Press Release: July 8, 2009
The Pragmatic Bookshelf Launches a Magazine; First Issue of PragPub Available Now!
Raleigh, NC—
The Pragmatic Bookshelf, the innovative publisher of award-winning books by programmers for programmers, has launched a new magazine: PragPub.
PragPub editor Michael Swaine served for years as editor-in-chief and editor-at-large for the venerable Dr. Dobb’s Journal and coauthored the seminal personal computer history book, Fire in the Valley.
Michael says, "There is a huge demand for timely information on current programming issues, but conventional magazine publishing can't keep up with the pace of change in software development. There are some wonderful blogs and wikis that address particular technologies or projects, but they tend to come and go, or serve an extremely niche audience. We're hoping to strike a balance between a conventional magazine and a topical blog or wiki, capturing the benefits of professional editing and a regular publishing schedule of a magazine, and the responsiveness and sense of community of the blogs and wikis--the growing, worldwide Pragmatic community."
The July issue is now available from the Pragmatic Programmers site. PragPub is published monthly and is free of charge.
The twitter stream is already filled with overwhelmingly positive comments:
Pragmatic Passions
Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas are the founders of the Pragmatic Programmers, founders of the Agile software movement, and coauthors of its Manifesto for Agile Development. To share their ideas about a better way to build software they wrote the book The Pragmatic Programmer, which has become a classic in the field. From these roots, it seemed only natural to create an agile publishing business: the Pragmatic Bookshelf.
The Pragmatic Bookshelf breaks with the past in bringing the fresh ideas and values of Agile software development to the stodgy business of publishing. From the technology used to produce books to the structure of the company itself, the Pragmatic Bookshelf looks more like a successful open-source software project than like an old-school publishing house.
And successful it is: while traditional publishers are struggling or closing up shop, The Pragmatic Bookshelf is prospering, growing, and expanding into new areas--such as the magazine.
Andy Hunt explains, "PragPub is a look into the pragmatic world: it's a peek at what we're excited about, what our authors are excited about, and what we hope you can get excited about. It's a place where together we can share our passions. We’re looking to start a real dialogue among highly talented, skilled professionals who care about their craft."
Dave Thomas explains another key difference. "Unlike any magazine before, it's an e-pub from the get-go. We don't just mean that it's an online magazine; there are plenty of those. We're publishing it in all popular eBook formats (pdf, .mobi, and .epub), so it will look right on your iPhone or Kindle reader. And if significant new eBook formats come along, it will embrace those, too."
Iteration One
In true Agile fashion, the first issues of the magazine are being released as part of "Iteration One." That means that this is just the beginning: it's the simplest version that could possibly work and be interesting. PragPub will sport new features, refinements, and new innovations in subsequent iterations--just like a good software project.
For more information please email [email protected]. PragPub Editor Michael Swaine can be reached at [email protected], and Dave and Andy can be reached at [email protected].
About Pragmatic Bookshelf
Pragmatic Bookshelf is an imprint of the Pragmatic Programmers, LLC. Our titles are distributed to bookstores internationally by O'Reilly Media.
The Pragmatic Bookshelf features books written by developers for developers. The titles continue the well-known Pragmatic Programmer style, and continue to garner awards and rave reviews. As development gets more and more difficult, the Pragmatic Programmers will be there with more titles and products to help programmers stay on top of their game.
About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.