Python Magazine exists! (was: Python intro questions)

[Mark]

Hi,

It seems a lot of people are not aware that a Python Magazine exists.
Visit:

http://www.pyzine.com

to see what we are publishing this quarter and check out our free
articles to see what
kind of articles we publish.

I'd like to repudiate once and for all the claim that:

"Nobody gets paid to write articles about Python"

We can't speak for other publishers/Magazines but this is certainly not
the case at Py.
Every quarter we pay for at least seven articles and quite frankly
would like to pay
for more. We also pay two great editors Kendall Clark and Eric-Peter
Germain to edit
all articles that we publish.

See our Writers Guidelines for more info:

http://www.pyzine.com/writefor.html

We'd also like to point out that our sister publication ZopeMag:

http://www.zopemag.com

publishes on average another 8 articles per quarter of which some are
the rough equivalents of Book Chapters (the parts of our SuperGuides).
Since Zope is written mostly in Python we would argue that much of the
content in ZopeMag are Python articles (but obviously with a focus on
Zope/Plone/CPS/Silva).

If you would like to see more Python articles and would like to support
the only Python
Magazine please consider subscribing.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Ognen Duzlevski]

It seems a lot of people are not aware that a Python Magazine exists.
Visit:

to see what we are publishing this quarter and check out our free
articles to see what
kind of articles we publish.

I'd like to repudiate once and for all the claim that:

"Nobody gets paid to write articles about Python"

Hi,

I went to see your magazine and it looks pretty nice. However, you do publish quarterly and in my humble opinion, a
yearly subscription of 49 Euros is crazy.

Ognen

 

[Mark]

Hello Ognen,

I went to see your magazine and it looks pretty nice. However, you do
publish quarterly and in my humble opinion, a
yearly subscription of 49 Euros is crazy.

It all comes down to being able to pay the bills now doesn't it.

Unlike the "old Py" where authors we now have have significant
costs for editing and writing (and the occasional design work as well).

We refuse to run a Magazine where we can not compensate authors for
writing about Python.

We expect that for the next 1 to 2 years we will be publishing at a
loss (this
is based on our experience with ZopeMag) but that eventually we will
break
even and (oh god) maybe even make a modest profit. This would be
impossible
for us to do for less than 49 Euros.

But feel free to call us crazy!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Michel Claveau/Hamster]

Hi !

Interesting ; but how do, for to have :
- invoice (fiscal document in paper, obligatory in France)
- adress of supplier (fiscal information, obligatory in France)
- n° intracommunautaire of TVA (fiscal information, obligatory in
France)
- information of customs (douane ?) (obligatory for purchase in a
foreign country)

Thank you

 

[Mark]

Hi,

The default payment for Py and/or ZopeMag is via Credit Card.

Our payment provider (WorldPay) generates a receipt for each transaction
but if you are interested in getting a subscription send me an email
(and not
this list) and I will make sure that you get a PDF invoice which meets
all
European requirements for payment either via Credit Card or Wire
Transfer.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Tyler Eaves]

We expect that for the next 1 to 2 years we will be publishing at a
loss (this
is based on our experience with ZopeMag) but that eventually we will
break
even and (oh god) maybe even make a modest profit. This would be
impossible
for us to do for less than 49 Euros.

But feel free to call us crazy!

Cheers,

Mark

Here's the thing, 49 euros is, at current rates, $59.57. Sorry, but $15 an
issue is just too much for a magazine, especially since you don't actually
mail honest-to-goodness dead tree versions. Now, it the cost was more like
$20 a year, I might seriously consider it. It's a simple demand curve. If
hypothetically, you got 4 times as many subscriptions by cutting your
rates to 1/3rd of their present value (and I wouldn't say that isn't
possible, and it may even be conservative), you'd be better off doing so,
as your costs are basically fixed independent of the # of subscribers.

 

[Dan]

I have to agree with you. $61.42 is way TOO MUCH money just to access
a website for an online 'zine.
In all fairness, Ithere are some low volume (number or subscribers in
the hundreds to a few thousand) technical journals I subscribe to that
are around $20-$30 a year for quarterly in print journals mailed to me
with little advertising. I think Pyzine would get more subscribers if
they made their prices more reasonable.

