In a publishing world that has become increasingly digital, many magazine publishers are looking for ways to take the great digital leap forward. New marketing strategies must be adopted and different modes of distribution considered, including partnering with digital content delivery systems.

With this in mind, MagsBC set out to research five of the top digital content delivery systems in Canada in order to help publishers decide if they are ready to take their publication online, and which service might best meet their needs.  Publishing students Kaitlyn Gendemann and Jessica Fabrizius compiled information on features, costs, and user experience of Issuu, Zinio, Magzter, Mag+ and 3D Issue, with Alyssa Schwartz, digital and content strategy consultant, giving permission to use her previous research as well as providing a list of best practices for digital magazine publishers.

Jessica presented the latest draft December 5 at Mount Pleasant Community Centre in Vancouver to industry professionals. After incorporating some suggestions, changes and additional information, she has submitted the final version of this report, “Making the Digital Leap Forward: Identifying Digital Content Delivery Systems That Effectively Support Magazine Publishing.”

We realize that this report covers a fraction of the systems out there, some of them now quite prominent since the research started in 2015, but we hope that the in-depth analysis of these five will serve as examples of and a comparison with other systems being considered.

This research was conducted with the support of Access Copyright Foundation and the Magazine Association of BC.

Making the Digital Leap Forward Research Paper – Jan 2018

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