Welcome to the all-new JPG Magazine!
Posted by Derek Powazek on 6 September 2006.
If you've been part of our community for the last two years, you may notice that things have changed. JPG's got a brand new bag! We've made huge changes to the website and the magazine. Here's what's new.
On the Web
- You can now create a membership! Members can upload photos and create their very own photoblogs. And more perks to come!
- Before we had only one theme open at a time - now we've got tons, so there's lots more to do. Each issue will feature more than one theme, too, so there are more chances to get published.
- Now you can help pick which photos go in JPG Magazine! We've open sourced our magazine creation process. When a theme is slated for an upcoming issue, submissions to that theme get a cool voting box. The community's collective voting will help decide which photos go in the magazine.
In the Magazine
We've made some big changes to the actual JPG magazine. All of these changes are designed to better feature you, our glorious photographers.
- It's cheaper! The number one complaint about JPG has always been that it was just too expensive. So we fixed that. The cover price is now $5.99 instead of $19.99. Really!
- It's bigger! We asked, you answered, and we aim to please. JPG Magazine is now a glorious letter-sized magazine (8.5x11), up from the darling 6x9 publication it had been.
- It's fatter! The magazine is now going to be over 100 pages, up from 64. And we'll be growing it from there.
- It's more frequent! We'll be publishing bi-monthly now - that's 6 times a year, instead of the old 4.
- You'll soon be able to subscribe! Imagine getting JPG in your snail mail box every issue. Soon!
And one more thing: You will now get paid cash money if your submission is printed in JPG Magazine. That's right! Submit a photo to an issue and, if it's selected for publication, you'll get US$100 and a free subscription for one year of JPG Magazine. Cool, huh?
How can we do all this? JPG is growing up a bit. It's changed from a side-project for Derek and Heather to a fulltime job for a crew of four people (and, soon, more). We're also going to be accepting advertising and sponsorship for the first time.
Let's talk about ads.
A lot of people hate advertising, and for good reason. If I see one more "punch the monkey" banner psychotically flashing in my retinas, I may actually punch something. But just because most advertising sucks doesn't mean all advertising sucks. We think there's a better way.
Starting today we're making available two kinds of sponsorship in JPG Magazine. First, we're selling traditional full-page ads. We're not selling partial pages, because we don't want the magazine to look like a crowded strip mall. Only full (or multi-) page ads. And second, we're offering Sponsored Themes.
A Sponsored Theme allows a brand to sponsor a theme for the community. For the photographers, this means one more chance to get published. For the sponsor, this means getting a little branding on the JPG site, and 2 full-page ads in the magazine, bookending the section. But they have no say about what photos get in or anything like that.
We think this creates an environment where an outside company that wants to support the JPG community can come inside and help us put the magazine out. We're also in talks with some sponsors to create product giveaways, where the participants in a sponsored themes would get awesome swag if they're published.
If this sounds good to you, hooray! We can't wait to see your awesome work. But if you don't want to participate, you don't have to! Submitting to Sponsored Themes is totally optional. There will always be non-sponsored themes to contribute to.
The most important thing is to only work with advertisers and sponsors who really respect the JPG community. We promise you'll never be asked to punch a monkey on the JPG website or see an ad for a toilet in the magazine. We only want to work with advertisers who want to really participate in the JPG community.
So that's what's new. Please give the new site a spin and take in the Fresh Code smell. Give the upload tool a try and set up your profile page! And be sure to let us know what you think.
And, as always, thanks for helping make the best damn photo magazine ever.
-- Derek & Heather & the 8020 Publishing Team
