Hi all, longtime lurker Isaac in Cambridge here.  It struck me the other day
while catching up on last month's listmail backlog, that there's a better place
to do all this reading than here at my desk.  The porch, the couch, even the
can beckon.  But without a laptop and a wireless connection, what are volk to
do?

And then it hit me: what about that other technology, paper?  Think of the
download speeds -- you can just turn the page, and bam: more Vanagon content.
Pictures?  Yep.  Diagrams, sure!  So here it is: I'd like to start
brainstorming with anyone who's interested about how we might migrate some of
the interesting and helpful content that piles up in our inboxes over to a
newsletter, magazine or other paper-based periodical.  There's an amazing
community here; this is far and away the most active list I have ever found.
Despite the increasing amounts of spam and off-topic dialogue, there's a lot of
truly useful (and often entertaining) content generated here... but I wonder if
we could do better, or more, or at least... different than the faithful
listserv?

                                                      Some Pros
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stable Archive     -  Useful information that fits in glovebox filing cabinet!
Mobile Medium   -  You can take a magazine wherever you want!
Editorial Control  -  HOT TEENS and FREE DIPLOMAS be damned!
New Audience    -  Think of all the PC-less Vanagon enthusiasts!
Revenues            -  Subscription and Advertising: ugly but proven!

                                                      Some Cons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logistics             -  Printing, Binding, Delivery?
Money               -   Are we willing to pay, and/or accept advertising?
Green Guilt         -  E-mails recycle really, really well.
Editorial Control - Who decides what gets published?
Speed                -   Do For Sale, and Help Please work a month later?
Time                  -  Who has the free time to publish a magazine?!?

If any members have experience with newsletter, or niche-market publishing
please weigh in here.  I'm also interested to hear from folks with design and
editorial skills, and everyone with relevant small-business experience!
There's
a lot of smart and capable people on this list, and I'm interested to hear your
thoughts.

Isaac Taylor
Cambridge, Massachusetts