AMIGAphilosophy
AMIGAphile Volume 1 Number 3 (SEPTEMBER 1992)
I didn't get much response on the ideas I mentioned in the last issue of AMIGAphile. I hope more readers take the time to get in touch with me.
I enjoy speaking with each of you and trading ideas.
WHY IS AMIGAphile A 'NEWSLETTER' AND NOT A MAGAZINE?
This has to do with filing taxes and gets into areas I don't understand. Maybe a reader who is more legally inclined can help me here. If it were a magazine, I'd have to go about getting an ISSN number and deal with a bunch of stuff I have no idea about. I'm not a publisher and most of them seem to shy away from Amiga related magazines. This is all created on my home Amiga. That's the only way to keep the costs down and the bureaucratic red tape at bay. AMIGAphile is a non-profit organization. Usually this involves a lot of forms for taxes and inventory. According to the people I talked with at the Department of Taxation, I don't need to get a business license because I don't sell anything (this is true but could change). I wouldn't have to pay tax on materials used to make the newsletter but that doesn't save me but about $.02 (which I'd just add to some other conversation). But, then I'd have to fill a bunch of zeros into a bunch of forms for the rest of my life (that's the bad news). I was told to register the name (where do you register a trademark?) so nobody else could use it without permission. Then, claim any money I happen to make on my personal taxes. For a non- profit organization, this profit has to be under a certain amount which I have never made in a year anyway. In short, remember, it's a 'newsletter' not a magazine. I hope somebody can give me a better idea about what forms to fill out and who to file with in order to make this all on the up and up. I'd even consider hiring somebody to do it (if I had any money). I'd like to take this newsletter into the magazine frontier but not this month.
THE MAKING OF AMIGAphile
You though it was some type of organic substance which regenerates and mutates each month but I'm here to dispel this rumor. I work very hard putting together each issue. There are many other involved including those who submit articles and reviews and the assistant editors who check everything I write to eliminate any errors and make this a quality newsletter.
I begin by collecting any submission articles. I insert all of them into a word processor (Excellence! by Micro-Systems Software) and create the ASCII version of the newsletter. I then send it to my assistant editors (via Internet) and they correct all my slip-ups. I send a copy to Mike Neylon who creates the troff version. My edited copy gets imported into PageStream (by Soft-Logik Publishing) and I create the PostScript version from here. I print a master copy of each page and take them to the printer where they get photocopied to create the hardcopy version of the newsletter. I take the pages and collate, fold, staple, label, and stamp before mailing them to their final destination.
Sounds easy doesn't it? If you have some better suggestion which won't cost me an arm, a leg, and a vital organ, pass them along. The method described above works. I hope all the effort is appreciated.
Does anyone have any ideas how to add some color? How about pictures for the postscript/hardcopy edition? I was thinking about color laser copies for the hardcopy edition. Maybe some digitizing for the postscript version. Just tossing around some ideas. (as the editor drifts into a hazy dream)
EMAILING LIST
Does anyone know how to setup an automated emailing list? I have been doing it by hand but I know there is a better way. I don't mind sending out AMIGAphile issues through email, especially since some people don't have ftp capabilities at their site, but I'd rather have it be automated. That would leave me more time to devote to creating each issue.
TITLE PAGES
Everyone doesn't get to see the lovely title page but those who print (or view) the postscript version or get the hardcopy version seem to enjoy them. If you have a piece of original artwork to display on the cover of AMIGAphile, send it to me. Remember, it will only be black and white. Pictures in electronic form can be pasted into the postscript version easily. Photos could only appear in the hardcopy version unless I can get someone to digitize them for me.
CLASSIFIED ADS
Does everyone think these are too expensive or am I just being impatient. I tried to make them comparatively low. Maybe you just don't have any Amiga related items to get rid of.
NEXT MONTH
Next month I want to include articles on upgrading from WB 1.3 to WB 2.0. Any volunteers?
That's all the news about AMIGAphile that's fit to print. I hope to hear from everyone this month.
CORRECTIONS
Last month's review of the KCS Power Board was initially released with the wrong version number. The latest version of the software is 3.5.
