The Post Office has Gone Insane: THERE IS NO MORE SURFACE MAIL TO OVERSEAS

[Guest]

The bad news is that it's going to cost about $8 more per year for a surface mail subscription.We will be contacting all of our surface mail subscribers and asking them to please send us the additional money so we don't lose money on their subscriptions.

Crisis partially averted, for now.

You ARE joking arent you?! Dont mean to be so frank, but you have gone completely nuts.

Your crisis has only begun if you think to ask your foreign subscribers to cover the costs of a business decision which should of been known (at worst) and addressed with a solution (at best) months ago. You are now going to ask me to send you the extra money so YOU dont lose money?!Wow! Now that takes courage...

Well Dustin you were right...And now I know why!

While Im happy with getting my subscription at the annual rate I paid (albeit 3 to 4 weeks after the initial release), Im not happy with the idea of asking ME to eat any loss YOU may have as a result of poor business forecasting. At the very least lie to me about a higher quality ink being used, thicker magical paper or brighter photos, or something...anything... to justify this move other than "ooopsss, by the way, we dont want to lose money therefore we are asking you to send a donation"...The magazine is good but it aint...well never mind...

This thread is not a debate about the issues of whether Genii is going to become a digital magazine available as a pdf--it isn't, and that's the end of that discussion.

Is it? While I dont condone it...Just for the record, GENII, IS ALREADY available for those in the know in pdf.Thats all I have to say on the issue.

[Dustin Stinett]

By Michael Dawson:
At the very least lie to me

Fascinating: Youd prefer that Richard lie to you than make a sincere request (not a demand; a request). Since you clearly do condone lying, that makes your I dont condone it qualifier on the pirated PDFs of Genii rather disingenuous.

Im not at all surprised.

Dustin
(Knows of one expense The Genii could eliminate to help offset the huge expense its about to take.)

[Guest]

:o

[Richard Kaufman]

Thank you for your support, Mr. Dawson. I'll be cancelling your subscription tomorrow and refunding the balance of your money.

[Bob Farmer]

Mr. Dawson has failed to understand the club rules, has been found in the dining room without a suit and tie and has been escorted from the grounds by the doorman.

Right now, Genii is way underpriced. It costs $6. It should cost $15. Look at the magic junk that sells for $15 and more -- Genii is a deal by any standard -- it's more than a deal, it's effectively free. Most people spend more than $6 on parking every day.

If one does not want to support one of the gems of the magic world, one should not consider themselves part of that world. There has never been a magic magazine this good.

[Mark Collier]

I was talking to a friend that works for the Postal Service about this and he mentioned the postal rate is different depending on whether the
mailing label is vertical or horizontal. I don't know if it's enough to make a difference but it might be worth checking out.

[Guest]

Having edited two magazines and published one professional journal, I am well-aware of the trials and tribulations Richard Kaufman faces daily. It is not a job I would willingly sign up for again.

Imagine that you are a manufacturer and you must make a COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT every 30 days. In addition to making this COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT, you must get it delivered to your customers in a timely manner each and every month.

You must price and sell advertising space to companies who want to reach a defined market so they know their advertising dollars are not miss-spent.

This COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT must be priced competitively - not necessarily reflecting what SHOULD BE CHARGED - but consistent with what your competition charges and this COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT must turn a profit to support yourself and your family because the COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT is not underwritten or supported by any organization. On top of all this, the COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT must satisfy your customers each and every month to the point that they continue buying it.

On top of that you must deal with customer complaints (some real and some nonsensical), production problems both expected and unexpected, ever-rising costs.....the list could go on for several hundred more words.

In addition to producing this COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT each month you must travel to promote your product, solicit articles and advertising, deal with the myriad egos both large and small that populate our odd little community and still keep your sanity.

Out of the maelstrom of lunacy a decent living must be forged and then, when conditions out of your control force you ask for a small increase in postage, some idiot who is paying far less than the COMPLETELY NEW PRODUCT should sell for whines about having to pay a pittance to offset unexpected increases in postage.