Dan

 

[Mark]

Hello Tyler,

Here's the thing, 49 euros is, at current rates, $59.57.

Sorry, we are not willing to accept any responsibility for the weakness
of the US Dollar or the price of Oil for that matter

Considering that not too long ago 49 Euros was far less than 49 USD's
that's just the way
the pendulum swings. All though we think its a shame -- good for our
authors though -- who
get paid in Euro.

Sorry, but $15 an issue is just too much for a magazine, especially
since you don't actually
mail honest-to-goodness dead tree versions. Now, it the cost was more
like
$20 a year, I might seriously consider it.

Well give it a few years. Maybe the Euro will drop to that level
But I doubt it.

It's a simple demand curve. If
hypothetically, you got 4 times as many subscriptions by cutting your
rates to 1/3rd of their present value (and I wouldn't say that isn't
possible, and it may even be conservative), you'd be better off doing
so,
as your costs are basically fixed independent of the # of subscribers.

"Basically" fixed is basically incorrect. Beyond simple things like
increased hosting
fees we definitely notice an increase in the amount of email we receive
from our readers.
We certainly aren't complaining about feedback from our subscribers (we
love it) but it is a matter of fact that the more customers you serve
the more time you will spend supporting them.

Our goal is not to publish on the cheap. We'd rather expand our
offerings. Py used to be in the price range you discussed and it was
unsustainable. The "new" Py already features more articles than the
"old" Py. As the subscriber base increases we hope to be able to make
issues longer, publish more frequently, continue to release several
articles for free on emerging Python technology (to help the adoption
of new Python technology), and roll out some other surprises
we are working on.

Fact is we are in this for the long haul. And since subscribers get
access to all back issues, in the case of ZopeMag this is the
equivalent now of a Zope book, the price per page or what ever other
vodoo metric one wants to use -- Py will become less expensive by the
day (not including other factors like inflation) As for a paper
edition Bryan (the former publisher of Py) repeatedly warned us from
publishing a print edition (and backed this up with hard numbers).

The good news is that our subscriber growth is inline with our
projections and as we reach
certain milestones each Py will get bigger not smaller (or dissapear
altogether) and tied to this growth the amount of money (and people)
paid to write about Python technologies.

That was the original reason for writing to this mailinglist to debunk
the myth that

""Nobody gets paid to write articles about Python"

and to make people aware that a 100% Python Magazine exists today!

We may not be able to convince you and a few others to subscriber to Py
today but with the help of a growing subscriber base and a growing
library of more worthwhile Python articles than ever before -- we hope
to win you over eventually

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Kamilche]

I went to see your magazine and it looks pretty nice. However, you do publish quarterly and in my humble opinion, a
yearly subscription of 49 Euros is crazy.

I agree. For an online magazine, $69/year seemed steep.

 

[Erik Max Francis]

We refuse to run a Magazine where we can not compensate authors for
writing about Python.

And if you charge too much, you won't get any subscribers, and you'll
end up not compensating the authors anyway.

 

[Ognen Duzlevski]

It all comes down to being able to pay the bills now doesn't it.

We expect that for the next 1 to 2 years we will be publishing at a
loss (this
is based on our experience with ZopeMag) but that eventually we will
break
even and (oh god) maybe even make a modest profit. This would be
impossible
for us to do for less than 49 Euros.

But feel free to call us crazy!

Hi Mark,

I didn't mean "crazy" in a bad way. I was just comparing to some scientific journals and other professional journals I
am subscribed to. I do think that if the price went down - you would have more subscribers. I know I would consider it
for $20-25/year.

Cheers,
Ognen

 

[Michel Claveau/Hamster]

Re

Ok ! Thanks by advance.

Michel Claveau

 

[Irmen de Jong]

Hi,

It seems a lot of people are not aware that a Python Magazine exists.
Visit:

http://www.pyzine.com

to see what we are publishing this quarter and check out our free
articles to see what
kind of articles we publish.

