I'm Creating A Steemit Magazine. - Would You Like To Get Involved?
To summarise the post, it would be used to promote the platform itself, the authors and community within it and also to introduce normal, everyday men and women to the new and advancing technologies that make it all possible.
As well as this, it would be used to disseminate information regarding subjects that a lot of us are passionate about but which most others are not familiar with due to their lack of exposure from mainstream sources or what a lot of us would call propagandised indoctrination when they do.
I want our publication to celebrate the positive while facing up to the realities of the negatives, in all areas.
If you'd like to know more, please click here but for now, I wanted to make a post detailing some of the things I will be seeking submissions for in the coming days and weeks.
The magazine will of course need a name that represents what it stands for. My own suggestion would be'The Free Times' with something to the effect of 'Produced by the steemit.com community' below but I'm sure someone can improve on that and since it'll be a little while before we're ready to publish anything, you have some time to think about it. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them.
Hashtag
We'll also have to come up with a hashtag that is catchy and easily recognisable for anyone wanting to submit an article, etc to do so easily. This could very well be the same as the proposed name for the magazine or could be different. I'm thinking something like 'Project Steemit' but again, I'm completely sure that can be improved upon. :)
It would be useful to have a good hashtag as soon as possible so that we can begin to collate articles and submissions of all description in one place, so any immediate thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Logo And Masthead Design
Every magazine needs a good logo and masthead for the cover and when the time comes I'll be looking for someone to design these also. This will of course come after we have decided on a name etc.
Front Cover Design.
This will likely be one of the very last jobs needing done when all of the articles have been chosen and the content of the test publication is known. At this stage submissions will be requested for cover artwork based around a theme in fitting with the intention of the publication as well as relating to articles within. I think this will be an exciting design challenge when the time comes. :)
Featured Steemian.
I think it would be a good idea to have a feature on one of the steemit community members to add a little more personality of our own to the publication, so who would you like to see featured? At some stage I will make a post asking that question but feel free to leave your initial recommendations and suggestions in the comments section.
Featured Article
As this is a first issue (or test issue), I think it would be a good idea to have the main feature article on 'steemit.com' as an introduction to the platform. I'll be requesting submissions for an article that promotes the site in a fair and balanced way, explaining the workings of it in easy to follow terms and using simple language.
Several Other Main Feature Articles - (Subject Matter As Yet Undecided)
I see these as dealing with important issues relating to the problems facing the world due to what a lot of us call 'Centralisation Of Power' and it's effects on our lives in many different areas. I have my own feelings on what information I'd like to put out into the world but I want the magazine to reflect the sentiment of the community as a whole and so, would like you to offer some suggestions of your own regarding what you would like to see included.
Where do you see the problems in the world at the moment?
I'd also like some of these articles to deal with things like blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, explaining the basics of each in simple terms and I would like to introduce and promote alternative lifestyles such as homesteading and home-schooling etc, so would be encouraging articles which cover these and similar subject matters.
Several Smaller Articles. - (Subject Matter As Yet Undecided)
What should these be about? What subjects should they cover? Do you have some knowledge or insight that you'd like to share and think would make a good addition to the publication?
Comic Strip
I think most of us will be familiar with the satirical comic strip in magazines etc and I think this would be a fun addition.
What do you think? Could you create a satirical comic strip for our steemit magazine?
Advertising
Further to my recent post a few days ago, it has been suggested that some space within the publication might be given over to advertising for members of the community to advertise their blogs or initiatives or even to promote their own platforms on the blockchain, such as Dtube or Dmania etc, and I feel this is something that should be considered. I have a number of my own thoughts on how this could be achieved but would like to know yours also.
Should there be advertising at all? Would advertising be a good idea if it increased our ability to distribute the publication to a larger audience?
Team Of Editors
A team of editors will be needed to discuss and develop strategies for publication of future editions as well as to curate and evaluate submissions in a practical and efficient way with each putting forth their choices for inclusion to be considered by others and agreed by all.
Editorial
This will likely be the very last thing and can hopefully be written collaboratively by an editorial team yet to be assembled.
New Account
It will be necessary to have a separate account from my own going forward and I would like to get one set up as soon as possible but again thought it would be wise to wait until we have an agreed name for the magazine, so when this has been chosen, I will create a new account and all future posts for requesting submissions, etc relating to this project will be made from there, with everything hopefully being more transparent than perhaps it would be on my own account, which I of course intend to keep using for unrelated posts in future.