While Richard can't ask for appreciation, the least he should be getting is a bit of respect and understanding.

I'd love to see the kind of magazine Michael Dawson could produce.

[Guest]

David:

I for one would never question the quality nor the work that goes into Genii. I've seen the steady improvements over the last few years and am always impressed that the magazine that arrives in the mail put together by one man.

I'll never question the price, nor will I ever question Richard on the business decisions that he makes daily in regard to Genii.

However, I can ask why something so important was not in his radar from day one.

Should the prices go up, then I am happy to pay. The sum of all it's parts are still worth way more than I'll ever be expected to pay for a subscription.

David.

[Guest]

The bad news is that it's going to cost about $8 more per year for a surface mail subscription.
We will be contacting all of our surface mail subscribers and asking them to please send us the additional money so we don't lose money on their subscriptions.

I'm curious as to what ask means here. Is it something along the lines of we would appreciate it if you sent us extra money, or more along the lines of if we dont get the extra money we will have to cancel your remaining subscription and refund some of your money?

Unless the shipping changes are so severe that they would make Genii unprofitable long enough to put it out of business then I really hope it is the second. The magic industry is plagued by poor customer service and it would be a shame for Genii to get attacked for this when they have made such a great name for themselves now.

Because magic is such a small community and with forums such as this it really seems the case that nearly everybody knows everybody. In most industries when a company implements a price increase people complain and if the company asked for peoples help it would not be forthcoming. Imagine if the post office decided to keep their surface mail as before but decided that there would need to a price increase and also asked people to send them some money to help them reduce losses. I would conjecture that people would be appaled at their request. The postal changes are due to financial reasons I'm sure; I doubt they did it just to shake things up. Businesses have to adapt and the cost will be passed on to the consumer. But just as Genii has the right to complain about the cost increases they will have to deal with so too do the subscribers have a right to complain about the added costs they now have to pay.

In general the problems that arise during the course of business are of no concern to the consumer. What I mean is: if the business can't resolve the problem, even if it is not their fault, and has to raise prices then the consumer can just stop buying their product or buy from another company. Since it is a small community and further since Genii is not easily substituted we are much more inclined to help support them and do what we can to carry them through the crisis. But if someone disagrees with the way they are handling the situation and wants to complain that does not make them an idiot.

[Guest]

Postal rates go up and the magazine's publisher asks for a paltry $8 a year to make up the difference for a small circulation specialty magazine that is already underpriced and people howl and complain like he was asking for a kidney.

[Guest]

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre..."

Did someone turn up the dryer?

I believe the center will hold even if the falcon wanders off and the the sphinx offers a new riddle.

[Guest]

Yikes....make that Yeats.

I'll slouch away now.

[Guest]

Mr. Alexander,

I wasn't complaining. Since I live in the United States the post office's new overseas policy does not directly affect me. Also I tend to buy my magic magazines from dealers to help support the store. If I was a subscriber I would send the few extra bucks in the help Genii.

All I was saying is that people have the right to complain about increasing prices without being personally insulted.

[Guest]

I saw the complaints against Richard as being directed at him personally for not being "on top" of his mailing situation.

I am experienced with dealing the the US Post Office on several levels and found, too often, that one can received contraditory information and advice from people paid to be on top of these sorts of things....and who expected them to eliminate an entire class of mail?

Genii is Kaufman's baby all the way through. It's personal. While people may have the right to complain, they should complain about things they know and understand instead of piddly crap like a few dollars more a year for an already underpriced magazine. If they don't want to open themselves up to criticism by making their complaint public, they can email Richard privately.

And I would observe, while you like to support your local magic shop, Genii, with essentially one product to rely on for income, is more deserving of your direct support with a subscription.

[Ian Kendall]

I think I read somewhere that magazines make very little from shop bought copies, and the bread and butter is the direct subscriptions.

