iPad_Cover_Q1_2014bThe debut issue of the new Scratch Magazine is out today! Scratch comes to you from digital publishing expert Jane Friedman (former publisher of Writers Digest) and freelance writer Manjula Martin, with publishing partners 29th Street Publishing.

Their very  first issue, Q1 2014: Hunger, is now available in PDF and EPUB form for all subscribers. (The iOS app and website access are coming soon.) The issue includes:

  • An interview with journalist and bestselling author Susan Orlean
  • A roundtable with four literary agents
  • Personal essays by Rachael Maddux and Ashley C. Ford
  • A report on trends and tech in serial fiction
  • … and much more!

About Scratch

New publishing platforms are opening up amazing possibilities, but they’re also bringing up questions that have been lurking beneath the surface for a long time: Is any of this financially sustainable? Should we expect it to be?

Scratch intends to publish smart, useful stories about the intersection of writing and money, for writers of all genres and trades—and for anyone who wants to know where the publishing and journalism industries go from here. Each quarterly issue features in-depth interviews, reportage, resources, and personal stories about the work of being a writer. Click here for subscription information. A year’s subscription (four issues) is $20.

Said the publishers, “We aren’t interested in bitterness or entitlement; we prefer pragmatism, curiosity, and empathy. It’s also helpful to have a sense of humor about this stuff.”

Scratch publisher Jane Friedman is a keynote speaker at this year’s PubSmart: Emerging Authors, Emerging Avenues. She’ll be speaking on the various successful paths to publishing.