These are of course just a few things that will need to be done before the magazine will be anywhere near ready for publication and I would encourage anyone who would like to get involved or feel they could contribute in any way to do so. I am open to suggestions and constructive criticism of any kind. If you have any ideas or thoughts on how to improve on my own, please let me know. As you can see, it's a pretty big project and I have zero experience of creating a magazine, so I'm happy to accept any help that's offered. :)
Discord Channel
I decided to create a Discord server under the working title 'Publishing Project' but again, I'll be looking to change the name when we've decided on a name for our magazine. For the moment, if you'd like to get in touch with me or leave any suggestions, you can do so by clicking on the link below.
'Publishing Project' Discord Channel
You can also contact me on steemit.chat, my username is @tonyr or in the comments section.
Resteems And Upvotes.
All resteems and/or upvotes would be very much appreciated and will go a long way towards making this project successful.
Resteems will help massively in drawing attention to the project from those who might be interested in getting involved with or supporting it and all rewards from upvotes will be used cover the cost of printing etc either in full or part and to support and grow the project into the future.
Thanks for your time everyone and have a great day! :)
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best - I read your original post and was wondering what you were planning, and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised and excited! Actually, I think we already have most of the content you need for the magazine and it is just a matter to liaising with various people that have contributed similar materials already:
And I am sure @davemccoy might know a few people too or have some ideas that might help :)
One thing that is missing from the above list is the managerial roles: editors and so on. Who decides the content to go into each issue? There's a lot of good curated content here already. Who decides on what themes go in which issue?
I think there needs to be an organizing force, other than the whims of Steemit curation. I could foresee a small team of editors taking the best curations from various subjects. And then an Chief Editor organizing the Editors into a cohesive group.
Any good candidates you can think of?
Sorry @yekrats. I must have missed this comment in my feed but I understand your concerns as they are mine also and while I would love there to be enough support and interest going forward to enable us to put together some sort of committee or editing team to decide on content etc. I've created a new account for the project called @steemfreepress and also a discord server byu the same name. I'd appreciate it if you could offer more suggestions, so feel free to leave any suggestions or comments there. The link is below.
https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV
Thanks again mate. Hope to speak with you sometime soon. :)
Thanks for the mention @plushzilla :)
This is a great idea and if I can contribute in any way, I'd definitely be up for it :)
Hey @ashleykalila. Thanks a lot for the offer of support. I'd love to do a feature in the magazine on a member of the steemit community and would love your input. It was my plan to make a post and ask the community to vote for who they would like to see represent them and I still feel this would be the way to go but I'd also be interested to know your thoughts and suggestions for future issues going forward, if there are any. :)
Thanks again, my friend. I hope you're having a great day! :)
Up for anything!
Will have a little think about it :)
Hey @ashleykalila. I just wanted to let you know I've created a new account for the magazine project I'm working on and also a discord channel... https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV ...I'd appreciate any input or thoughts you might have so please consider stopping by if you have the time. :)
Thanks a lot my friend. Hope your day is going well.
WOW! :) Thanks for all the great resources @plushzilla. I'm not the greatest at reaching out to others for help except by way of making posts but I'll have to give myself a kick up the backside and start doing so. I'm working on the premise for now that this will just be a one off publication, a test run in my own city and see what happens after that, so when the time comes I'll look at printing them locally. mI have no idea how many copies that will be or how much we will have to cover the cost of printing but if we can get a pilot edition together and get it out there no matter the actual numbers, hopefully it will generate more interest to take things further.
I've just replied to a comment and offer of help by @misslasvegas as well who has a lot of real world publishing experience which is really promising so hopefully in time we can get something decent out there. :)
I plan on making posts soon reqwuesting articles. If you have any ideas what they should be I'd be really happy to hear them.
Thanks again, my friend. Hope your day is going well! :)
I was going to join the Discord discussions (since I have problems with steemit.chat) but the link didn't work for me :p
I have been poking my nose around a few different groups lately and hence I can see all the people that would be interested in contributing to it. In fact I also missed out the #creative-commons channel and the work that @alexandravart has done there as well.
I think at least you see the point that there is no shortage of people who would love to contribute, and I am now also following @misslasvegas too because of this post. I do think that we can aim for something even a little bit bigger than what you were planning if you had more resources than you think you have available :)
This should bring you to The Isle of Write Discord server :)
Thank you so much for thinking of us @plushzilla! This sounds like a great concept and I'm sure the Isle has plenty of writers who would be interested!
