1,000 Points of Sight: Galaxis Number 3

Open publication - Free publishing - More battlestar

The third edition of my free digital science & science fiction magazine, Galaxis, has reached its first milestone in record time. Not even a full month since it was published on issuu.com, Galaxis #3 has racked up 1,000 views. That is, I believe, faster than the previous two issues or any of my digital magazines has reached that milestone.

My thanks to everyone who has looked at the issue, read it, shared it with their blog/Facebook/Twitter followers, sent me feedback, or showered me with offers of glory. Granted, none of the last has happened, but one can hope.

On to 2,000!

1,000 and Counting!

Late yesterday, viewership of my digital magazine Galaxis ("The worlds of science & science fiction") surpassed 1,000, all in about a month's time. Now, I know that 1,000 readers is a minor amount both in print and online publications. But for a free digital magazine that has had no budget – absolutely zero – and has spread only by word of mouth (and, I guess, word of Facebook and Twitter), it's a promising start. My one thousandth viewer is therefore a milestone.

If you haven't checked it out yet, click on it below to view it full-screen on your computer. You can also download it to your computer from my host issuu.com site (just look for the download icon beneath the magazine image on that page). And if you want an actual, paper-and-ink hard copy of the magazine, you can purchase it from my print-on-demand pals at MagCloud.

While I continue to welcome new readers to issue #1, I am hard at work on issue #2, which is shaping up to be even better. I've got lots of original, in-depth articles on new and classic science fiction and science from around the world. One reader commented to me that he likes reading a science fiction magazine that shows him stuff he doesn't already know about, that widens his base of knowledge and enjoyment of the genre. I feel exactly the same way, and I think this second issue will really establish Galaxis as the smart portal to the global SF field that we've been needing.

Look for issue #2 in a couple month's time. Until then, enjoy the premiere issue!

Complete Table of Contents for Galaxis: The Worlds of Science & Science Fiction

Here's the complete list of contents in the premiere issue of Galaxis: The Worlds of Science & Science Fiction.

FEATURES

String Theory's Father: Q&A with Leonard Susskind, science rock star

Scientist on a Mission: In an exclusive interview, Michio Kaku talks about the future – that's being built today

The Long March of Star Wolf: David Gerrold's classic space war novels deserve to be filmed

The Paper Rumor Mill: How fans got their news before the internet

Remembering Moonbase Alpha

Heart-to-Heart Talk: Deepak Srivastava talks stem cells

When 14-Year-Olds Saved Humanity: How Gundam puts U.S. animation to shame

A Larger View: Photo essay on how NASA has broadened our universe

The Lathe of Heaven: Ursula K. Le Guin's brainy SF classic on TV

Michael Medved & Robot Monster

Real Space, Real People: It's finally happening: Real people in space

DEPARTMENTS

Viewscreen: Introducing Galaxis; science fiction and science are already everywhere

Launch Tube: Galactica back x2? Can America still be a futurist technology leader? And more news

Question Time: Author and anthropologist Mary Doria Russell

Discoveries: Where can you see a real dinosaur today? We've got the photos to show you.

Reviewscreen: Science fiction and fact from around the world: K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces, The Secrets of the Chess Machine. Plus: Potter, Kaku, and Eerie Publications

Next Issue: The future in Galaxis

All of that can be found in the July 2011 issue of Galaxis (volume 1, number 1!). It's easy to get your hands on it: You can view and download a free digital copy of the magazine at issuu or you can buy a print-on-demand copy from MagCloud.

Let me know what you think about the magazine. I am already hard at work on the second issue.

Free Galaxis and Magma Magazines for Your Android Mobile Devices -- from Issuu.com

Issuu.com, the free digital publishing platform I use for my magazines, has created a nifty mobile app that lets you download and view digital magazines from its online newsstand.

Galaxis is my newest publication, and it features articles, interviews, and reviews from the worlds of science and science fiction. You can read it at Issuu. Magma is my other publication, produced earlier this year and focused on the magazine industry. It is also on Issuu.

You can read (and download to your computer) both magazines at Issuu on your computer, or you can now download the entire magazines to your Android mobile device. It's all free. The mobile reader lets you view the entire page on your screen; to zoom in to read the text, you just double-tap on the text and it comes up in a clear text reader. I tried it, and it's very quick, cool, and easy to use.

You can get the app either by going to m.issuu.com on your phone's browser, or do what I did and get the free Issuu app from the Android Market on your phone (just open the Market application, and search for "issuu").

As for you iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch users, you'll have to keep holding your breath. Issuu says it's been trying to get Apple to approve a version for its mobile devices, but Apple keeps rejecting it. I have an iPod Touch that I like very much, so I hope they can get on board the Apple express in the near future.

PS: I should have some exciting news from the world of MagCloud to announce within the next week.

Issuu and the Realization of Digital Magazine Popularization

Or perhaps instead of "popularization," I should have written "democratization." I've been setting up my company's print magazine on issuu.com, a fantastic digital magazine platform that's so easy to use and so beautiful to behold that I keep thinking it might just be too good to be true.

Enough of my mushy praise, eh?

Well, I'm also going to set up a personal account on issuu so I can create some digital-only publications of my own. I've already got the first one partially planned out (readers of this blog won't be surprised by the content or tone), and I'm having a ball designing and writing it.

Issuu is available for free accounts and in very inexpensive ($19 per month) "pro" accounts.

For someone who loves print as much as I do to be this excited about a digital platform, some very specific attributes had to be included in the service. First, the digital publication looks like a magazine as you page through it online. That was what really hooked me. But second, as I've noted in the past, the key to magazines' future is the ability to print and bind a digital magazine at the home or office and have it turn out to be as good as a newsstand-bought copy; issuu isn't there yet, but the print-outs of pages are crisp and clear, and I think it's a big step on the road to nirvana. HP can complete the circle by continuing their ever-increasing sophistication of personal printers.

I have written here in praise of digital platforms such as MagCloud (which is really a print-on-demand service). But consider me a full acolyte in the issuu.com movement. Drinking the kool-aid and all.