Once Upon an iPad: Summer Reading List

Once magazine.

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“Take time to stare,” beckons the tagline for Once, a new-media paean to old-school photojournalism. Cocreated by ex-MoJo intern Taylor Wiles, Once is the first tablet-only magazine devoted exclusively to narrative photo essays. (Sign up on the Once website to get the first issue later this summer.) Below, four more Pad-tastic innovations not funded by Richard Branson or Rupert Murdoch:

The Atavist: The “boutique publishing house” commissions original nonfiction, formats it especially for digital devices, and sells it a la carte.

Byliner: Best known (so far) for Jon Krakauer’s “Three Cups of Deceit,” this startup offers “Byliner Originals” that fall somewhere in length between magazine stories and books. The writer gets half the proceeds.

Instapaper: A commuter favorite originally designed for the iPhone, this do-it-yourself reader allows you to clip and save articles into an elegant instant newspaper.

Palimpsest: Think of it as a bespoke aggregator based on your own reading habits. Each day, curators from sites dedicated to the long form handpick articles from The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, GQ, and other mags. The selections are then customized to taste.

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OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

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