[GSBN] Is it time? - Natural Building Magazine

[Mark Piepkorn]

I've floated the idea of Natural Building Magazine past some GSBNers 
over time, including Judy and Matts, Joyce, David E, Bruce K, the 
Bills, Lars, and others.
http://www.naturalbuildingmagazine.com/

This isn't a public announcement. Yet. I'm writing to see what 
thoughts this august body produces. (The GSBN list is underwritten by 
TLS, and is its de facto - if underutilized - advisory board. Is it 
sacrilegious for me to be posting this here? I hope not. See
http://www.naturalbuildingmagazine.com/TLS/
Feel free to respond offlist if you don't feel comfortable posting. 
If warranted, I'll set up discussions somewhere.)

The seed for Natural Building Magazine was planted over a decade ago 
when I was editor of TLS, during a conversation I had with Carol 
Venolia (who had already stopped producing the seminal Building With 
Nature newsletter by then), Cob Cottage co-founder Michael Smith (who 
still irregularly produces the Cob Web newsletter), the inimitable 
and indomitable Bob Theis, and others, at a gathering of natural 
building practitioners convened by Ianto Evans in Oregon. The feeling 
was that a publication providing depth and space for all natural 
building techniques and materials would be an awfully good thing to 
have around. Something visually enticing, usable, inspiring, robust. 
There was speculation that Natural Home (then in development) might 
be it. It wasn't. But it's opened some doors.

Despite the increasing numbers of books on natural building hitting 
the market, I haven't been convinced that there's enough of an 
audience to support a regularly-published "all-comers" magazine. 
(People tend to have pet materials and techniques that they latch on 
to.) But I think the time might now be right, and I'm looking to you 
(admittedly biased) people for reassurance, caution, advice, and 
ideas about the prospect of a "continuing education" magazine for 
people who already have at least a fairly good clue about natural building.

I've been devoting time and thought to how this magazine might work. 
There are no funds backing it - just time and thought. See
http://www.naturalbuildingmagazine.com/basic-plan/
It's not connected to any company or organization.

I imagine a reader-written print publication like TLS, Countryside, 
Back Home, Owner-Builder, and Whole Earth and Mother Earth in the old 
days. I'd like to see some combination of the best aspects of 
publications like Find Homebuilding, Green Building Magazine 
(formerly Building For A Future), Owner-Builder, the Journal of Light 
Construction, Energy Design Update, Environmental Building News, TLS, 
and classic books like Shelter, the Whole Earth Catalog, all of Ken 
Kern's books, and the spirit of Art Boericke's. I'd like it to have a 
strong visual aspect, to be "magazine-like"... to be smart, 
applicable, inspirational, somewhat radical compared to other 
building magazines (but mainstream-accessible), on-topic yet eclectic. See
http://www.naturalbuildingmagazine.com/home/

Why reader-written? Because that emulates natural building itself. 
(And what's a little editorial schizophrenia among friends?) There's 
still a symbiosis between professional practitioners and 
owner-builders in natural building; I hope it stays that way. 
Self-builders bring their daring, professionals bring their wisdom, 
and everybody shares their personal expertise. See
http://www.naturalbuildingmagazine.com/reader-writers/

Why print? Because I don't want it to be what the internet has 
become. I want expectations of it to be higher, and the contributions 
better thought out. That said, I also acknowledge that the future is 
digital. But as high as the failure rate of niche print publications 
is, the failure rate of niche web publications is even higher. The 
economic models of both have disaster looming around every corner, 
but having been involved for several years in both web development 
and print publication, my sense is that print presents a better 
opportunity for near-term success for this idea, even though it bears 
a higher price tags in just about every way. (Many years ago, David 
Eisenberg told me, "You can't be sustainable for the world if you 
can't sustain yourself." By extension, a publication - digital or 
print - can't be sustainable for the world if it can't sustain itself. See
http://www.naturalbuildingmagazine.com/practical-details/
To be sustainable, it needs people to participate, both as readers 
and writers.)

Having made the argument for print, the first issue - Issue 0 - will 
be a free download... a combination proof-of-concept, sample issue, 
and working-out-the-bugs process. Want to help set the tone for 
future issues by contributing the sort of articles you'd like to see 
down the road?

There are still important details to be worked out.



Mark Piepkorn
www.potkettleblack.com

The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.
   - Kilgore Trout