Hacker Monthly #2 is out

[ekanes]

Please add a way for me to subscribe rather than buy these one by one. I don't want to "buy" monthly, I want to receive monthly. ;)

Editing to add: Even if Magcloud doesn't have a way to do this, it might be worth your while (especially for cash flow!) to use something else like Paypal, buy them in bulk from Magcloud at a discount and send them out yourself. You could require a 1-year subscription to make it more worth your effort (and the bulk purchasing might mean you make more money on the sale of the magazine itself)

2nd edit: Thinking about this some more, the magazine is 40 pages long (yay!) but at $.20/page you're making only $1/sale in gross margins (boo!). If you were able to accept yearly subscriptions and fulfill from the US (I know you're in Malaysia) you could boost gross margins to $3/sale, in addition to the cash flow benefits. You would be adding fulfillment costs, but it might be worthwhile...

AND you could ship internationally if you wanted! :)

[bearwithclaws]

The print subscription is definitely on its way. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to do it right rather than just dive in. Stay tuned (most probably in the middle of the month).

[Sukotto]

Instead of dealing with annual subscriptions, I think you'd be better off making it easy for people to sign up for a recurring monthly charge to paypal or whatever.

Annual subscriptions have too many negatives for the time required to handle them.

[almost]

Yes please! I would also like to subscribe.

And please do charge more, I'd like to think you're getting something out of this!

[simonk]

Actually you can create a group order and do this and get the discount. The only extra work would be collecting the money each month.

They handle the shipping, although this doesn't help with international orders.

[spydez]

Sounds like you bought issue #1, so I'll ask:

How's the print quality?

[pclark]

I'd like to see:

* a few recurring columns (eg: get ceo of startup to write half a page about "day in life of startup" each month for 3 months

* spotlight on a "review my startup" submission to HN each month.

* a page of curated pithy/insightful/fun comments from hacker news.

* oh, most importantly, links to the most recent "who is hiring/who is looking for a job"

also, iPad/iPhone app.

[grinich]

If you're interested in building it into an iOS app, let me know and maybe I can help. I built a HN iPhone app. http://michaelgrinich.com/hackernews

[Oatmeat]

* a page of curated pithy/insightful/fun comments from hacker news

This is on pages 28-29 of this issue.

[johns]

The iApp would be nice because you wouldn't have to download them and sync manually. But in the mean time, you can get the PDFs and sync them to iBooks, or go right to the PDF in your iOS browser and open them in iBooks. It looks fantastic on the iPad.

[aik]

Excellent points. Point #1 would be especially interesting.

Also: It'd be great if the print version was available in other countries (such as Australia).

[lleger]

I agree with every single point in this comment. pclark: you read my mind.

[ewams]

Can iP(ad/hone) not open PDF's?

[kmfrk]

The Curator's Note has an apostrophe that horsekicks sensible typographers in the face. The note itself also uses improper quotes (primes). The magazine seems to have some inconsistent use of quotes in general, which seems odd when it's been made in InDesign which should enforce a consistent rule.

Another typographical pet peeve are the widows and orphans going. I'm sure they can be avoided.

Other than that, the magazine looks even more interesting than the last one, and I can't wait to read it. It's a shame that MagCloud don't ship to Europe. I'm also hoping you'll check out the perfect bound binding for the magazine which MagCloud is testing out in beta at the moment.

[bearwithclaws]

My bad for letting that slipped thru. I'll fix it (and hopefully avoid it in the upcoming issue).

[jackowayed]

This is cool: Thinkcode's ad has a puzzle/code. First person to solve it gets their full catalog.

http://skitch.com/jackowayed/dk1ws/thinkcode-puzzle

[johnswamps]

As plain text:

  # The fastest person to solve this will win our entire catalog
  bThvW3JKYz16bXpUWDIufkl2OllseC4maV1gMjtVYXNtb2RyZ3czbkQzQDtn
  ZnRdMVZuZkIqVTJpIGlxa2xubkAoaTRueGdQaGN0YyRjTGN1WGlUbzF5VU5q
  cz50KmRwZXlncGN0dA==

I added whitespace as in the picture, you probably want to remove it. (I transcribed this by hand, let me know if I messed anything up)

[helwr]

direct link to pdf: http://hackermonthly.com/hackermonthly-issue2.pdf

[snissn]

http://www.scribd.com/vacuum?url=http://hackermonthly.com/ha...

