# Tropical Frog Magazines like Leaf Litter?



## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

Just wondering if anyone knew of any amphibian-dedicated magazines like Leaf Litter, which only releases its subscription twice a year. I am hoping to get a subscription on a monthly too!


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## rcteem (Mar 24, 2009)

I dont think so but would be awesome if there is one!!!


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## Champhibians (May 4, 2008)

Have you checked out Bri Bri?


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

There have been a couple in the past like _Vivarium_ and _Fauna_...but they had somewhat short runs. I'm not even sure if they were monthly. Publications like _Reptiles _are probably going to be your closest bet. 

Being such a relatively small niche hobby, and therefore having a subsequently limited reader base (the number of potential subscribers is most likely much less than the number of total active hobbyists), it's pretty difficult to produce a monthly subscription-based periodical with such a narrow focus. Without any sort of paid staff and/or editor, the task becomes exponentially more difficult.


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## tincubus (Apr 9, 2010)

quarterly issues would be best and i would be all over that.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Has anyone ever considered publishing online articles on Dendroboard? I do a lot of writing and once wrote a monthly column for Marine Fish Monthly, so I have quite a bit of experience and would be willing to help with some basic editing. A lot of the thread already provide the kind on information found in magazine articles and we have the luxury of including many more photos.

If the quality of the articles is good enough, we could charge a small subscription fee to cover the cost for the site owners to maintain the forum housing this effort and articles could only be available to subscribers

If any of the Mods see this - what do you think?


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## thisisivy (May 25, 2010)

Hi there,

Dendrobatidae Nederland (DN) English magazine...

it's not monthly, that's far too much work for us volunteers. But it's frogs only, twice a year and even for the USA not expensive....

Our Dutch version is quarterly, maybe the English issue will be too in the future. But we just started in April so we've to check how it works out.

Join us: Dn Magazine 2010 English, for a single issue or a subscription and help us to become this initiative to be a lasting success!!!


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## forestexotics (Nov 14, 2006)

JimO,
I would be interested in your suggestion... It would be really great to have an online type thing that you can subscribe to so that you wouldnt have to work for free. I think it should include the latest news in our hobby such as new feeding info, petitions, conservation issues, newest discoveries, whats popular, and maybe even some contests with sponsors making donations to winners. I would be 100% into that!


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## rcteem (Mar 24, 2009)

Im down for it!!!


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

If you're looking for some dart frog reading, I would message Chuck Powell and see if he has some back issues of the ADG - American Dendrobatid Group - newsletter available. A great source of information, and also a neat historical perspective on the hobby in the United States.


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Ohh how about a viv of the month or something like that too with a heavily pictured article on the their set up?


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

How would we get this off the ground? Just like magazine articles, any proposed article should be reviewed and edited so that everything is grammatically correct and there is some consistency in the format, quality of photographs, and length. There would probably have to be some basic submission criteria. For example, we might only want articles with photographs, as appropriate. We might also want to publish a monthly viv construction piece, but not publish it until we can show the finished product. The subject matter would probably need to be focused on a single species, aspect of keeping dart frogs (such as feeding, treating disease, types of substrate, species specific plants, etc.), a particular viv construction, caring for plants in the viv, lighting, etc.

The first step would be to see if the site administrator and mods would agree with the concept and then put together a plan that details the above items and appoint several individuals with responsibility for reviewing, editing, and even deciding what is published and what is not. This can be a touchy issue and those who subscribe would have to understand that there is nothing personal with the publishing process, but that the best articles that would have the broadest appeal would get the highest priority.

So, how do we start?


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## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

How realistic is this? Who will be the ones writing, editing, and posting the articles? It would take a TON of time to divide the job onto just a few guys. Therefore I am having a hard time digesting how this would really get off the ground.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

How about submitting articles to Leaf Litter? One of the reason it comes out on the schedule it does is due to the frequency that articles are submitted... 

Ed


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Ed said:


> How about submitting articles to Leaf Litter? One of the reason it comes out on the schedule it does is due to the frequency that articles are submitted...
> 
> Ed


Are you saying that they would they publish more often if they received more articles?

Perhaps they would be willing to publish an on-line magazine between hard copies. It would allow for many more photos and would eliminate the printing and postage costs.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

JimO said:


> Are you saying that they would they publish more often if they received more articles?
> 
> Perhaps they would be willing to publish an on-line magazine between hard copies. It would allow for many more photos and would eliminate the printing and postage costs.


