[mooreds]

I wod love to hear from the OP if he had explores transitioning, aka selling, this to someone. I think there is a market for the attention of people with money to spend, even in print magazines (especially in niche print magazines).

But maybe he explored it and didn't find any takers, or maybe he doesn't want to deal with the hassle of such a transition.

Would be nice to know.

[bearwithclaws]

As other comments have pointed out, not having the subscribers list is my non-negotiable terms if someone wants to take over. In fact, after I refunded everyone, I'll reset my server and remove all my DB backups so I won't even have a copy of it.

I know it doesn't make business sense for someone to buy a business without any customers. That's why I never explore the option of selling it.

[mooreds]

That's an interesting choice. I'm sorry, I scanned the blog and didn't see this mentioned. It certainly creates a higher hurdle for a sale.

I'm sure you've considered all the options, but may I ask why you didn't choose to offer current subscribers an 'opt-in' option for being contacted by a new publisher? That way those who were interested in continuing with a new owner would be able to, and those who were only interested in your product wouldn't be bothered. (Again, I wasn't able to find the blog post where you mentioned being approached by possible owners, so if you answered this question there, I apologize.)

But if you open source everything (as mentioned in another one of your comments), that'd be great too.

[blisterpeanuts]

The blog mentioned that he had received several solicitations to buy the business, but he wasn't comfortable sharing the subscription list.