[jrockway]

Nice. I like the new comments section. I that printing the comments adds to their impact, even without the other comments or original article. It also enhances the sarcastic value -- although I didn't read Dave Winer's entry about how online advertising is dead, I immediately knew what he had to say when I read tptacek's "summary".

Anyway, pretty cool.

[ihodes]

I love reading these in print: can't wait ’till the next one comes.

I wish someone would publish a magazine on programming like this. I’d buy that as well…

Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see number three.

One thing I'd like; to be able to subscribe to a year of it.

[mgkimsal]

gentle plug for my own magazine:

http://jsmag.com is a monthly PDF magazine on JavaScript which has been out for a bit over a year. "Ready to print" but we don't handle printing right now. Original content, DRM-free, JavaScript (and some front-end) articles. http://jsmag.com/sampler to grab the 24 page sampler.

[ekanes]

Do you think there'd be a market for a "general entrepreneurship" one? More like Inc or Fast Company, but using the "unpaid content with permission and accreditation" model that Hacker Monthly is doing? I've been thinking of doing that.

[aristus]

There is Code Quarterly, which I think is coming Real Soon Now.

[Concours]

May I ask what tools you are using to create the eBook ?

[bearwithclaws]

Indesign CS4.

[naner]

Does this have original content or is this all select content from Hacker News and reformatted for the magazine format?

Do you have to get permission from each author since you're charging for hard copies?

[pclark]

bearwithclaws (the curator) reaches out to the authors [1]

1: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1261522

[bbhacker]

I downloaded the PDF, also the First Edition and I thought it is time to donate. It was my first PayPal donation and I spent it for something I am passionate about (startups).

Keep up the good work, and check out Monocle - maybe you can get some inspiration how you can build and extend this.

[someperson]

The site is down for me. Anybody have a mirror?

[bjelkeman-again]

I have the same issue. Last time I had to wait for a couple of days to be able to download the PDF.

[vegashacker]

Never received #1 in the mail.

[ekanes]

Just to add a data point, I did get mine ok.

[ErrantX]

Hmm, yeh good reminder mine never came either (must chase that up...)

[jeb]

How much do the ads in the magazine cost?

[bearwithclaws]

http://hackermonthly.com/ratecard

[grep]

No Kindle version?

[bearwithclaws]

Coming up.

[levesque]

I love the idea because I don't always have time to check HN daily and am sure to miss out on some great stories. This is the opportunity to do some catch up.

[robryan]

Is there no comparable service which does ship everywhere? I know people have offered to repost it but just wondering why a company like magcloud would only want to ship to such a limited set of countries if the user is paying shipping?

[joshbert]

Outstanding issue. I've really enjoyed this zine of yours, it's really well put together. I agree that maybe you should charge more and add a subscription model, we want you to get something out of it as well :)

[heresy]

For those of us who want to support this, but live in countries other than the US, UK or Canada, is there any alternative to MagCloud?

I know there's a donate but I want a dead tree edition too.

[almost]

I'll be happy remail copies (of both issues if you want) to anyone who wants to PayPal me the money for the mag plus shipping to their country (from the UK). Email is in profile.

Just ordered my copy, last month's was great!

[hobolobo]

I really enjoyed the first edition, even the stuff that I'd already read on HN. I think you may have found your niche, bearwithclaws. I've just bought the second - hopefully many more will do the same.

[melling]

Version like Wired magazine on the iPad? Yes, it's a bit of form over function but it was enjoyable, and more importantly, that's what I would gladly pay for. A one year subscription would be ideal.