That’s the question some magazine publishers are asking themselves, including the makers of Popular Science. Pop Science is charging $4.99 per iPad issue, or nearly half the price for an entire year’s subscription to their traditional format. What’s been the readers’ reaction? So far, so good.

“We’re trying to make our readers not feel like we’re slapping them in the face as we explore this new world,” Popular Science chief editor Mark Jannot told the audience at Tabula Rasa NYC, a conference of publishing and media experts. While the iPad edition of Popular Science is currently $4.99, a year-long subscription to the print version costs $12.

The magazine will be “aggressive with pricing” as it searches for what the iPad publishing market will bear, Jannot added. Although the magazine intends to drop the per-issue price of its iPad edition, it plans to charge $29.99 for 12 issues and $19.99 for a six.

The iPad version of Popular Science is No. 39 on the App Store’s Top Paid ranking and No. 41 on Top Grossing apps list.

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