No problems, I know many talented writers that are also on the isleofwrite so it has to be a must look place for good articles and great writers that will do the magazine justice :)
Hey @plushzilla. Sorry I haven't been by in a few days. I haven't been feeling too great but I've just created an account for the magazine project called @steemfreepress and also sorted out the discord channel. If you'd like to get in touch with me I'll be spending most of my time there instead of on my own blog for the next little while. :)
Hope you are good my friend. Speak soon.
https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV
I have already followed steemfreepress and joined the Discord channel. Hope you are feeling better and I'll see you there soon :)
Looking forward to this venture!
I'd love to contribute; only issue for me is narrowing down the topic; from homesteading to gardening, steemit education (being a Stewards Of Gondor recipient to starting my own delegation of steemit members).
WIll be watching the advancement of this!
Thanks a lot fro the support and I hope you'll consider submitting an article in the future. I'll be requesting submissions for articles in the coming days to get things started so keep an eye out. :)
I hope your day is going well @goldendawne. Look forward to speaking with you again soon. :)
Hey @goldendawne. I hope your day is going well my friend. I just wanted to let you know that I have created a new account called @steemfreepress for the magazine project I'm working on as well as a discord server which I'd like to invite you to. I'd appreciate your continued support and thoughts. :)
https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV
Great idea. My suggestion for name would be something similar to Steem Free Press / Steem Press. Drawing parallels to the printing press is a good idea.
That sounds like a great suggestion @john-robert. Thanks a lot mate. Might end up being the one that's chosen. :)
Hope your day is going well buddy and thanks for your time. If you have any more suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. :)
Of course @tonyr. Love the idea.
Hey @john-robert. I just wanted to let you know that I've just created a new account for the magazine project I'm working on as well as discord server. The account is called @steemfreepress :) and so is the discord channel. I'd appreciate it if you'd accept the invitation below and offer any further input or suggestions you might have. :)
Cheers mate.
https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV
Cool @tonyr I just joined the discord channel and look forward to keeping the conversation going.
That's great news John. I look forward to speaking with you more soon mate.
Have a good one!
I like the idea...
call it STEEL ? Why Steel? coz it's a metal, its smooth, its cool, or it's hot..and its modern...
Not sure what I can contribute.. maybe some photoshop editing from time to time... ;)
@tonyr absolutely love this idea! I have worked in ad agencies and repro houses for many years prior to giving it up to teach. My husband Brian runs an advertising/graphic design business from home. Together we produce seasonal brochures, magazines etc, so can offer help in many aspects. I am a proofreader/editor as well, please feel free to request help in whatever way you feel we can be of use. I also love to write, although have been a bit under the whip lately so not much time to write. I am teaching and doing admin at a preschool/junior primary school and also investigating homeschooling and unschooling. Brian is actively designing, doing the layouts and specialising in 3D art as well. Looking forward to the magazine, sure it will be a resounding success!
@leighleigh, please forgive me for the delayed response to your awesome and very welcome comment. I've not been feeling too well these last few days and haven't been able to get much done but your offer of help is amazing and as I said in the post, I really have no experience or background in this sort of thing so am shooting from the hip in many respects and am thankful for all the help I can get. :)
I've just created a new account called @steemfreepress from which I will be making all future related posts and would appreciate you giving the account a follow to keep track of things as well as joining the Steem Free Press discord channel. I'm really new to this as well so it might take me a few days or weeks to get used to things but hopefully it will give us a place to chat more freely and easily about ideas and thoughts for making the project as successful mas possible. :)
I am working on the premise that if I can get some articles submitted and have them ready we can work around these to create the magazine but if you have any suggestions as to a plan of action given your experience I would appreciate that also. :)
Have a great day, my friend. I look forward to speaking with you and Brian soon. :)
I am interested! Wow, this is such a great idea! Love it!
Any way I can help -- writing, editing, so on -- I'd be happy to help! The Discord link didn't seem to work, however.
Hey @yekrats. Thanks a lot for the kind words and support, my friend. I would love it if you could get involved somehow and will be making some posts in the coming days requesting submissions and assistance for certain parts of the project so keep an eye out. :)
I've had a few people tell me that about the link now. I'll have to have a look and figure out why its not working. sorry about that. :(
Have a great day mate and thanks again. :)
Tonyr
I am looking forward to your success and will help in anyway practical. Although I am still a minnow I am also a psychologist so I might be able to, once in a while, be an SME (Subject Matter Expert) on articles geared to psychology.
