Essay by Martha and Ed Quillen
Colorado Central – July 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
SINCE WE STARTED PUBLISHING Colorado Central in 1994, we’ve seen postal rates increase several times, usually less than 10%. On May 14, 2007, new rates were issued. Our category, “automation flats,” went up by 40%.
Thus we have little choice but to raise subscription and advertising rates, effective July 1, 2007.
Regular subscriptions will be $25 per year. Gift subscriptions, if purchased by someone who already subscribes, will be $20 per year. Advertising rates will increase by approximately 15%.
Before now, we have raised only one price; a few years ago, the counter price went from $1.95 to $2.50.
We probably should have adjusted our rates more frequently, but not all costs have gone up in the past 13+ years.
Indeed, many costs went down. The computer equipment we use to produce this magazine costs much less, and is vastly more capable, than what was available back then. When we ordered our first computer for the magazine, we wanted a 1-gigabyte hard drive, but could afford only 580 megabytes, and that cost nearly $600. Now you can get a 300-gigabyte drive, with about 500 times as much capacity, for less than $100.
Similarly, processors and memory have become much faster and cheaper. Long-distance telephone service costs considerably less. Despite its vexations, email saves labor and time, since most of our text arrives electronically and does not have to be re-typed.
Pre-press costs have gone down. We used to have to run off each page of the magazine on a high-end laser printer which required constant maintenance and expensive coated paper; now we burn the pages to a CD, which costs less than a quarter, and we take that to the printer.
So as some costs went up, others went down. And we have been able to improve the magazine, with full color and more pages with more content.
However, this time around we don’t see any realistic alternative to a general price increase if we want to stay in business. Many publications have been hit hard by this latest round of postal rate increases, so we’re not alone here.
Maybe it’s all part of a grand scheme to push even more communication to the Internet. But even though it’s technologically possible to deliver a reasonable facsimile of this magazine that way, it wouldn’t be something you could just pick up and read. You’d have to download it, print it, and assemble it to read it in your easy chair, or else you’d be sitting in front of a machine, and many of you may already feel you spend too much time behind a desk.
In other words, we think there’s still a place for ink on paper delivered to your door, and we hope you agree.
We have always striven to give our subscribers and advertisers a good value, and we believe that Colorado Central will continue to be a good value, even if it costs a little more.
