MagCloud Print On Demand Alternative

So, I have plans to make a print version of Five by Five available from MagCloud. The production cost seems kind of high and I want to make the print version available for as little as possible. I am settling on a cost of $5.95. I'm hoping that's affordable enough that people will opt to go ahead and buy it, because although I lament the production cost above (stating it's 'kind of high,') I just got my proofs in the mail, and the production values are equally high.

MagCloud is set up to allow small independent publishers to publish magazines. The magazine format serves Five by Five's low page count and use of color interior quite well. The Five by Five 'magazine' is full color throughout on a nice coated stock.  The colors are bright and the whole thing is just truly beautiful. I am very pleased with the results.

I am also quite happy with my experience with the MagCloud website. I was able to upload my PDF and preview the 'print' copy with very little effort or technical know how. It was easy, and it was fast. And they sent my draft copy to me for review free of charge (all I paid was shipping.) If I have any complaints at all, it's that the cheapest shipping option ($1.40) saw my copy of Five by Five get banged up in the mail. The issue is sealed in plastic that's fairly durable, but it's still just plastic, and the postman doesn't have any reservations about bending the magazine in half.

I have made a number of minor revisions to Five by Five since its release only a week ago. Most of these were tiny, tweeky, perfectingish sorts of things, and I am feeling really good about where the game is right now. It was really cool to hold the printout in my hands even if it was bent up a bit. I am expecting another draft to arrive within the week with all my final changes, and then, hopefully, I will be ready to go live. This time I chose a slightly more expensive shipping option (FedEx for $4.04) to see if that might ensure the magazine gets to me in slightly better condition.

I am concentrating efforts on play testing for right now to make sure all the "numbers" I have chosen to represent all the various things in the game actually work in play as well as I hoped they would when I committed them to paper. I will complete several play tests before I make the print version available. I don't want people paying money for something "half-baked."

By the way ... if anyone else is trying Five by Five at their game table I would love to hear the results of your game sessions.

Regards,



Jeff Moore