic Cities

48. magplus.com
4. Think beyond the magazine
In business, too
• Ads don’t have to be print ads
• Subscriptions can be more
• Super subscriptions
• Daily news
• SIPs
• Break up the issue

49. magplus.com
4. Think beyond the magazine
• What if it were an “issue”?
• Automatic delivery BEFORE you
could see it on TV
• Exclusive sponsor
• Charge a fortune for it
• Include:
• Slideshows of behind-the-scenes content
• Interviews
• Plot summaries of previous episodes
• AND the actual show!
• It’s about bundles of content

50. 5. This is an ongoing project

51. 5. This is an ongoing project

52. 5. This is an ongoing project
The analytics cheat sheet
• Appoint a person in charge
• Make a weekly report and share it
• Watch:
• Time spent per page
• Links clicked
• App download to issue download/purchase conversion
• Retention
• Daypart

53. 5. This is an ongoing project

54. magplus.com
Final words of wisdom
Test
Fail/Succeed
Learn
(just fail quickly)

55. Thank you!
magplus.com
Make Publishing Magic