I would recommend starting as simple as possible and adding on things that are more difficult later. Some of the people above would know more about this but print publication of photos and art will be expensive, even just a cover. Of course the online version could be longer and include more art.
Some excellent suggestions @authorfriendly and worth bearing in mind for sure. I have had many offers of help and since I have little idea how to go about creating a magazine or what exactly is involved, I'm really, really thankful for it. If you have any more I'd be pleased to hear them. I've just created a new account for the project called @steemfreepress as well as a discord server. I'd appreciate it if you would consider following the account to stay updated in the project as well as joining the discord channel where you can offer suggestions and chat with others about ideas.
Thanks again mate. Hope your day is going well. :)
Discord link - https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV
Also just saw this today: https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@eco-alex/the-ecotrain-magazine-feb-10th-see-what-we-have-in-store-for-you-this-week
This looks like a great project and definitely one we can learn from or ask for help if we need it. Thanks for sharing the link with me. It was an enjoyable post to read. :)
What an awesome idea @tonyr! I happened to have worked at a 'real life' publisher that was working a bit backwards and CRAZY to be honest. I was hired as an editor and on my first day, one of the advertising guys asked me: Are you the new editor in chief for the wellness mag and business mag? And I was like: "Eh...no, I am just hired as an editor." To which he replied: " But you're taking over from 'so and so' right?" Uh, yeah..."So then you're editor in chief for those.." My old boss was a nutcase who loved money but didn't love to spend it. So I ended up doing 3 magazines pretty much on my own, all the writing, except for some guest articles by colleagues...(who also each had at least two mags...). The crazy thing was that it was really CRAZY (as you usually work on ONE magazine with a whole team) but the good thing was that I learned the ropes of everything...And we each edited each other's magazines lol. I did everything but lay-out (did that in college) and advertising...SOOOOO, if you need any help: please let me know. I'd love to help.
Hey @misslasvegas. Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while but I've not been too well for the last few days and it's delayed me in getting my project up and running but I've created a new account from which all future related posts will be made called @steemfreepress and I've also set up a discord server under the same name (Steem Free Press).
The invite link is below and I'd really appreciate it if you'd join the channel and help me out. :)
I hope you're doing well my fiend. Look forward to speaking with you soon.
https://discordapp.com/invite/2qyYgzV
Looks like you've got all of the experience we need to make this project a reality then..:) and I would love your help in any way you can @misslasvegas because I have little experience of anything like this myself and find it hard to make a steemit post at times so definitely need all the help I can get. If you have any suggestions to get things going I'd love to hear them.
I plan on making some posts soon requesting articles and would love your input on what they should be about in order to reflect the community here whilst opening up our readership to critical thinking in other areas of their lives.
For now, I've decided to use the suggestion from
I have my own agenda behind wanting to create this magazine and am trying to be honest and open about it. I want to help people think and act for themselves by being as transparent as possible with the information on important areas of life that affect us all but I know that in order to do that it must be done subtly. I also want ot celebrate other areas such as homesteading and homeschooling or how to live healthier lives in an unhealthy environment etc, etc, etc. All the sorts of things that the steemit community excel at as well as highlighting initiatives like @familyprotection etc and encouraging others with similar stories to come forward.
I honestly feel the possibilities are endless for what we could achieve if we put our minds to it and I'm really pleased you want to get involved.
I've decided to go with the name 'STEEM FREE PRESS' for now which was suggested by @john-robert. What do you think? :)
Looks like you've got all of the experience we need to make this project a reality then..:) and I would love your help in any way you can @misslasvegas because I have little experience of anything like this myself and find it hard to make a steemit post at times so definitely need all the help I can get. If you have any suggestions to get things going I'd love to hear them.
I plan on making some posts soon requesting articles and would love your input on what they should be about in order to reflect the community here whilst opening up our readership to critical thinking in other areas of their lives.
For now, I've decided to use the suggestion from
I have my own agenda behind wanting to create this magazine and am trying to be honest and open about it. I want to help people think and act for themselves by being as transparent as possible with the information on important areas of life that affect us all but I know that in order to do that it must be done subtly. I also want ot celebrate other areas such as homesteading and homeschooling or how to live healthier lives in an unhealthy environment etc, etc, etc. All the sorts of things that the steemit community excel at as well as highlighting initiatives like @familyprotection etc and encouraging others with similar stories to come forward.
