Dear all Atari-users 

I am starting to canvass support for a new printed Atari magazine.
Firstly, my idea of doing another printed Atari magazine came about 
because of the failed rescue attempts regarding Atari World, plus the 
decline in ST Format, along with the failure of ST Applications to try 
and fill the gap (something which has amazed and depressed me!). I also
heard that certain people who were interested in doing another magazine
have decided not to.
 
The only other English-language Atari magazines originate from North 
America, and due to the high postal costs, are very expensive.

Considering that the Atari is still having shareware and commercial 
products released for it, there must still be some sort of market for a
decent magazine, although admittedly this market is small, and will get
smaller as time goes on.

Anyway, I am prepared to put up some money, plus some time to try and
get a magazine off the ground. But, I need help, both editorially, and 
financially. I have contacted a couple of the well-known Atari faces,
and there was some interest shown by them, but I really need some more
offers of help before they will really commit themselves.

To give an idea of what amounts of money are involved, here's a few 
figures: To print 500 copies (initially) of a 60 page A4, glossy
covered magazine would cost in the region of GBP 2.00 per copy, to 
distribute this by post would cost approx another 50p per copy. 
Therefore, to break even, each copy would have to have a cover price of
GBP 2.50. If the circulation figure went up, then there would be a 
slight reduction in per unit cost.
 
Obviously the hope would be that we could attract some paid advertising
which would help balance the books. Now the question is how many people 
would be prepared to buy this magazine at GBP 2.50?  There's no margin
for error in our costings, so basically we would need to sell all 500
copies to break even. That's the stumbling block really, and putting up 
the cover price would probably deter many potential readers.

Getting the money together for the first issue is also a major problem.
I'm prepared to put up some seed money, but I'm looking for 5 or 6 other 
partners prepared to put up a similar amount, and who must be prepared
to lose at least some of this money, if things didn't work out. Hopefully
any loss would be minor, but this seed money would probably not be paid
back for quite some time. Therefore it's a gamble, and not for the faint- 
hearted! There is no intention of running this magazine as a profit-making 
machine, as that is not really possible, all we can hope and strive for
is to cover our costs and have sufficient in the kitty to produce future 
issues.

What is absolutely vital is that anyone at all interested in Atari 
computers would buy a copy, otherwise it simply will not survive. The
cover price would remain as low as is possible, and the quantity of 
editorial to advertising would remain extremely high. You wouldn't feel 
as though you had really just bought a mag full of plugs for other titles,
as is the case with one well-known ST magazine!

In conclusion, although I have probably sounded a bit negative, that is
only to make any potential investors aware of the risks involved, but
by spreading the risk, then at least any loss would be small. But on the 
positive side, there is a very loyal Atari-using bunch of people who
would be prepared to buy such a magazine, and I personally think, given 
a bit of time and effort, a new decent Atari magazine could certainly 
exist for some time yet. 

If anyone wants to talk seriously with me about the magazine, then
please do feel free to email me at: mike@coconut.demon.co.uk or write 
to me at 42 Larch Hill, Handsworth, Sheffield, S9 4AJ. I am contactable
by phone/fax on 0114 261 8940, but please call within office hours 
Monday - Saturday.

Any ideas for the editorial side of things are also very welcome, after
all, I'm not being cynical when I say it is your magazine! An indication
of how many people would be prepared to buy the magazine would also be 
very helpful, so even if you can't offer financial or editorial help, 
then please just let me know if you would buy a copy at GBP 2.50.

I guess that is all for now, and I await with great interest, any
comments or suggestions! ATB, Mike Kerslake

