I’ve plugged Duotrope here before. I have no personal interest in the company’s financial health. I just think it’s a very convenient service and a great resource, and I’d like to see it keep going. By compiling submission, acceptance, and rejection stats, and keeping market information fresh, they let a little more light into the mysterious publication process.
So how do you keep a service like that running? I suppose you can get a grant or a sugar daddy, sell subscriptions, or develop a product line that supports the site. Or you can beg for donations, which gets really old. I don’t want to feel guilty when I use a service, or feel that I’m paying more than my share.
I like the method Duotrope has come up with, even if it is a bit reminiscent of the Homeland Security Coded Alert system:
How we’re doing: Code Orange
We have not received enough contributions to meet our current goal for this month.For this month: (Updated daily.)
We are 67.8% short of our current goal for this month.
Thank you to all our contributors!
Our contibution goal fluctuates, based on the number of current subscribers and active registered users we have. Our theory is that the more subscribers and active registered users we have, the more work it takes to run Duotrope’s Digest and the more our bandwidth costs increase. The goal amount determined is fair. It covers our hosting costs and only a small portion of the time we spend working on Duotrope’s Digest. If each of our subscribers contributed just $4.25 a year, we would make our goal for the year. However, only a small percentage of our subscribers contributes.
I like this because
- I can contribute if and when I want to
- I can contribute an amount I can afford or that reflects what the service is worth to me
- I know my contribution is needed
- I like Orange Alerts
