TRVL magazine to donate subscription fees to charities
TRVL is a free electronic travel magazine for the iPad that I raved about in September. The beautiful photography, layout, and typography all make it a standout among the usual junk that passes for e-magazines these days, and TRVL was free, which made it a no-brainer to subscribe to. The magazine creators ran into a dilemma. They wanted readership to grow, and to do that they needed to get TRVL into Apple's Newsstand, where they expected subscriptions to climb by 500% or more.
As founding publisher of TRVL Michel Elings noted, "we had been waiting for Newsstand to arrive ever since we heard the first rumors, knowing a free magazine like TRVL would greatly benefit from direct competition with magazines like National Geographic Traveler, which are still charging $4.99 for a single issue." TRVL's software partner, WoodWing, wasn't ready for Newsstand when it launched, and when it finally was ready, it didn't support the free subscription model supported by TRVL. What to do?
Well, in a classic example of making sweet, sweet lemonade out of the lemons that life hands you, Elings and Wijnands decided to sell TRVL in Newsstand for $0.99 per month and will be giving all of the subscription money to six charities selected by readers. As a reader, you have an option to donate your subscription dollars to your choice of one or more of those charities.
TRVL is the top rated magazine on iPad, and now if you want to read it, you'll be forced to do something good for the world. I know I'll be buying my subscription. How about you?