The primary format is online. It is possible that depending on the time of those of us who volunteer that it could result in more issues (unlike most magazines there are no paid staff and pretty much all of us who do volunteer have busy lives). We have switched over to a format that allows that issue to be printed so you there is an option of having either a printed copy or an online copy. It is also possible for those interested to purchase individual copies without subscribing. 

Ed


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

JimO said:


> Are you saying that they would they publish more often if they received more articles?
> 
> Perhaps they would be willing to publish an on-line magazine between hard copies. It would allow for many more photos and would eliminate the printing and postage costs.


I just looked at the website. Excuse me a minute whilst I yank my size 10 shoe from my mouth. I should have looked BEFORE I posted and noted that Leaf Litter is an online magazine.


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Easy,

Join the Care Sheet Creation group, then you have access to that section of DB. 

Pick a topic, any topic and start writing.

Your drafts can be open to all care sheet members and you can use the constructive criticism how you like.

Once 'complete', Kyle signs off and it is 'published' say in the Care Sheet section or the Science/Conservation section ......

I like the idea....if you have the time



JimO said:


> How would we get this off the ground? Just like magazine articles, any proposed article should be reviewed and edited so that everything is grammatically correct and there is some consistency in the format, quality of photographs, and length. There would probably have to be some basic submission criteria. For example, we might only want articles with photographs, as appropriate. We might also want to publish a monthly viv construction piece, but not publish it until we can show the finished product. The subject matter would probably need to be focused on a single species, aspect of keeping dart frogs (such as feeding, treating disease, types of substrate, species specific plants, etc.), a particular viv construction, caring for plants in the viv, lighting, etc.
> 
> The first step would be to see if the site administrator and mods would agree with the concept and then put together a plan that details the above items and appoint several individuals with responsibility for reviewing, editing, and even deciding what is published and what is not. This can be a touchy issue and those who subscribe would have to understand that there is nothing personal with the publishing process, but that the best articles that would have the broadest appeal would get the highest priority.
> 
> So, how do we start?


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## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

I would be interested in writing an article detailing the nitty-gritty of breeding R. Imitators, all the way from eggs to froglet - diet, feeding schedule, water changes, etc...


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## ghettopieninja (Jul 29, 2008)

on the subject of Leaf Litter, dose anyone (Ed) know when the next issue will be released? I can't remember exactly when the last one came out but it must have been about 7 months ago? I've been impatiently waiting for the next ever since! I quite enjoyed the fist issue of Bri Bri, it is a good compliment to Leaf Litter, which to me is more like a peer journal and Bri Bri is closer to a hobbyist magazine. I would say that my favorite articles in both discuss accounts of specific locals and biotopes with lots of habitat pictures as I feel there is a severe lack of these else where (I want to start another biotope thread as the last one has become a little off topic and heated). I think expanding the articles on this site is a great idea since it is a free source of information and is already such a powerful resource.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

As editor of _Leaf Litter_, I can speak a bit to some of these questions:

Regarding frequency of publishing, our goal is to have it released twice a year. When I first took on this project, I was planning on publishing an issue once a quarter and figured it wouldn't be that hard to do...boy, was I wrong. Even getting two issues out in a year tends to be difficult as this is a COMPLETELY volunteer effort. All images, articles, editing, layout and design: it's all done by people for free and in their spare time. This also results in some lags in publishing and release as we have to wait for contributors to return edited text, send us images, etc. which can prolong the process. The last issue was released 6 months ago, and I am frantically trying to get the next one put together before the summer is done (and before Microcosm), but I can't guarantee it. The amount of time that goes into making each issue a reality is far and beyond what I had ever imagined, and I assume this is the reason that attempts at similar publications have been rather short-live. However, we hope to move forward at a pace that prevents _Leaf Litter_ from sharing a similar fate.

We are always accepting article submissions and contributions, and the monthly TWI newsletters almost always remind people of that. Because TWI represents a large cross-section of people, the material that is submitted is representative of that. For instance, the last issue opened with articles written by actual amphibian conservation professionals at ABG...and closed out with mixes of poetry and images and personal reflections from a backpacking trip in the Bocas del Toro nearly ten years ago. It's an eclectic mix. 

It should be noted: you don't have to be a TWI member to submit an article! If you have an idea for an article or already have something put together, please feel free to contact me.

All TWI members recieve the e-zine version for free, as well as access to all back issues. As Ed mentioned, with this last issue it was also made available through a print-on-demand vendor so that anyone can purchase it. A good chunk of that cost goes to the vendor for printing costs, and the rest goes to TWI and helps fund our projects like the ASN (Amphibian Steward Network) and OFP (Operation Frog Pond).


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Thanks for the response Ron,

I had missed the post above yours. 

Ed


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