Keith Murphy: Call for Articles and Other News for Open Source Database Magazine
July brought the first issue of Open Source Database Magazine and it was a resounding success. Our download count has skyrocketed. I was blown away when I checked my stats after the first two days of release and there were almost three times as many downloads as I had ever had of any of the previous issues of MySQL Magazine. Thanks to those who participated by contributing articles; I couldn’t have done it without you. The feedback I have received is that the change in direction has been embraced by the open source database community.
I published the first OSDB podcast a few days after the release of the magazine. Even though it was my first attempt at podcasting I thought it went well. There are still some technical rough edges I am working on, but the discussion with Brian Aker was just incredible. If you haven’t heard it yet, you are missing a treat. The next podcast which will be released around mid-November will feature Josh Berkus of Postgres fame.
Now on to the next issue. If you interested in writing about any of the open source databases send me an email with an article idea. Using SQLite for a programming project? Send me an abstract. Have an idea about writing about your experiences with MySQL on the Amazon cloud? That sounds like a good idea! What about Drizzle, Hadoop, CouchDB, Firebird and Postgres? I am sure I have managed to leave one or more systems out. Any database system that uses an open source license is fair game. One specific article I am looking for a feature-length (6+ pages) article on Drizzle for the Fall issue.
I need to hear from you by October the 5th with any proposals and the article needs to be done by October the 30th. Just email me at [email protected].
Because of the demand, beginning with the January issue I will be producing an issue every other month instead of every three months.
If you are polishing up a good blog post on some experience in the last month consider delaying it a bit and sending a proposal to me. In case you didn’t know OSDB Mag pays for articles. Not only will you probably get much wider exposure in the magazine you will get paid for it.
Want a regular gig? I am looking for some people who want to commit to columns on specific areas.
Now for some changes. You might not have noticed, but there were no advertisements in the summer issue. I have had advertisers in each issue ever since I began working with them in the spring of last year. Since the magazine was free it was the only way to pay authors for their hard work. Well, the recession has taken its toll and one by one the advertisers have dropped by the wayside. I have always charged the same rates even though our readership has grown with every issue. If anything, the advertisers have received more of a bargain as time has passed. Just to be clear, I don’t blame them. It is just the times we are in right now.
Unfortunately I don’t think this situation is going to change anytime soon. This is happening at the most inopportune time when interest in the magazine is rising. In addition, I want to expand the content and increase the quality of the magazine. I am already spending a great deal of time on the magazine and don’t want to cut back. Unfortunately I can not continue to pay the authors out of my pocket which is what is currently happening.
For months I have been debating charging for the magazine. I have flipped and flopped on this issue all year. Well, my hand has been forced. I can either stop doing the magazine or start charging for it. Since I think there is a good deal of interest in a quality product that covers open source databases I have chosen to begin charging with the fall issue.
The first issue of OSDB was 26 pages in length. I will commit that any issue that you pay for will be at least that length. My goal is for each issue to be 40 pages. Cost will be $3.95 by Paypal for one issue or $19.95 for a year (6 issues). Less than the cost of a Starbucks for so much quality content!
I am going to step out and commit to paying authors even more than what I have in the past. Payment will range from $50 for book reviews, $100 for columns and regular articles to $150 for feature length articles.
thanks,
keith
URL: http://www.osdbzine.net/wordpress/?p=3
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