
A Letter from the Publisher of Nautilus - juretriglav
http://m.nautil.us/blog/a-letter-from-the-publisher-of-nautilus
======
napoleoncomplex
Might be an absurd proposition, but according to their website, the publisher
is a non-profit called NautilusThink, meaning it's eligible for the Pineapple
Fund ([https://pineapplefund.org/](https://pineapplefund.org/)).

Now I don't know what the odds are, but considering there's about $79m left,
I'd say they aren't too far from the odds of the potential acquisition talks
coming through.

It won't solve the underlying issue, but it will make possible to at least
think about better ways of solving it.

~~~
zanedb
Wow, that's very interesting. I hadn't heard of it before.

As a minor technical note: If the site is truly hosted by GitHub Pages as it
proclaims, how does it have HTTPS support on a custom domain?

~~~
OisinMoran
There are workarounds for this, but as I understand it GitHub won't validate
an SSL cert for a custom domain.

I found this tutorial [1] very helpful when setting up my own site [2] (which
you can see is HTTPS and served by GitHub Pages [3]).

[1] [https://www.jonathan-petitcolas.com/2017/01/13/using-
https-w...](https://www.jonathan-petitcolas.com/2017/01/13/using-https-with-
custom-domain-name-on-github-pages.html)

[2] [https://oisinmoran.com/](https://oisinmoran.com/)

[3]
[https://github.com/OisinMoran/OisinMoran.github.io](https://github.com/OisinMoran/OisinMoran.github.io)

~~~
delinka
tl;dr: content on GitHub Pages, fronted by CloudFlare with SSL

Takes the traffic burden off Pages.

~~~
stfwn
Also:

> Using flexible SSL, all communications between CloudFlare servers and GitHub
> ones are not encrypted. Not really secured, even if your domain would be
> served in HTTPs. [1]

[1]: [https://www.jonathan-petitcolas.com/2017/01/13/using-
https-w...](https://www.jonathan-petitcolas.com/2017/01/13/using-https-with-
custom-domain-name-on-github-pages.html)

------
brudgers
This is what a company looks like when it runs out of money...except for the
part of admitting it. I know it sucks for the writers that haven't been paid,
but a business not paying $50,000 across more than a dozen contractors is
hardly news.

~~~
hluska
I've been involved in the publishing industry as both a freelance writer and a
publisher who has hired freelance writers. If you have a modicum of experience
and relatively good financial records, it's quite easy to estimate your
publication's cash flow.

In this case, by his own words, John Steele is either completely unqualified
to run a publication or he is completely full of shit. Grants don't just
magically disappear...you know one will expire for several months before it
does. Subscribers don't just magically stop subscribing...a qualified
publisher will see complaints build and will recognize a groundswell of
frustration for what it is.

And, seriously, who keeps commissioning work because they're convinced a
merger is right around the corner??

~~~
barrkel
_And, seriously, who keeps commissioning work because they 're convinced a
merger is right around the corner??_

I think almost every founder of a new enterprise makes promises like this.

~~~
hluska
Because they're convinced a merger is right around the corner?? I'd agree if
you said they were convinced a big accounts receivable was sending a cheque,
but counting on a merger to pay all your debt to contributors is naive at
best.

~~~
markbnj
Ha, no it's worse for a startup, because you take on obligations hoping that
you'll make a big sale of your new thing to a market that hasn't heard about
you, has no reason to trust you, and no current intention of sending you any
money at all, ever.

------
lunchladydoris
Mr Steele is, on the surface at least, running Nautilus from his heart. For
that, I am grateful, although I'm sure his freelancers see it quite
differently. I've read a lot of excellent content there over the years. I hope
that there is a way that they can pay off their debts and carry on in a
similar fashion.

~~~
cma
(removed, it shows they paid a company fully owned by him, but there is no way
to know where that company spent it's money)

~~~
pdabbadabba
Not true. See my comment above. The filing shows a payment to another company
that he owns, not to him. These could just be publishing costs.

------
monster_group
Their annual digital Prime subscription is on sale for only $12. That's dirt
cheap for such quality content. I just bought one. I encourage others to take
advantage of this sale price and buy their subscription. (Note - I am not
affiliated with them in anyway - just want to support good content.)

~~~
kasey_junk
I got the yearly print subscription this year. They managed to get me one copy
& it was 4 months delayed. I too just want good content but if you can’t
provide it without stiffing the content creators or your customers go away.

~~~
wut42
Kinda the same. Brought a 2year print subscription in May.

Haven't received a single issues, contacted them a couple of times, said to
wait & then they "shipped themselves". Still got nothing. :(

~~~
wut42
WOAH nevermind just got the July/August issue! woow!

------
tanto
Just voted for Nautilus with
[http://nautil.us/primeuser](http://nautil.us/primeuser)

Its definitely one of the best sources for long reads and tbh I never thought
about it. They should display a support us banner like theguardian does.