I'd like to repudiate once and for all the claim that:

"Nobody gets paid to write articles about Python"

Let me add my experience:

many months ago I was asked to write an article about Pyro.
I submitted it, and it was *finally* published in PyZine issue 5.
However, first they put an old draft online. It took a while
to get it replaced with the correct, final version. But until
today the references (links) in the article have not been corrected.
I suggested to donate the author's fee to the Python Software Foundation,
but that was not possible. After that I've never heard from them
concerning any payment whatsoever, apart from that their bookkeeping
department will be told about it.

So, I'm sorry to say this but my experience with the new Pyzine
is not too good.

--Irmen de Jong

 

[Lucas Raab]

But I'm sure that people who write the articles would rather see the word
spread about Python, than getting paid. Just my two cents.

 

[Kamilche]

...So, I'm sorry to say this but my experience with the new Pyzine
is not too good.

Wow, that's not good, thanks for sharing that information with us. The
heck of it is, people probably WOULD write articles for their magazine
for their preferred set price (read: FREE!) if they would give them
even a magazine subscription in return. But that's a total gyp,
instead.

Sorry to hear that you wasted your time!

--Kamilche

 

[Mark]

Hello Kamilche,

Wow, that's not good, thanks for sharing that information with us. The
heck of it is, people probably WOULD write articles for their magazine
for their preferred set price (read: FREE!) if they would give them
even a magazine subscription in return. But that's a total gyp,
instead.

Huh?

If you actually took the time to visit Py and read our Writer's
Guidelines you will find a big bold
headline that reads: "Complimentary PyZine subscription for Authors"
and Irmen of course got a free subscription.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Irmen de Jong]

(also in response to Mark's answer)

Wow, that's not good, thanks for sharing that information with us. The
heck of it is, people probably WOULD write articles for their magazine
for their preferred set price (read: FREE!) if they would give them
even a magazine subscription in return. But that's a total gyp,
instead.

Also to Mark: apologies for writing my story in the (too short)
way that I did, you're comments are valid.
What I wrote are the facts, but I may have expressed
it too harshly.

Sorry to hear that you wasted your time!

I didn't. The article *is* published. And I don't care
about the money (I wrote the article at the time when PyZine had
a different form, there was no talk about any author payment
at that time). So again, it's not a big issue, I just wanted
to share my experience.

--Irmen.

 

[Irmen de Jong]

Huh?

If you actually took the time to visit Py and read our Writer's
Guidelines you will find a big bold
headline that reads: "Complimentary PyZine subscription for Authors" and
Irmen of course got a free subscription.

I did. And I will repeat an earlier reply here because it didn't
reach everybody the first time:

Mark: apologies for writing my story in the (too short)
way that I did, you're comments are valid.
What I wrote are the facts, but I may have expressed
it too harshly.

[Kamilche:]

> Sorry to hear that you wasted your time!

I didn't. The article *is* published. And I don't care
about the money (I wrote the article at the time when PyZine had
a different form, there was no talk about any author payment
at that time). So again, it's not a big issue, I just wanted
to share my experience.


--Irmen.

PS: everything has now been taken care of with PyZine.

 

[Irmen de Jong]

Huh?

If you actually took the time to visit Py and read our Writer's
Guidelines you will find a big bold
headline that reads: "Complimentary PyZine subscription for Authors" and
Irmen of course got a free subscription.

I did. And I will repeat an earlier reply here because it didn't
reach everybody the first time:

Mark: apologies for writing my story in the (too short)
way that I did, you're comments are valid.
What I wrote are the facts, but I may have expressed
it too harshly.

[Kamilche:]

> Sorry to hear that you wasted your time!

I didn't. The article *is* published. And I don't care
about the money (I wrote the article at the time when PyZine had
a different form, there was no talk about any author payment
at that time). So again, it's not a big issue, I just wanted
to share my experience.


--Irmen.

PS: everything has now been taken care of with PyZine.

 

[Michele Simionato]

BTW Mark, what's the status of the article *I* submitted (I sent you a private
email a couple of days ago but had no answer yet, so let me try the public
forum instead


Michele Simionato