Post by lazarus on May 31, 2007 13:29:04 GMT
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www.exoticpetsmagazine.com
CFZ Press is happy to announce the launch of a new periodical called Exotic Pets. However, although the title may seem self-explanatory, we hope the magazine will do more than ‘it says on the tin’.
Initially coming out four times a year, the magazine will feature authoritative articles on keeping herps and inverts, the more unusual fish, and even exotic mammals and birds. However, although we intend to be the definitive magazine for those who believe in the responsible keeping of exotic pets, we want to do more than that.
For 100 years, from the mid-19th Century, natural history was the premier British hobby. Over the last 50 years it has declined in popularity for a number of reasons, most notably that killing living creatures for a hobby is quite rightly no longer seen as ethical. With the technological advances of the 21st Century, however, everything has changed. With a digital camera one can have a butterfly collection for example, and with the advent of cheap air travel, places once only accessible by the Gerald Durrells of this world, can be visited by everybody. Suddenly, the amateur naturalist can come into his, or her, own, and there has never been a better time for people to get involved. Amateur naturalists across the world are carrying out valuable research, and participating in essential breeding programmes. If you are interested, this magazine is for you.
This is not going to be a conventional magazine. Exotic Pets is unlike any other magazine in the world, because CFZ Press is unlike any other publisher in the world. We are not in the business of taking pot shots at our competitors, because many of them do a fantastic job, but there are two types of magazine in the world:
Professional publications.. Produced by seasoned media types, and often manufactured to the highest standards of production quality, these magazines exist purely to make money, and are basically vehicles by which to sell advertising.
Fanzines.. Produced with much lower production values, these magazines are labours of love, and are published by enthusiasts of a particular subject, happy just to be selling a few dozen copies. They are usually desperately underfunded, and most fold within a few issues.
And then there’s us. CFZ Press have been producing magazines since 1987, and although the production team have all worked (and in most cases still do work) on mainstream, professionally produced publications -so they know what they are doing - we only produce magazines that we feel passionate about. This venture is NOT about making money. It is about education, conservation, and extending the boundaries of human knowledge. All profits will be ploughed back into research projects around the globe.
It is also unique, because we do not claim to be `experts`. We want this magazine to be a forum where people can share their experiences - good and bad! If you have been diligently trying to keep and breed a particular species, and it has all gone horribly wrong, please share this experience with us. It is only by pooling our combined expertise that we can hope to progress in our quest for knowledge.
So, here you have it; issue one of our new venture. If there is anything that you would like to see us cover, or anything that you would like to see us do different, please do not hesitate to email us.
The first issue (out in June) features articles on the megamantis: a giant species from the Cameroons, keeping African fruit beetles, glass snakes – huge European relatives of the slow-worm, amphiumas – peculiar aquatic salamanders, and much, much more. For a sample, post-free, issue send £3.75 ($8 US), by cheque (payable to Jonathan Downes) or by Paypal using our account: jon@eclipse.co.uk. Or for a four issue per year subscription, you can subscribe here:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-Issue-Subscription-to-Exotic-Pets-Magazine_W0QQitemZ150126328275QQihZ005QQcategoryZ72344QQcmdZViewItem
Watch this space….