~~~
samschooler
Just got the print subscription. One of the best outlets I've ever read from;
I'm glad to support them.

~~~
earenndil
Can you mention if you actually receive it? Some others were complaining that
they never actually got their print subscriptions.

------
jawns
I find Steele's argument that his staff never knowingly commissioned work that
they knew the magazine couldn't pay for to be a total red herring.

It may be true that his staff were in the dark, but _he_ wasn't, and to the
extent that he authorized them to commission that work, he permitted them to
commission work that he knew the magazine couldn't pay for.

Nautilus might be a first-rate science magazine, but it's only first-rate
because it commissioned first-rate writers.

Do you think it will ever be able to attract and retain that caliber of
writers now? I certainly don't. Definitely not with Steele at the helm.

EDIT: I looked up NautilusThink's 2015 IRS Form 990 (the latest available on
GuideStar) and found an interesting line item. In that year, John Steele was
paid $2,408,000 for "consulting fees" for the publication of the magazine.
(The previous year he was paid a more modest $134,000.)

~~~
pessimizer
> John Steele was paid $2,408,000 for "consulting fees" for the publication of
> the magazine.

That can't be true, and if true, disgusting. That's half a million more than
they claimed to have paid for the totality of their content from the start of
publication.

If an editor who made millions from a publication by extracting what must be a
majority of its revenue as personal income allowed it to go $180K into arrears
with the low-paid providers of its content without even making a personal
loan, I'm grossed out.

I'm deciding this isn't true. You should add a link.

~~~
nautilus
In 2015 Nautilus was transferred from an LLC to a 501(c)(3). As the transfer
was in process, NautilusThink paid Nautilus Venture LLC to produce the
magazine because the staff and contracts were still in the name of Nautilus
Ventures. Is was a cost passthrough. Nautilus is fully owned by NautilusThink
and Nautilus Ventures was closed.

~~~
pessimizer
Makes sense, thanks.

------
zitterbewegung
I find it very disturbing that other commentators on this post are encouraging
to subscribe to this magazine. If you don’t pay your employees that’s pretty
bad. If you actively mislead people into thinking that you can pay them that’s
even more horrible. I find this behavior reprehensible and we should wait for
this joke of a magazine to end.

~~~
volkk
i don't know, i wouldn't call this magazine a joke. I think the quality of the
writing is top notch, and the level of the topics is extremely interesting. i
don't disagree that what's going on financially is pretty reprehensible, but
at the very least i can still attempt to support the writers who probably
spent a lot of time writing these awesome pieces by reading their work.

~~~
zitterbewegung
I would rather figure out who the writers are and send them money directly .
Maybe then they could feed their family.

~~~
djsumdog
If anything it's a call to go back to individual sites/blogs and finding some
kind of micro/subscription architecture that works. Flattr kinda failed, but
Patreon has at least made some headway.

~~~
volkk
you know, i just went straight to patreon to check out their writers section
and they have a bunch. i wish more writers would take advantage of this tool.

i actually also just went to check out some of the writers on patreon. first
name that came up is jim davies who seems to be a professor amongst other
things. another is george musser who is a contributing editor to scientific
american. now i dont know who hasnt gotten paid, but i wonder if the people
that are writing for nautilus are mostly all already very accomplished and
have no need to use things like patreon.

------
postit
They stopped shipping my magazines to Europe. I believe I'm two numbers behind
since august. I've sent a couple of emails complaining about it and got the
same response all the times - "we're facing delays".

Regardless, I believe I got at least 10 emails about donating to the magazine
in the last 6 months.

Maybe they're just broke, which is sad.

------
jocatalin
I'm a prime member for nautilus for 2 years now. I can't support all the good
journalism sites I visit. But that doesn't mean I (or you) shouldn't support
any. Just pick one.

------
Rabei
I find the publisher morally reprehensible, i understand that he had a dream a
wanted to pursuit, but he gambled on unwilling parties money.

Hope he solves it, not for his sake but that of the people he owes money.

~~~
pjc50
"Still, my over-confidence that a merger was around the corner prompted me to
over-promise, continually, when payments would be made"

This sounds very similar to trading while insolvent to me. It happens a lot in
small businesses and it's a major pain to freelancers who have to wait for
payment.

------
patkai
We need an alternative to free content on the web. I often read Nautilus and
never pay them anything, it's wrong. Any SV-based disruptors interested in
this? These contributors are special, they contribute a lot to society and
they are probably underpaid and under-appreciated.

