Advertising. Almost all magazines roughly bring in enough to cover printing and distribution from the cost to readers. Since they keep the price that low, they

Advertising. Almost all magazines roughly bring in enough to cover printing and distribution from the cost to readers. Since they keep the price that low, they get more readers, and thus more ad revenue. This issue had 2 full-page ads and a half-page ad, by my count. According to the rate card (PDF: http://hackermonthly.com/ratecard http://hackermonthly.com/ratecard) that's $1300 worth of ads (though there's an "introductory advertising offer" that they probably all got). That's pretty good given how early-stage the thing is.