We here at MagAppZine have been staying up all night, literally, for days, weeks, and months, preparing this new release.
MagAppZine was founded in July 2010, less than two months after the first iPad was released into the world. We saw what was on the horizon for publishing on the iPad, and we set out to create a platform that would make the transition to digital as painless as possible for publishers.
We launched MagAppZine to the public in April 2011.
In our five months of being out in the world, and the nine months of R&D before that, we have learned much about the publishing industry, about the technology we are working with, and about ourselves.
Overwhelmingly, there have been requests for three changes/updates to our platform that have risen above the rest:
1. Embedded links, video, and other multimedia.
2. No setup fee.
3. No revenue share.
And so we knew that for our 2.0 release, those were the areas we needed to concentrate on. I am happy to report we have accomplished all those and a lot more.
Using MagControl, our unique web dashboard, you can upload a PDF and then easily add links to it simply by drawing boxes on the page. You can draw a box around a photo, text— literally anything on the page. Then you can choose to link to another page in the issue, a website, video, audio, or trigger an email. Hit save and draw the next box.
It’s really really simple to use, staying with our mantra of “Quick. Easy. Affordable. Really.”
As for the pricing changes, we have done away with our setup fee (previously $2,994) and other assorted fees and instead have moved to monthly plans. $99/month gets you the Basic Package with an app very similar to the ones we have been making since April, and $299/month gets you the Premium Package with links and multimedia and some other bells and whistles.
Signing up for MagAppZine, creating an app, adding issues, etc. is now free. So anyone can create an account and start using MagControl to try it out. You only choose an App Package when you actually submit your app to Apple.
Revenue share is gone too, as is the free issue packages. Now there is just a flat fee per end user download: $.30/download with a Basic Package and $.20/download with a Premium Package.
There are some other exciting new things too like a new improved sleek UI for MagControl, a Table of Contents button in the apps, faster loading times in the apps, apps being available internationally, international publications being able to sign up, and a bunch of other great features that will create an even better experience for our clients and for their readers.
MagAppZine is going to continue to innovate and be a leader in this arena. I’m so excited about this release and really looking forward to seeing these apps in action!
Just remember, if making an app for your publication seems hard, then you’re doing it wrong. So give us a try FOR FREE!
- Paul
