For a while, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing more short form content. While I love the long form of writing, it does take a lot of energy and as such I’ve been unable to do the regular amount of writing that I normally do. I thought about doing short form content on the blog, but it just seemed to be a bit out of place. Meanwhile, I had started doing a weekly email at work with useful and important links I’d read recently and got some really good feedback from that. Over the course of the past several weeks, the idea of having a public newsletter that combined short form writing and recommended links grew on me, both as a way to encourage me to keep writing and as a way to share what I’ve been reading and why I think it’s important.

And so, the NCZOnline Newsletter will be starting in August and be sent every two weeks on Tuesday, with the first edition coming out August 4. Here’s what you can expect in each edition:

1. A short form essay on the same topics you see on my blog: JavaScript, web development, software engineering, technical leadership, architecture, teamwork, and generally any topic that will help you become a better software engineer. This content will be unique and not part of my blog.
2. Links to three things (videos, articles, podcasts) that I think everyone needs to see. These won’t all necessarily be recent, but they will all be guaranteed to be worth your time. (If you want a list of recent happenings in the JavaScript world, then JavaScript Weekly is what you’re looking for.)
3. A recommended book. Once again, this won’t necessarily be only technical books, but rather, books that can make you a better, more well-rounded software engineer and person.
4. Discounts! I periodically receive discount codes for various things (books, conferences, etc.), and I’ll be sharing those with you as I receive them.

You can sign up by using the form at the bottom of this page (if you’re reading this on my blog) or by using the standalone signup form (if you’re reading this via RSS or email). Your email address will never be sold or shared, and you can unsubscribe at any point in time with a link in each newsletter. If you had previously signed up for updates by mail, then you will receive the newsletter as well. It’s still possible to receive just blog post updates and not the email newsletter (or vice versa) by updating your preferences on the signup form.

I’m currently looking for sponsors for the newsletter. While I’m happy to provide the newsletter for free, the software and services I use do cost money, and I’m looking for a way to offset those costs. If you’re interested in sponsoring the newsletter (even for just one edition), please contact me.

My goal with this newsletter is to make it feel like I’m mentoring each subscriber (sharing stories and links are both what I do with those I’m mentoring in real life). As such, you’ll be able to reply to each newsletter to send a message to me, and I guarantee I will read every single email. I expect the newsletter to evolve based on subscriber feedback so that it’s really a conversation rather than a monologue. I hope you’ll join me.

Disclaimer: Any viewpoints and opinions expressed in this article are those of Nicholas C. Zakas and do not, in any way, reflect those of my employer, my colleagues, Wrox Publishing, O'Reilly Publishing, or anyone else. I speak only for myself, not for them.