But, the figure in question is eight dollars. To an individual who, most likely, uses a currency several times more robust than the dollar at the moment, this is a tiny amount. It's not like we've been asked for a couple of hundred dollars to make up a shortfall.

Take care, Ian

[Guest]

Yeah I don't entirely agree with people accusing Richard personally for not knowing in advance about this change. If Genii were a huge corporation maybe but obviously not in this case where Kaufman has enough stuff to deal with daily. For those that knew about it way ahead of time you could have sent Kaufman an email about it. I know I would have if only to see how this was going to affect my subscription.

I believe its true that magazines make most of their non-advertisement money from subscriptions. The fact is though that I generally don't see much at the magic shop that I would actually want to purchase. If I am going to be hanging out there from time to time the least I could do is purchase a magazine from them. While neither the store nor the magazine are making a huge profit from my purchase they are getting some of my cash which is better than me loitering and not handing over any.

While a few more dollars may seem like piddly crap to you does that make it piddly to everyone? How many people might not have subscribed if the cost was $8 more? I'm willing to guess there is at least 1, surely many more.

Also Mr. Alexander you say that Genii is underpriced but that is just your opinion. It's hard to argue about this since it can only ever be opinion and to be honest I don't have an opinion one way or the other on it. But again, people who don't share your opinion are not necessarily idiots.

Yes Genii is Kaufman's baby and while I don't think he should take complaints personal I can certainly appreciate it if he does. I also agree that complaints like those made above, especially the ones that directly complain about Kaufman's running of the magazine should have been done in private. But because so many other things which should have been said in private have been said in public on this and other boards I guess it is to be expected.

While people may have the right to complain, they should complain about things they know and understand instead of piddly crap like a few dollars more a year for an already underpriced magazine.

It's not that people may have the right to complain. They do have the right to complain. I would also hold that most people know and understand a few dollars. They might not know about magazine publishing or distribution but they do know that they have been asked for more money for a product they already paid for. Like I said before, most people would laugh in the face of a business asking them for more money for something they already purchased but this being such a small community many of us would be willing to help out. Those that don't have a right not to and should not be insulted for their choice.

[Richard Kaufman]

If you compare Genii to any other niche-market magazines that you may find at Borders or whatever local magazine store you have, you'll find that most cost between $8 and $10. At $6, Genii is severely under-priced. We are held at that dollar level, quite simply, by MAGIC magazine.

I haven't had a raise since 1998 when I bought the magazine, and increasing costs and health care have eaten away at my salary.

If my wife were to decide she would no longer like to be the Art Director (and do the lay out), we could never find an applicant for the job at the salary she currently receives.

If any of you think we're getting rich off Genii, that's just a fantasy. In fact, Genii lost money last year.

We cannot afford to absorb the increased cost from the new mailing service for the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of subscribers. Many small magazines (with circulations much larger than ours) will go out of business because of these new postal regulations and prices.

That's why we're asking all of our surface mail subscribers to please remit to us an additional $8 for each year of your subscription. We'll decide what other steps to take if they don't.

As far as not knowing about the raise in advance, the company which prints and mails our magazine, which prints and mails many other magazines as well, was also unaware of this until the last minute--and this is work in which they specialize. At Genii, we have a staff of THREE and we put out a magazine larger than TIME or Newsweek. If you think I have the time to examine postal regulations on a regular basis, you're nuts. I delegate that responsibility to others so I can put all of my efforts into ensuring that you receive the best possible content on a monthly basis and get many times the value of your subscription each year.

[Guest]

If you compare Genii to any other niche-market magazines that you may find at Borders or whatever local magazine store you have, you'll find that most cost between $8 and $10. At $6, Genii is severely under-priced. We are held at that dollar level, quite simply, by MAGIC magazine.

I actually wouldn't know about that since the three magazine I buy monthly from borders are from a niche-market and two of them cost $5 and the thirs costs $6 and the six dollar one has very few advertisements which is probably a reason for the higher cost. Since this is my only experience with niche-market magazines other than Genii and MAGIC, $6 seems fine to me. In fact with the other magazines people have complained about the six being too steep but in that market there is much more information available on the internet for far cheaper. I pay 4.95 a month for a website and I get about three new high class articles daily.

