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Archiver > GEN-EDITOR > 1998-03 > 0891185301


From: AEParshall <>
Subject: Re: Fees for Newsletters
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 10:28:21 EST


RLO, III wrote, oh, so truly:
<<<
But remember this - while you certainly love what you are doing - your
real reward is knowing that you are preserving your family history for
years to come for others. However, unless you are independantly
wealthy, it is difficult to undertake all of the expenses yourself.
<<<

How do you folks *collect* the subscription fees for your family newsletters?
I understand that if you're doing one for a whole surname, so that most of
your readers aren't closely related to you and they ask you to be on the list,
you can simply let their subscriptions expire.

But when the newsletter is going only to near relatives, and your main purpose
is to bring the family closer together, do you have any suggestions other than
reminders? I mean, if the whole point is to reclaim the lost sheep, you don't
want to cut them off again.

I have always publicly thanked those whose checks came in last month, and
occasionally printed an article outlining the cost to produce each issue, but
I have ended up absorbing something like 90% of the costs myself. I can't
complain -- this was my idea, and I love doing it -- but it's not like I'm
wealthy. (I earn secretarial wages in an area where salaries are kept
artificially low because there are so many thousands of college wives willing
to work for peanuts.)

Does anybody have a magic solution? <g>

Ardis Parshall

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