🏃 October Update: Race to the finish

Dear Reader,

This quarter started off rather stressfully with our website address nearly expiring, but we’ve got things back on track — and not just on the tech front. Other updates include a new guest illustrator, open positions for more roles, a speedy preparation of Analog to beat COVID shipping delays, and a new paid writing programme for the data scientists out there!

Tech updates: new shareables and a close call

About halfway through July, our website domain expired and by an unfortunate twist of fate, none of our Indian card payments were going through! A huge thank you to Aashutosha Lele for making the payment for us through his American card, and a special mention goes to Pam Lazos for offering to help too!

On a more positive note, we are now close to launching a revamped version of the Snipette website, running purely on Ghost and with a better newsletter to boot! Meanwhile, we’ve been ramping up our social media operations — so be sure to check out our handles for fun and shareable carousels.

Guest Illustrator: introducing Deesha

This quarter we also featured our very first illustration by someone outside our team — Deesha — who illustrated the covers for two of our articles: Paleontology and Philosophy and Forever Young. We liked the latter so much that it even made it to the cover of the latest Analog!

Speaking of which…

Beating COVID: early shipping for Analog

This quarter, subscribers would have been happy to have their latest issue of Snipette Analog arrive earlier than usual! We’ve been working on our printing and shipping strategy to beat COVID-related delays, and we’re pleased to say that efforts have paid off! The October-December batch of Snipette Analog was sent out a full two weeks in advance, and most of them have been delivered already!

New programme: data science with a literary touch

Given our experience with the writers’ programme, we’re working on bringing out a paid sister program called Blogging With Data, along with Skanda Vivek, where participants will work on data analysis, and then write under us to communicate their work and findings. Spread the word if you can, and let us know if you’d be interested!

The Editor’s Bookshelf: what are we reading?

Here’s the second edition of the Editors’ Bookshelf in its new avatar: quarterly book recommendations from our editors! Hopefully, the quarterly routine will give you enough breathing space to pick out the books you like and read through them before the next round ;)

Like last time, here’s a warning that these recommendations may contain affiliate links where available: but we’re linking because we liked the books, not the other way round.

Manasa — The Martian by Andy Weir

When a storm forces the astronauts on Mars to perform an emergency lift-off, botanist Mark Watney gets injured — and left behind on an alien planet, all alone. The Martian is the story of how he puts his scientific skills to the test to remain alive, rebuilding old rovers and turning the hub into an improvised potato farm.

If you like science, you’ll love how it comes to life on desolate Mars. But even if you don’t, there’s still the story of perseverance, friendship, and the human will to live that offers something for everyone.

Nia — The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

The Eye of the world is the first of a fantasy series known for its epic length and character development, and rich world-building: The Wheel of Time. This book follows the story of Rand Al’Thor and his friends, as he flees from his village, being pursued by forces of darkness.

If you need a reason to read this, Brandon Sanderson fans might be intrigued by the fact that he finished the series after Jordan died, while Lord of the Rings fans would enjoy the familiar setup of the first book.

Badri — Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

As a hairdresser, Deborah Rodriguez was starting to feel a bit out of place in the non-profit post-war mission to Afghanistan. While other people were trained in social work, all she could do was style hair. And then, she realised, salons in then-modern Afghanistan were the one place where women were free to hang out and let their characters show.

This book tells the story of the beauty school Deborah eventually set up, and her experiences of the beautiful but troubled country through that lens.

Akil — Dune by Frank Herbert

Science fiction, politics, environment, and the greatest adventure one can possibly imagine! Set on a desert planet — Arrakis — Dune is the tale of a boy named Paul Atreides (also known as Muad’Dib in prophecies), son of a Duke, who is destined to do great things.

Will he save his family and his people from the Harkonans? The characters in the book have extraordinary depths, as does the world Herbert has created. It is not a one man show; rather, it brings in so many perspectives, that you almost feel like a god seeing everything unfold.

If you end up reading these books, or have others you’d like to recommend to us, we’d love to hear from you. Hit reply on this email and tell us all about it!

That wraps up our latest set of updates. All in all it’s been an eventful quarter, and we look forward to the last run of 2021 (phew, that arrived quick, didn’t it?). We hope you had a great year so far, and here’s wishing you all the best in finishing what you set out to do in the remaining months. We’ll be back with our next update in January, but before that, we hope to see you in our revamped weekly postings. Keep emailing us, or writing in via social media — any and all comments are welcome, and they always make our day :)

Best wishes,
Manasa, Akil, Nia, and Badri