Just out of curiousity, how come MAGIC is able to operate well (if they even do) at $6 per? Is it because they use lower quality printing or are they backed by somebody? Just wondering.

I don't think most people believe you are getting rich off of Genii. Anyway thank you for answering my question. If it is indeed the case that Genii can not afford to continue without more money then you gotta do what you gotta do. Those that don't want to pay will probably complain but this is one of those times where people will just have to deal with it. A more expensive Genii is better than no Genii at all.

[Richard Kaufman]

MAGIC has a higher circulation, so it has more money in the bank.

Additionally, when Genii was weak (before I bought it), MAGIC was probably able to save a lot of money that it now has to spend.

Unfortunately, we never started with any cash reserve and have been in debt since the day after we bought it. It cost us $80,000 to fulfill all the subscriptions that already existed when we bought the magazine. AND, we had to buy the magazine from Irene Larsen, she didn't give it us. :)

[Guest]

Richard

For USA subscribers, I'm for bumping up a one year subscription from $53 to $60. A three year subscription to $160. Do you feel this would hurt you overall? It doesn't seem to me that subscribers would abandon one magazine for another or if they get both , dump one. Magic would probably bump up it's rates accordingly. I have no clue about the publishing business just know that that cost increase wouldn't bother me in the least.

Arnie

[George Olson]

Why don't we cut all the crap and send Mr Kaufman an $8.00 check!

Mine is on its way.

GO

[Richard Kaufman]

Thank you, George, but the increase applies only to subcribers outside the US who receive their magazine by surface mail rather than airmail. I don't want anyone to pay more than the normal subscription rate based upon where they live.

I also really wish that we could raise our subscription price to $60 in the US and not see a lot of subscribers fail to renew. But I don't think it would play out that way.

[Guest]

Richard, might Genii be able to offer a special thank-you item to folks who contribute extra monies on top of their previously paid-for overseas subscriptions?

And since postage is the problem, what if the thank-you item incurred no postage costs?

Perhaps some clever and generous magical inventors could be asked to contribute an effect using letters, postcards, stamps or other mail-themed props to a small assembly of say, 5-8 tricks?

Call it the "Genii Postage Crisis Benefit Project," make it a PDF and email it to donors?

[No, I am not Chris Wasshuber posting under an assumed name. Really.]

- Material costs = 0.
- Labor costs = roughly equivalent to producing a month's Magicana section.
- Distribution costs = 0.
- Goodwill generated = huge, at least compared to what I've seen so far in this thread.

This would also broaden the donor base beyond the overseas subscribers. I realize you don't want to put the screws to domestic subscribers, but here's a potential way for that group to want to hand you money anyway.

Everybody wins!

(Well, maybe.)

[Richard Kaufman]

Ted, that's a good idea. The only problem is that if you're going to practically give something away (at $8), it really has to be made available to all subscribers who want to pay for it, not just the folks who have surface mail delivery.
But, that's a good idea. Thanks.

[Guest]

I'd happily pay $10.00 per issue by subscription, and paid $10.00 per issue (over the counter) for years prior to subscribing (I live in Canada).

I'd up those subscriptions outside the USA to $10.00 per issue and be done with it.

The forcast for how many subscriptions you might lose could be weighed against the increase in revenue.

Complaining about Genii costing $7.00 or $10.00 as opposed to $6.00 is a joke and a waste of time.

If folks wouldn't pay $10.00 for an issue of Genii, they clearly don't get out to the magazine store much to see what niche magazines REALLY cost.

There's NO magic magazine out there to match Genni's overall quality month in and month out.

[Rick Ruhl]

There is one problem which Richard hasn't mentioned but would solve alot of the issues.

Advertising bucks, and advertisers.

If there were more advertisers for Genii, then there would be more revenue to give him room to live and promote Genii to increase subscribership.