I honestly feel the possibilities are endless for what we could achieve if we put our minds to it and I'm really pleased you want to get involved.
@john-robert
I've decided to go with the name 'STEEM FREE PRESS' for now which was suggested by @john-robert. What do you think? :)
Hi @tonyr, I wanted to reply sooner, but the storm here seems to knock out our internet every 5 minutes! Ah, the joys of living in rural Ireland. I'm glad that you're excited enough to reply to my comment twice 😉. Yesssss, 'Steem Free Press' sounds perfect. I also want to respond to your conversation with @plushzilla. You mention printing for your own town, but just remember that printing any kind of publication is a rather costly thing and it usually turns out cheaper the more you print and the more pages. Pages go by 4's, so 4, 8, 12, 16 and so on, so that's something you want to keep in mind. What I found is that sometimes the 'smaller' printers or the old fashioned ones (with an old fashioned print-press) can be cheaper than the regular digital ones, but also needs more work. There is a guy here in town that used to print the newspapers and festival/theater guides etc. for the local community, he has one really old print press, but it's functional of course...I could always ask him what this would look like and what the expected cost would be for this. Would you also want a digital version? I am right behind you as for the ideas you have for content, I think it could be a one of its kind magazine especially with all this enthusiasm here on the platform. Either way, I am pretty excited to get involved and would love to talk more about this. When I worked for that publisher I mentioned, it may not have been ideal and it was quite stressful at times, but it was one of a few 'real' jobs for a boss I really loved doing. I'm going to think about this some more and see if I can come up with some ideas. I think we have to do a Steemit meetup in Scotland...
This is a local magazine we have in Glasgow and what I had in mind for emulating to start with. It has a circulation of around 70-1000 copies each week and covers a lot of the gangster and underworld goings on with a section at the back listing court dates etc. It's obviously not the content I'm interested in but the fact that it hads such a lat=rge circulation for such a small city shows me that there is the will among the masses to read things that interest them, which I am hoping our magazine will. It used to be a pretty basic layout but as its got more successful it has improved in quality and is now presented in 'glossy' form. It's not a full size magazinelike vogue or time. It.s dimensions are slightly bigger than a5 and I think that is a good size. It has 32 pages but I would suggest 24 to start with.
As for the printing, I had intended to contact the firm who print these and see if I could talk them into doing me a deal but I also thought I might run into some problems if they had any reservations about legality etc so if you have a contact that could print them, that would be awesome and like I said before, I haven't got a clue what I'm doing so have no idea about price but I'm sure in the time it takes to bring everything we need together we can get enough funds together to get a decent number out there as a starting point. :)
I tried to create a new account last night using the steemconnect app but ran into a few issues in that the account I wanted to create was called @steem-free-press but the account that was generated was @steem-fr, which is no good to anyone, so I'll have to try again. :(
I'm really glad you're so excited and enthused about the project @misslasvegas.Like you say, I think it could also be a one of a kind magazine, especially iof we have the right people in place to keep it honest. :)
I have some internet issues of my own as well as commitments elsewhere so I can't be available all the time or have discord running but I do check it every day so if you want to leave me a private message you can do so there and I will get it the same day or you can get in touch with me on chat @tonyr.
Look forward to hearing more from you. :)
Hi @misslasvegas, you definitely know a lot of the ins and outs about printing and publishing. I picked up bits and pieces from relatives that work in the printing industry and helping them out with a few things here and there, and the cost + logistics involved was why I originally thought about the digital version first. We'll probably need a dedicated Discord channel to discuss this (rather than the blog comments section) and I am happy to liaise with the Discord groups that I am in touch with as well as contributing content. The Discord channel line wasn't working for me but I might also DM you on Discord if you have contact details :)
Hi @plushzilla & @tonyr, I'm in a bit of a hurry now, but will reply more extensive later on today. My user name on discord is the same as here, I am also on steemit chat, I believe there's group chat there too.
thank you. I hope you feel a bit better now. I had a bit of a crazy week myself, so no worries. I'm on the discord now and wrote a few things...
Excellent initiative dear friend @tonyr congratulations.
If my writings are useful, count on it.
I wish you much success!
Thank you so much for the support @jlufer and for the offer of using your writing. I will be making posts in the coming days requesting submissions for articles so if you would like to contribute or feel you have a piece already that fits the bill I'd be very pleased. :)
Have a great day, my friend!