General Discussion

  
  
Now, I know most of you were reaching for your wallets, hoping some actual giant robotic entity was in need of our aid, but this is also an interesting case. With 15 years under their belt, and art styles that make me feel a little squishy, Giant Robot feels like the kind of publication I could get into.
 
While I don't expect any of us have the kind of pockets to donate too much, at the very least I will be picking this title up off of the news stand. This seems backwards, but its focus on Asian and Asian-American pop culture and art  it reminds me of Pink Tentacle, but in magazine form. How could that be a bad thing?
 
Note: If you are the kind of person with excessive funds lying around, donate to Giant Robot here, and then PM me, I have needs too.
 

Never actually picked up a Giant Robot Mag... what's it about anyway?

@lanaswift said:

" I don't normally go for this kind of thing. I feel like if you can't run your business with an actual business model, I shouldn't be responsible for propping you up...but in this case, it's actually a really cool magazine and I'd like to support it. "

I basically agree. 
 
GiantRobot is a great magazine and  Eric Nakamura has done a great job with it over the years.  But I wonder why they didnt put more resources behind their web presence.  They've had a website for years but Quantcast (  http://www.quantcast.com/giantrobot.com)  has them listed as ranking 72,644.  Compare that to Animevice.com  ( http://www.quantcast.com/animevice.com) which is a year old and ranked14,366 already. 
 
I don't mean to brag about our growth, but honestly shouldn't a business move to a model that works?

Giant Robot magazine has been around for nearly fifteen years, and it spans the broad spectrum of Asian-American pop culture.  They cover a lot of underground bands, upcoming artists, movies, anime, manga, toys, and pop culture fads from Asia.   More Info about GR: http://www.giantrobot.com/about.html .  In terms of availability, it's sold in many retail outlets including Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Kinokuniya.
 
As for the business model question, all of print publishing is suffering in this current economic crisis.  Even the major publishers like Random House are taking steps to prevent further revenue losses.  Distributors are having a particularly difficult time with the dropping sales in print media. It's just a tough economy all around.
 
Please support Giant Robot Magazine.  
http://www.giantrobot.com/donate 

@FoxxFireArt said:

" I had never even heard of this magazine before.  Right now, my favorite comic/manga artist is facing some issues getting his latest Gold Digger Gold Brick #5 published. One of the struggles of working with an independent publisher. He's not asking for donations. He's asking people to help him reach a certain number of preorders and is offering some original artwork and a free issue of one of his comics. If they don't make a minimum preorders they are going to refund all orders. "

I've heard of Gold Digger before, but never read it. Though, Antarctic Press are pretty cool people. Being SA based, most of their staff makes it to the texas cons

@ethan: I have to agree with you on principle, but at the same time the material covered in a typical issue of Giant Robot doesn't really lend itself to a web-based publishing model such as the one used on AnimeVice.  The features on Asian culture and the investigative reports are what set it apart from other magazines of its type, at the same time that kind of journalism isn't sustainable using ad revenue strictly from online advertising. 
 
Perhaps the magazine would be better served not as a solely online magazine, but as an e-publication extension much like Steve Harris is trying to do with the EGM relaunch.  
 
@jamesleung: I've been a huge fan of the magazine since I picked up the June 2006 issue, but I have to wonder if the choice to open up storefronts as an extension of the GR brand was a wise move, since those were/are resources that could have been put to better use towards the magazine itself and seriously ramping up your web presence to attract more readers outside of Asian culture enthusiasts.
 
That being said, I'll be donating to the cause.

@HSaabedra: E-publications just don't do it for me. The spoiled brat that I am, I enjoy the feeling of paper in my hands, with a glossy coated cover. Actually, I just bought my first issue of it yesterday (issue 63.) I'm gonna read it over lunch and then blog a review over it.

@John_Martone said:

" @HSaabedra: E-publications just don't do it for me. The spoiled brat that I am, I enjoy the feeling of paper in my hands, with a glossy coated cover. Actually, I just bought my first issue of it yesterday (issue 63.) I'm gonna read it over lunch and then blog a review over it. "

While I share your sentiment, it really looks like that will be the business model for magazines going forward if EGM's initiative is any indication.

@HSaabedra: The Escapist makes a good run out of setting up a website to work like a publication, using issues and freelance contributors. Though I think it works based around high level of composition/zero price of admission. EGM might be able to pull it off, as its a name we've heard for decades, but I doubt its upstart friendly. I mean, similar to here, we're "hypothetically" a corperate model, but that basically means is that as a website we're spending through the nose to continously develop a product worth reading, in the hopes that people eventually catch onto that fact. Though most people presumably don't have the capital to slug it out long enough, hard enough.

@John_Martone said:

The Escapist makes a good run out of setting up a website to work like a publication, using issues and freelance contributors. Though I think it works based around high level of composition/zero price of admission. EGM might be able to pull it off, as its a name we've heard for decades, but I doubt its upstart friendly. I mean, similar to here, we're "hypothetically" a corporate model, but that basically means is that as a website we're spending through the nose to continuously develop a product worth reading, in the hopes that people eventually catch onto that fact. Though most people presumably don't have the capital to slug it out long enough, hard enough. "

 I believe AnimeVice is a good compromise between a model like the Escapist and a straight news blog, but there are other sites and networks like Gawker Media and The Daily Beast that blur that distinction between journalism and commentary with some amazing results and the audience to match.

@gia said:

Yeah, we were just talking about that-- Kotaku is sheer volume, if you want to be in on pretty much every piece of gamer news AND culture it's the way to go. But it can be a bit of an overload for some. By contrast, Giant Bomb is minimal on news and culture editorially (though users provide a lot of that content on the blogs and forums there), but their reviews are *killer*. Kotaku's reviews are hit and miss by contrast, at least IMO. "

Giant Bomb is awesome as is the rest of Whiskey Media, but I'm very focused on news and deals myself on my blog as you may have noticed.  Ideally I want my blog to be as successful as AV.  Meanwhile I'll continue give people a break on DVDs, video games and gear while covering events like CES, GDC and E3 through my eyes.  I'm moving towards more of a magazine format myself and hopefully it'll help me improve coverage.