For some time, I have needed to publish an article about the growing pains that The Skeptical Review has been steadily experiencing, but the space always seemed to be needed for something else. With this issue, I decided to solve the problem by writing the article first and then forcing everything else to fit into the space left.
Unanswered Correspondence: I am quite frankly embarrassed by the amount of unanswered mail that is piled in bundles on and under my desk. When I first started publishing TSR, I thought that maybe I could eventually attract one or two hundred subscribers, but I never expected it to reach ten times that many. In those days, the letters that came in now and then always received my immediate and personal attention. Those who ordered back issues and debate transcripts received same-day service, but those days are long gone. There are letters piled up that I would like very much to answer, but I just don't have the time.
Part of the problem is the nature of the letters. Many of them ask for assistance that would require hours at my computer typing adequate responses. Whenever I undertake to answer a letter, I have on my mind that I am investing time in writing a letter that will be read by only one person. This was one of the reasons why I added "From the Mailbag" to the paper. This column enables me to select letters and answer them, knowing that several people will benefit from what both the letter writer and I may have to say.
Contributions: What is really embarrassing is the number of contributions that go unacknowledged. TSR has never actively solicited contributions, but subscribers sometimes voluntarily give to assist the work. I have always tried to send an acknowledgement of these, but their increase in number has made it difficult to keep up with them. I plan to correct this with a form letter that I can quickly send to contributors. I realize that this is impersonal, but it seems the best solution. I want to assure those who have contributed that their generosity has been appreciated. With the number of new subscribers that are now being attracted, it helps me to continue the free first-year policy. Contributors may like to know that Skepticism, Inc., the official publisher of TSR has been recognized by IRS as a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization, so all contributions are legitimately deductible.
How You Can Help: The mail problem can't be eliminated, but it could be alleviated by reducing the number of unnecessary letters. Although subscription information is always printed at the bottom of page two, I get letters from people who want to know how much money they should send to renew their subscriptions when all they would have had to do was refer to this section of the latest issue. Information about back issues, ASCII copies of articles on computer disks, written debates, video cassettes of oral debates, and other materials is not included in every issue, but it is published two or three times per year, so if subscribers would keep their back issues for at least a few months, they could consult them for this kind of information. That would save me the time of having to answer letters that request information that is regularly published.
The convenience of e-mail: If you have e-mail, please use it to make inquiries about the status of your subscription or to request information, because it will be much easier and quicker for me to send you a reply. There have been times when people whom I know have e-mail sent me letters by "snail mail" and didn't include their e-mail addresses. If for some reason you prefer to send a regular postal letter, please include your e-mail address if you have one, because I will want to answer by this faster, easier way.
Late Deliveries: I try to mail each issue during the first week of the first month of that issue. Thus, the January/ February issue is due to be mailed the first week of January, the March/April issue the first week of March, etc. However, this deadline cannot always be met. Sometimes I may be a few days late getting an issue into the mail, but I don't recall ever being over a week late. All mailings are sent at nonprofit bulk rates, so delivery is much slower than first class. If you have not received your copy by the middle of the month in which it was mailed, this is not at all unusual, especially if you live on the east or west coast. If you fail to receive a copy, even though it is the fault of the mail service, I will send you a replacement copy at no cost by first-class mail. However, I would like for you to wait until at least the third and preferably the fourth week of the posting month to inquire about copies that haven't yet been received. I have sometimes sent replacement copies only to learn later that the originals had finally arrived. In March, the test copy that I always send myself took a month to get into my mail box at the same post office where it was mailed. That's the disadvantage of bulk mailing. It's cheap, but it doesn't get a high priority.
Interpreting the expiration dates: On your address labels, the expiration date of your subscription is printed, but some have been misinterpreting the date. The first number is the number of the issue and not the month of the year. Hence, 6-97 meant that your subscription will expire with the sixth issue (November/December) of this year and not in June of this year. Some, not understanding this, have sent their renewals six months in advance. These subscriptions have been renewed for another year, and so 6-98 will appear on their labels until they renew again.
If you wonder when your subscription will expire, all that you have to do is look at the three numbers on the righthand side of your address label and remember that the first number, which will range from 1 through 6, is the number of the issue, and the last two numbers are the year in which the subscription will expire. Some have paid their subscriptions in advance for several years, so they will see numbers like 2-00 (second issue of the year 2000), 3-01 (third issue of the year 2001), etc.
No expiration date on the label: If there is no expiration date on your label, this means that your subscription is free for an indefinite period (probably the lifetime of the publication). People in this group would include those whose articles (not letters) have been published in TSR, people who perform services for the paper that I want to repay in some small way, people known to be unable to pay for their subscriptions, etc.
Inmate Subscribers: In the "mailbag" column of this issue, there is a letter from a prison inmate in Kentucky. When this issue went to press, there were 48 inmate subscribers in various prisons across the country. Some of them pay the subscription cost, but most of them don't, because they have informed me that they don't have the money to pay but would still like to receive the paper. I have kept many of them on the subscription list for several years, but now I would like to ask a favor of them. At the end of each year, I would like for them to write me at least a postcard to let me know if they want to continue receiving the paper. If so, I will continue their subscriptions; if not, dropping them from the subscription list would help reduce the cost of keeping the publication going.
Submissions for Publication: Articles
submitted for publication should address biblical inerrancy. TSR
doesn't publish fiction, poetry, book reviews, or articles about
doctrinal matters that are not related to the inerrancy issue.
