Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure about this whole thing just yet? Here’s a few answers to help you out.
Subscriptions
How do I subscribe to The Industry?
The Industry is currently available on the App Store and the Amazon Marketplace.
Here’s the great news: you’re entitled to a free trial! That means you’ll get to read one issue for free and if you don’t like what we have to offer, you can unsubscribe with just a few taps. Just do so before the trial period ends (7 days on iPad 14 days on Kindle. The difference is due to what options are available on each platform) More on unsubscribing below.
How am I charged for my subscription?
Billing is handled through Apple and Amazon, just the same as it would be if you purchased an app for your tablet. Typically, they’ll send you an email a few days before your subscription is renewed each month as a reminder, giving you the opportunity to cancel if you’re no longer interested in receiving new issues.
What do I get by subscribing?
You get immediate access to The Industry’s latest issues two times each month at a significant savings off the per issue rate. You enjoy a world-class reading experience, hand-tailored for tablet devices, with some of gaming’s best content. Each issue is free from distracting advertisements, sponsorship entanglements and the same old news, previews and reviews you can find everywhere else.
You also receive the pride, joy and inner peace that comes with supporting a new publication with big ambitions. Our number one goal is to attract the best writing talent and the financial stability readers like you can provide by subscribing will help us reach that goal more than anything else can.
How will I get new issues?
New issues arrive on the first and third Monday of each month. For subscribers, issues will automatically appear in your Library, ready to download. For non-subscribers, you’ll have the ability to purchase the single issue or sign up for a subscription under the Store tab.
Can I read for free without a subscription?
We post previews of each article in an issue on TheIndustryMag.com when that issue is published. They’ll give you a flavor for each article, but if you want to read the whole thing (spoiler alert: you do), you’ll need to purchase the issue or subscribe.
Why are you charging a subscription fee?
We started The Industry because we believe there are fantastic game journalists being driven away from the subject they love because there’s simply no money in writing about the game industry. We want to change that, and that means paying aggressive rates to our writers, with a goal of matching or exceeding rates paid by print publications after our first few months. We think great writing is hard work, and that that work deserves to be rewarded.
Advertising-based models don’t pay well enough to make this goal tenable and they also can make outlets beholden to the advertisers paying the bills. We don’t ever want to find ourselves in a scenario where we’re forced to choose between keeping the lights on and standing by the integrity of our authors, as some have in the past.
It might be an old-fashioned notion, but we believe asking you for a couple bucks a month is the most direct way to raise the money we need while giving you a way to express your support for what we’re trying to accomplish.
We know that charging even a single cent means we’re targeting a much smaller audience, but the same can be said of our tablet-only reading experience.
We believe there’s an audience of gaming enthusiasts and industry professionals that are willing to pay a reasonable amount for a premium experience, just like they do with Xbox Live Gold, PlayStation Plus or any number of MMOs. We hope you’ll prove us right.
For less than the cost of an energy drink or a cup of coffee, you can get eight of the best articles around each month. We have a free trial, so give us a try, and if you don’t like what we have to offer, no hard feelings.
How do I unsubscribe?
Maybe you downloaded a free trial issue and we’re not your style. Maybe you just can’t handle so many great articles every two weeks, because it’s destroying your ability to get anything else done for a full day once the issue comes out, and your boss sat you down for a talking to over your lack of productivity on the first and third Mondays of each month and your family is relying on your ability to be productive and not read great, compelling work. Anything’s possible.
In any case, unsubscribing is super simple.
On iPad
On your iPad, go to the App Store, tap the Featured category and scroll to the bottom. Tap on your Apple ID, select “View Apple ID” and enter your password. You’ll see a category called Subscriptions; click on the “Manage” button below it. Just click on The Industry and turn off Auto-Renewal. Your subscription will no longer renew moving forward.
On Kindle Fire
From your Kindle Fire’s home screen, tap on Newsstand and then tap on Store. Tap the Menu icon in the options bar, and then select Manage Your Kindle. You can also do so by clicking this link and logging into your Amazon account, whether you’re on your Kindle Fire or another device.
Other Questions
I downloaded your app, but I can’t find it!
Don’t worry. Whether you’re on iPad or Kindle Fire, you’ll find us under Newsstand, with other magazines and publications, and not in your general app pile. If you’re running an old version of iOS from before Newsstand was released, we’ll appear as an app just like any other.
Will you be releasing The Industry for [insert other device here]?
Maybe. Covering iPad and Kindle gives us access to about 90% of the tablet market out of the gate, so we’ve started with the platforms that allow us to cater to as many readers as possible. We’re focused on creating the best possible experience on both of these platforms first. If subscription data merits it, we’re likely to reach out next to the Nook line of tablets, and then to iPhone. After that, we’ll consider other Android-powered devices.
Most print magazines are an unacceptable reading experience on 7” tablets, much less smaller devices like phones. We don’t intend to follow in their footsteps. That means determining the best way to present The Industry on each platform, and then applying that process to each article. We would never, for example, simply release The Industry for iPhone in a shrunk-down version of what readers on iPad enjoy and ask readers to squint. We’d have to find a way to make it just as good an experience as on the platforms we already support.
Can I subscribe to The Industry on the web?
Not yet. We’d like to offer support for this, but the reality is we can offer a better reading experience in a native app environment than we can online. Plus, Apple and Amazon offer outstanding mobile payment systems that make it easy to subscribe and unsubscribe. If we can find a way to translate our reading experience to the web and make subscribing as easy as it is on tablets, we’ll seriously consider it.
Can I write for The Industry?
We hope so! To learn more about our process for writers, check this out.
I have a question or comment. How can I contact you?
Drop us a line, find us on Twitter at @theindmag or on Facebook.
I’m an industry professional with something interesting to say to your readers. What should I do?
We accept submissions from industry professionals, even if they don’t have a strong background in writing. We’ll do whatever we can to help you tell your compelling story. Pitch us here. If you have something interesting cooking that you think we should know about, contact us.