But the other side of the coin, is advertisers paying their bills. Im sure Richard could tell you off the top of his head who the on time or early payers are, the late payers that always pay, but are late, and those that have stiffed him, which costs several thousands of dollals.

Now, who wants to be the ad rep for Genii to help him get revenue up, which will make for more content, more subscribers. Oh and you have to work on commision only, like Richard does. Get your own heath insurance, etc....

Welcome to business 101, Richard is in business to make money, period. The secondary focus of a business is to do people right, but the first focus is to make money, that's the American way.

And for those naysayers who want something for nothing, stop sitting your fat butts in the recliner and start your own business.

Genii, in business to make money and nothing is wrong with that.

[Guest]

Seeing as how I am in the collections business ... I would more than welcome the freelance work :)

Richard ... who are they and how much do they owe? We can get resolution. :)

Chastain Criswell

[Richard Kaufman]

I'm actually not in business solely to make money. If I was, instead of writing and publishing magic books since 1977 I would have gone into public relations or advertising and be a multi-millionaire with an ulcer by now.

I chose to remain in a field to which I've been connected since age 5, and which has exerted a tremendous hold on me despite a few side efforts at other kinds or work which never lasted more than a few weeks.

On the other hand, I've got to make enough money to pay the mortgage on my house, pay all of our bills, pay for the skyrocketing cost of health care (you're gonna love this: our insurance company decided this year that our deductible for prescriptions would go from $250 per year to $2,500 per year--so we switched insurance companies). It's just much more expensive to live on a daily basis than it's ever been, and my goal is simply to make enough to keep my wife and daughter fed, pay all our bills, and not have to sell my house!

We're very grateful to all of our advertisers, and we sell as many ads as we can every month, however you will notice that L&L Publishing, Hocus Pocus, and a few other advertisers all take two full pages every month in MAGIC and only one page in Genii. And there are other advertisers that just refuse to place ads in Genii. MAGIC's circulation is somewhat higher than ours, so that makes sense on a purely economic level, but it still hurts our bottom line.

I also refuse to allow the ratio of content to ads to change too radically. I don't ever want to reach 50% ads vs. 50% content--and that hurts us economically. Eventually I may be forced to do that, but I certainly don't look forward to it.

[Guest]

I agree with the other posters in this thread, I quite happily pay $88 for an Airmail subscription, and its great to get Genii landing on my doormat before the start of the month, every month without fail, with the pound/dollar the way it is at the moment that means its still only 44 or about 3.60 an issue, thats ridiculously cheap, and I would quite happily pay more.

I know it would be a difficult leap of faith and can understand why you are reluctant to do it, and probably won't, but maybe you shouldn't be comparing yourself to MAGIC, why not raise the cover price to say $8-$10 and keep the same level of ads, or even reduce them with the increase in price, comparably I pay $90 for 4 issues of Antinomy and am more than happy to do so. I think Genii with its higher level/more detailed content, compared to MAGIC is ready to step out of its shadow, I'm sure people who already subscribe and have seen the quality month after month would quite happily pay a couple of dollars more per issue, although I can only speak for myself, and again I can see it would not be a decision you would take lightly for fear of losing subscribers.

[Guest]

I also refuse to allow the ratio of content to ads to change too radically. I don't ever want to reach 50% ads vs. 50% content--and that hurts us economically. Eventually I may be forced to do that, but I certainly don't look forward to it.

Amen to that. One of the things I've liked about Genii is that is doesn't feel like I am being bombarded by ads and that I am actually getting a lot of good content. Contrast that to something like GQ which has a stupidly low subscription price of like $10/year but it is packed full of nothing but ads. Granted I like the ads which I why I subscribe but clothes ads and magic ads are totally different. If Genii were the size of GQ and had just as many ads it would be trash. Here is to hoping that Genii can stay the way it is.