~~~
yoodenvranx
I said it before and I will say it again: We need a non-profit, simple, and
universally supported small-payment system which enables a user to easily
donate 1-5$ to a random website without relying on Paypal or creditcards.

Flattr was a good step in the right direction but unfortunately it never
reached critical mass.

If Google and Facebook combined their market force to introduce such a system
then it would be an instant game changer when it comes to supporting websites.
Nowadays I can use Facebook/Gmail to log into random webpages, why can't I
also use those accounts for tipping?

~~~
MasterPI
Honest question: Wasn´t the original idea of cryptocurrencies to be able to do
exactly that? Small transactions for the web.

~~~
Jaruzel
Relevant Link: [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/bitcoin-fees-
ris...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/bitcoin-fees-rising-high/)

~~~
bitcoinmoney
Bitcoin isn't the only cryptocurrency

------
koliber
Mr. Steele,

thank you for being forthright and explaining the situation publicly. I am a
reader and your open letter has prompted me to buy a subscription.

I empathize with you. Making predictions about the future is difficult and
there are times when they will be incorrect. When these predictions concern
incoming cash and they fail to materialize, the situation becomes frustrating.

I wish you all the best and hope that you will be able to overcome this
challenge, as well as any future ones that come your way. I do so for the very
selfish reason of being able to continue to read quality content in the
future.

~~~
engi_nerd
Why would you give him money after this?

~~~
koliber
It made me realize that I have been freeloading the entire time. The backpay
issue arose because they do not have enough revenues. I was consuming their
content for free without contributing. This letter explained the issue
plainly.

------
reeteshv
I have voted with my money! It is one of the best science magazines out there.

~~~
lukego
Me too. I resisted in the past because they ask for a phone number and I don't
want magazines to have that in their CRMs (fool me once...) but it seems like
they can accept an obvious fake.

------
chiefalchemist
> "I want to again make clear that nobody on the Nautilus staff commissioned
> any work that they knowingly thought wouldn’t be paid for..."

On one hand I feel for the guy. This is every dreamer's nightmare.

On the other hand he sounds naive, if not a liar. To commission work on a deal
that was still 100% unfinalized isn't exactly playing fair.

Entrepreneurs are by definition optimistic. They see the opportunity as
brighter and risk dim. That's great when things are going well. However, it's
a dangerous trait when things go sideways.

Perhaps he should have been more transparent sooner? Ya think?

------
maaark
Why is he paying them in full, one at a time? "7 of you get to enjoy
Christmas, Fuck the other 12?"

~~~
pjc50
Part-paying an invoice is such a pain to both parties that it's hardly ever
done. I suspect he's paying in the order that they were recieved, longest-
standing debts first.

~~~
kristofferR
Sounds like a decent idea for a startup.

~~~
dcposch
HN comments are full of terribad startup ideas, but this has to be a new
record

It's an extremely niche saas business. You have to build billing and banking
integrations. You have to make a bunch of enterprise sales. And all your
potential customers are by definition on the verge of bankruptcy, already
behind on invoices

You've found it; the Worst Startup

Not hating, I just think it's hilarious, happy holidays

------
4h53n
As a reader and supporter, sad to read what's going on at Nautilus, one of the
best science magazines ever. I hope they get over this in no time.

------
room271
Is Mr Steele being paid himself during this period?

------
engi_nerd
I am so disgusted that I have given this guy money. What a ridiculous non-
apology.

------
tptacek
If you don't know that you _can_ pay for work that you contract, there's no
high ground to seize over not knowing that you couldn't.

------
desireco42
Some form of Kickstarter campaign would be nice. Only to bridge current
situation. Nautilus is seriously good source, I would hate to lose it.

------
satyajeet23
As a reader, this is sad to hear. Nautilus provides real quality content. One
of the best magazines out there.

------
__strisk
nautilus was the first publishing company that I subscribed to... Although I
feel bad for the company, I feel worse to have given money to an organization
whose owner is gambling the livelihoods of their employees.

------
a13n
The deal's not done till it's done.

------
febin
If they would accept bitcoin donations, I am sure a lot of people here would
help.

------
acqq
For those who ever read the articles of the magazine and wondered why the
special flavor of doubt in scientific knowledge is often present there, as
well as veiled "spiritual" agenda, see:

[http://nautil.us/about](http://nautil.us/about)

Nautilus has received financial support from: "John Templeton Foundation"

Which themselves state:

"By supporting multi-disciplinary scientific, theological, and philosophical
research, we aim to deepen our understanding of the possibility and purposes
of the divine."

[https://www.templeton.org/funding-areas/science-big-
question...](https://www.templeton.org/funding-areas/science-big-questions)

~~~
hackinthebochs
The low bar for evidence some have these days is appalling.

