MagCloud

MagCloud is a print-on-demand service for magazines and other periodical-style publications: a creator uploads a PDF, and MagCloud prints each copy when it is ordered and ships it to the buyer. The site's copyright line names RPI Print, Inc. Its homepage sums up the offer as "Create. Sell. Distribute." and describes "a format for all of your business and personal publishing needs", from single-sheet flyers to multi-page magazines and brochures. It suits independent magazine makers, zine and journal publishers, small businesses printing brochures, and anyone who wants to sell a printed publication without buying a print run.

Formats

The homepage lists the range as "Magazine, Digest, Square, or extra-large Tabloid and Poster formats", and the format menu adds pamphlets, flyers and a digital edition. The pricing calculator splits the catalog into two groups.

Bound formats are priced per page. The digest (5.25 x 8.25 in. or 8.25 x 5.25 in.) costs $0.17 per page. The small square (8 x 8 in.) and the portrait and landscape magazines (8.25 x 10.75 in. and 10.75 x 8.25 in.) cost $0.20 per page. The large square (12 x 12 in.), the small tabloid (11 x 14 in. or 14 x 11 in.) and the large tabloid (17 x 11 in.) cost $0.37 per page. On the smaller bound formats, saddle stitch binding is free and perfect binding adds $1.00; the larger formats take wire-o binding at an extra $2.00.

Single-page formats are priced per piece. The small flyer starts at $0.32 and the large flyer at $0.40, each with an optional UV coating for $0.06. Pamphlets come in small and large versions. The poster, 12 x 18 in. or 18 x 12 in., costs $2.00 per piece with UV coating included.

Prices and volume discounts

MagCloud publishes its prices. Its calculator lets a creator pick the product, binding, trim size, page count, quantity and destination and see the total. The default example on the page shows a magazine at $0.20 per page coming to $12.00 in pages, plus $1.00 for perfect binding, for an item total of $13.00.

Discounts depend on the number of copies in an order:

• 1-9 copies: base price
• 10-49 copies: 15% off
• 50-99 copies: 20% off
• 100+ copies: 25% off

That schedule matters for a seller planning a short run for an event or a batch of subscriber copies, because the discount starts at just 10 copies.

Shipping

The calculator's destination list runs from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and the help center explains how to format APO and FPO military addresses. For a US address, the example shows three services, each with tracking: Standard at $8.14, FedEx Express Saver at $22.46 and FedEx Standard Overnight at $31.66, each with its own estimated delivery date. The help center also has an article on customs fees and import duties and who pays them, and one on how orders are packaged.

Selling through MagCloud

Selling is built into the upload. The homepage explains: "When you upload a publication to Magcloud, you have the option to sell it online through your own Magcloud storefront. Add your own customer-facing markup, ship worldwide, and even send direct mail right from your dashboard." The creator sets a markup on top of the print price, and MagCloud prints and ships each order. The help center's account section covers changing the PayPal account used "to receive payments from MagCloud", which is how creators are paid. Publications can also be found through the MagCloud Shop.

The homepage's featured publications show the range of creators using the service: "Goal-Getter's Journey" by Imprint A2IO, issue 77 of Inspiring Teens Magazine by Conway Leslie, "Heroic Expeditions, Volume I" by Leising John, and an issue of a magazine from Magazine Spiritist. Numbered issues like these are the service's natural fit, since a publisher can upload each new issue as its own publication, price it, and let readers order single copies rather than printing a fixed run for every issue.

The direct mail option lets a creator send copies from the dashboard, which is useful for a newsletter or a mailing to a list rather than a retail sale.

Digital editions and sharing

Alongside print, MagCloud offers digital distribution. The help center covers what it costs, whether a creator can set a markup on digital versions, and whether a publication can be offered only in the web viewer rather than as a PDF. Buyers keep purchases in a Digital Library and read them in the MagCloud web viewer, which a publisher can embed on a website or blog. For paid publications, the publisher can choose which three pages are available as a preview. Readers can download a digital version they have bought or read it on their computer, and the help center explains how the web viewer differs from a standard PDF reader and whether digital versions can be shared. For a magazine publisher, that means one upload can serve both print buyers and readers who only want the digital issue. The help center also describes a referral program and ways to share a publication with friends.

Creating a publication

The "Create" menu offers two starts: build from a template or upload a PDF. The help center covers which page sizes can be uploaded, how many pages a publication can have, the maximum PDF file size, replacing the PDF of an existing publication, and separate design requirements for digital distribution. Its print section covers how publications are printed, the paper used, and whether a sample can be sent, and the ordering section covers currencies, payment methods, bulk discounts and minimum or maximum order quantities. The help center also opens with a section titled "Magcloud & Blurb", with articles on who Blurb is and what changes users should be aware of.

Who it suits

MagCloud suits independent magazine publishers and small businesses who want to print magazines, digests, brochures, flyers or posters on demand and sell them through a ready-made storefront with their own markup. The published per-page prices, the volume discounts from 10 copies and the list of shipping destinations let a creator work out unit costs and margins before uploading anything.

It suits sellers less well if they need hardcover books, since the formats are built around magazine-style saddle stitch, perfect and wire-o bindings. There is also no mention of connections to outside online shops; sales run through the MagCloud storefront and dashboard.