Almanack is regularly updated catalog of the modern calendar year, +serving folks who toil in the fields of tech, just as earlier Almanacs' +accompanied agriculturalists as they navigated the seasons. It contains +a miscellany of factual pieces, stories, reviews, predictions, annual +tech rituals, calendar items, puzzles, gossip, and hoary advice.
+Like Ben Franklin's Poor Richard before it, our Almanack is also a +lightly fictionalised framing device: namely that the publication has +played this role for enthusiasts of technological progress (with mixed +results) for the last three centuries.
+The goal of this conceit is to let us commission and publish essays, +criticism, fiction and code on the modern world – without falling into +the trap of taking ourselves , the present or the future too +seriously.
+Almanack is compiled over the year, and commissioned works are added +to the web site regularly, with a printed anthology of last twelve +months' pieces published in December as the official Almanack for the +next year.
+We earn money through Almanack sales, online subscriptions, and +non-behavioral advertising, handcrafted to fit the conceit. Our rates +for creators are currently $500 up for a single long piece (500-1000 +words), $250 for artwork, $100 for smaller items.
+We commission longer pieces in the form of serials (both non-fiction +and fiction), and pay per installment.
+Our finances are transparent, and can be +viewed, live, online. We budget a burn rate of $2K a month, and aim +to always have at least six months of runway assuming the above rates. +We hold a mid-year fundraiser to grow that runway and to raise money for +the hard-cover publication.
+When we have 18 month of runway (i.e. $78,000), further revenue will +be used to increase these rates for future contributors.
+Contributors also receive a royalty payment from the profits (ie +after costs) of the printed collection, proportional to their +contribution.
+Payment is on week of publication. Kill fees are 33% of agreed rate. +You retain your copyright. We and many of our contributors prefer a +CC-BY-SA license, but we can negotiate a narrower right (for a lower +rate, weirdly).
+Modern online writing can be disabling and dispiriting. To stand out, +we want our readers to be more energized after reading +a serving of Almanack than they were before. They should feel more +informed, more curious, more empowered, and optimistic about their +ability to change the world for the better.
+Everyone here has burned through snark, irony, rage, edutainment, +simple awe, and aloofness, so we're looking for something else. It's +early days, but so far, what we have is a sense of knowing foolishness: +not so much self-deprecation, but gentle deprecation on +behalf of the entire human race.
+We are cautiously positive about the future (although it is always +unclear if this is just part of the Conceit). You don't have to be so +positive, but if you're going to be a downer, aim to make your readers +feel more complex emotions than simple despair.
+Almanack also has a light tone, but don't feel you need to lean into +jokiness – or the Conceit. It is always fine to ignore +our setting or mood entirely for your own purposes.
+Don't talk down to the reader or over-explain. Assume that the reader +is smart, and can look things up. Prefer density of information above +explanation. Link heavily.
+If you're writing online these days, it's easy to get tied up in an +imaginary dialog with future commenters – either making fierce +assertions to chase away disagreement, long defenses to try and win over +stragglers, or apologies or justifications to prevent +misunderstanding.
+Skip all that.
+If there's something where you feel like you need to justify or evade +or confirm an attitude, palm off that obligation by citing Almanack's +300 year long archive.
+While apparently a modern phenomenon, Almanack is heavily implied to +have been in continuous publication for the last three hundred years – +with an back catalog that covers many of the most contentious areas of +modern debate.
+Here, you will find that the magazine has dealt (in meticulous and +entirely unavailable depth) with your most distracting side quests, as +well as those of your most cantankerous readers.
+Sadly, this resource is often unavailable for temporary technical +reasons, but you can still refer to them, via a `footnote`.
+Footnotes look this:
+We like serials, and would like to support them when we can. Some +guidance:
+By fictional serials, we mean webserials or multiple-part stories. +Each episode should be 500-1500 words. We anticipate these serials to be +weekly or monthly. Our arbitrary maximum is twelve installments.
+By non-fiction we mean long-form pieces, broken down into smaller +pieces (think a true crime podcast). We're still experimenting with this +form, and anticipate daily or weekly episodes.
+By graphical works, a short comic series. Under 8 episodes, +please.
+We don't at this time accept unbounded serials (i.e. traditional +webcomics, sprawling Ra-like webserials, or columns).
+We're unlikely to commission someone who hasn't already completed a +webserial or other long-running piece. Please include links to them when +you approach us.
+Include a general idea of an arc, and how many episodes you expect +the piece to take. Some flexibility is fine, but the pay rate will be +based on this number. We expect to have three episodes in hand before we +begin publication.
+It's a lost art! Give your readers a reason to come back.
+Online publications don't usually accept or commission code, but +we're weird.
+We're really weird, though.
+Part of the Conceit is that we are heavy advocates, for somewhat +arbitrary reasons, for a eldritch stack of tools. We see ourselves as +part of the tech community that work this stack, and seek to contribute +back to it. You don't have to use this stuff in your own work, but code +that uses it will be particularly welcomed.
+We avoid proprietary (i.e. closed or non-free) software where +possible.
+Our stack is:
+Yeah, it's ugly in lots of ways, but we're making a bet that when all +of this other stuff is buried under its own technical debts, GNU – +because of its historical persistence, semi-religious adherence, and +sheer doggone orneriness – will remain. We also see our work as an opportunity to +nudge GNU into the 22nd century, by being an enthusiastic advocate for +its continuation, and elaboration. That means we also use:
+Guix is the GNU-flavored version of Nix, implemented in Guile Scheme. +We use this as the basis for our operations.
+We are devoted advocates for capability-based security, and use +Spritely Goblins under the hood for our toys and infrastructure. We use +Ocapn to communicate.
+We :heart: decentralization, and a bunch of us work in this +space. You can use other decentralized tools, but IPFS, LibP2P, UCANs, +and Filecoin are our defaults. Talking of which:
+Whaaat, that blockchain nonsense? HOW DARE YOU SIR, HOW DARE YOU. +More seriously, in a continuing vein of holding a candle for +technologies we believe cannot die (no matter how much they may deserve +to), we hold a place for crypto, both for financing/securing Almanack, +and for the stream of innovative new work, including zero-knowledge and +so on.
+Of course, sometimes you just have to get some actual work done. For +that, we use Django.
+ +