It’s easy to wreck even the best digital newspaper, no matter what energy has been put into it, with a bad choice of electronic newspaper package. In fact, picking out a software supplier is one of the most important considerations you’ll take when you produce digital publication. And do bear in mind that they do a lot more than simply help you place the content into a pleasant format. The most important part of the package is, obviously, it’s intuitiveness. If you can’t run the software it doesn’t matter how great it is claimed to be. Take the time to try out multiple packages before you pick a provider for your ebrochure.
In making an online newspaper you also need to maintain awareness of the problems posed by spammers. Is your endeavour protected? Does the online publishing software supplier have security to keep the general public from just copy-pasting the words?
Once you’ve created an electronic newspaper it’s time to outline a commercialization timetable. Whatever marketing strategy you come up with, you will should think about such things, perhaps not for each issue but instead for the company in its entirety. What use will you make of non-traditional media? What consideration has been made of dealing with adverts? Advertising your interactive newspaper will probably need search engine friendly content.
Is your content solely going to be offered for free? You should think whether you can offer single copy and multiple subscription possibilities. Will you be monetizing your content in any way or is this venture not-for-profit? What about using summaries to sell this digital publication? How accessible is your newspaper? Will it be private: then you should be able to investigate several hosting options or will it be public? In that case you should host directly with the provider. What will you be doing with back copies?
Prior to striking a problem you need to think about a few more things as well. What is the technical support like? Is it simply an FAQ page? Also check any sort of how-to guide they may feature. Check for response times. Do they have 24 hour support? Tech-support might be your last consideration at this stage but it should be a decisive factor in your choice. Chances are you don’t want to find out the hard way that they’re actually not up to it! The selection you make here will be what will decide whether your newspaper goes well or not – think carefully before picking out your vendor. Google the term “Zmags” for more useful ideas.