[Guest]

For my annual membership dues for The Magic Circle, I think I pay well over $100. For an overseas member, the only tangible return for that money is The Magic Circular. So, I pay over $100/year for a monthly magazine that has between 32 and 48 total pages (i.e., including ads). Doesn't Genii run, on average, twice as many pages? So you do the math so far as value is concerned.

I am NOT criticizing Matt Field or The Magic Circle, nor am I suggesting that I'm getting ripped off (I don't feel that I am - I find Eddie Dawes monthly historical essays alone worth the annual dues for membership in TMC). And, of course, for those able to visit the Circle headquarters, that's a real treat and added value as well.

Perhaps it's unfair to compare The Circular to Genii, since one is a general circulation magazine and the other is for members only. My only point is that it seems that one gets alot for his money with Genii. If I had the space in my house, I'd subscribe to Genii, but as it is, 99% of my library is already in storage.

CHS

[Guest]

Mailing a check for $8 isn't worth my time.. (go figure.. I'm THAT lazy).

Give me a paypal button and it'll be THAT much easier for me to give you my money.

David.

[Guest]

"Mailing a check for $8 isn't worth my time."

Feel free to mail however much more you need to to make it worth your time. I'm sure Richard won't mind.

[Guest]

Richard's goal of keeping the advertising/editorial ration well below 50-50 is important. One of the ways niche magazines keep their prices down is by essentially publishing a catalog with editorial content. Richard doesn't want to do that and I applaud his resistence to having to go in that direction.

[Guest]

Raising the cover price means losing subscribers. Even if that seems to balance out revenue-wise, it leads to reduced advertising rates because now there are fewer eyeballs reading the ads. It's a downward spiral from there.

Subscriber headcount is huge. If you want to help Genii, give a friend a gift subscription.

[Guest]

Put aside for a moment that most of us would be more than happy to help out at times like this, there has been a lot of talk of business on this thread. And the fact of the matter is that if you have sold a subscription for a price you are committed to providing that product for that price throughout the life of the subscription. If your costs go up mid-term you have to eat them.

I am sure Richard's ink/paper/printing costs go up all the time, sometimes at short notice. Does he go back and ask everyone for an extra 75c per issue to cover these unexpected increases? Of course not. Why are overseas surface mail subscribers being asked to eat this cost then? Sorry, it makes no sense.

The only answer is to increase charges for those folks next year by a little bit more than the increased cost and hope that most renew (and move to air mail!), or just swallow it. Or find a way to eliminate postage costs altogether... (no, let's not go THERE again!)

Bob

[Guest]

As a side-note to the discussion, I live overseas and have now upgraded from surface mail to airmail.

Genii could be quite a bit more expensive and I would still subscribe to it.

Thanks for continuing to publish a magazine of exceptional quality, Richard.

[Richard Kaufman]

Thanks for your thoughts, Bob--it's nice to know you're so understanding. If all of our overseas customers thought the same way you do, we'd go out of business.

[Guest]

Related to Ted M's suggestion:

How about giving everyone the opportunity to become a Genii sponsor and rewarding peoples generosity and financial support once a year by publicly thanking them in Genii itself?

Here in Switzerland it is not uncommon for arts projects of all sorts, including specialized publications with limited circulation, to obtain extra funding from both individuals and institutions such as corporates, government bodies, etc. this way.

In the case of niche books and magazines, sponsors would usually be publicly thanked -unless they prefer to stay anonymous of course- by being listed in the respective publications.

Could this possibly also work for Genii?

[Guest]

Bob Walder writes: -

Put aside for a moment that most of us would be more than happy to help out at times like this...

RK replies: -

Thanks for your thoughts, Bob--it's nice to know you're so understanding. If all of our overseas customers thought the same way you do, we'd go out of business.

It seems clear to me that most subscribers here, including Bob (and indeed, even a number of US subscribers), would be more than happy to pay the additional cost in order to continue to receive the top quality magazine to which we have all become accustomed. It's only fair then that, in return, they are are allowed to raise a question or two or make a few observations.

Regards

Andrew