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SYFY WIRE Bad Astronomy

Slate Plus You

By Phil Plait
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I’ve been writing for Slate for about a year and a half now, and one thing I like about the magazine is that it’s all online; there’s no print version. That means there’s not a lot of baggage leftover from print media (which a lot of bloggers—including me sometimes—call “old media”). The folks behind the scenes have been working the ‘Net a long time and know their way around.

That means they’re also willing to try new things, and we’re rolling one out now that I think looks pretty interesting: Slate Plus. This is premium content, added material, including podcast extras, interviews, early access to Slate events, behind-the-scenes stuff, and more.

Our fearless leader, David Plotz, explains what this is all about, but in a nutshell Slate Plus is a membership program; monthly access is $5, and yearly is $50. Mind you, this is not a paywall; Slate will still be free, and you need pay nothing for the usual yammering from me and all the other writers here you’ve been seeing all along. But Slate Plus has more stuff and more access. There’s a free trial for two weeks you can try if you take a look now.

If you do want to sign up, I ask you use this link to become a member of Slate Plus. Why? Well, for one thing, if you do you'll get a $5 credit, essentially a month for free. So yay!

Also, we’re running a contest among Slate staff and contributors to see who can gather the most sign-ups, with a tidy (if modest) monetary award going to the top hunter/gatherers. I have no clue if I will place in the top tier or not, but if I do, I will donate that money to DonorsChoose.org, which is like a KickStarter for school science funding. Teachers in undersupported schools put together projects for their kids and ask for donations from the public. This is a great organization doing a lot of good for students all over the U.S., so I’ll be happy to send some filthy lucre their way if enough of my droogs here sign up for Slate Plus.

So give it a shot! I’ll note that we’re still trying to figure out what I can do to contribute to Slate Plus as well. Maybe you should tell me what you’d like to see! An interview every now and again, a light-hearted debate with another Slatester, a video tour of my ridiculously entropic home office? Leave a comment and let us know!

And, as always, thanks for reading my blog. With or without Slate Plus, it’ll be right here where you left it, don’t worry.

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