Publisher's Note

The First Three Years
A Look at What the Fellowship Has Accomplished Since Becoming the Publisher ... and What's Ahead

by Laird Sandhill

I T IS NOW THREE YEARS Communities  has been published by the Fellowship for Intentional Community. Let's take a breath and see where we are.

Flush with the success of the first Communities Directory   (released in late 1990), the Fellowship negotiated to become the publisher of Communities   with the idea of billing it as a companion publication to the Directory.   At the time, the magazine carried significant debt (five figures) and hadn't published an issue in over two years.

We thought about starting a new periodical and avoiding the debt, but decided we wanted this  magazine, and we wanted to clean up the debt. Communities   has always stood for open dialog about cooperative living, and that's exactly the forum we wanted to revive.

When we signed the transfer agreement in 1992, we had no staff in place, and the Fellowship had no particular experience in magazine work. In fact, the only asset we had in abundance was unbridled optimism and a conviction that the communities movement held both the talent to do the work and the demand for the product. At the outset we committed to publishing one issue in 1992, two in 1993, and reaching regular quarterly production by 1994. Amazingly, we have met that goal exactly. Crucial to this success has been our assembling an excellent production team. We found Diana Christian (Managing Editor) and Lance Scott (Art Director) in 1993, added Patricia Greene (REACH Ads Coordinator) in 1994, and have just engaged Paul DeLapa to design our covers. Jonathan Roth has created cartoons for us since 1992. Billie Miracle has provided illustrations since 1993.

From the start, our editorial policy has been to engage on dynamic topics and not duck any controversy, while striving for a balanced presentation of community thinking and   experiences. This is a constant dance, and we think we've shown rather nimble feet. Witness the range of views expressed in the "Growing Up in Community" issue (Fall '94), and in this "Love, Sex, and Romance in Community" issue. Coming up we'll be tackling "Cults" (Fall '95) and "Growing Old in Community" (Winter '95).

We made the choice to concentrate first on quality of content, regularity of production, and appropriate systems for handling the flow of work. Having accomplished this, we're ready to tell the world about Communities   magazine.

The response we get in the next few years will tell us if we belong in the magazine business. Let's look at the numbers for our first full year of quarterly operations (see inset box).

As you can see, we lost money--however, that's not unexpected given our strategy to focus on quality ahead of increasing the subscriber base. Using the platform we've carefully crafted--and the boost in circulation we're bound to get from release of the new Communities Directory  --we are poised to double subscriptions in each of the next three years.

If we accomplish this, we should easily eliminate the red ink, and can begin looking at compensation for our writers and better wages for our production staff.

Though new to publishing, we have had some advantages that have made our job easier. Deeply experienced in community, we know  our subject, and we know a wealth of people who have powerful and insightful things to say about it. We have had little trouble finding a wide variety of quality writers and guest editors to put together the theme articles for our issues, even though these folks are only compensated with free subscriptions and our heartfelt thanks. Without this generous support we couldn't afford the attempt to revive the magazine. (Keep in mind that we lost money last year anddidn't spend a nickel   on compensating writers or guest editors. It's a tremendous asset to be working for a readership that is motivated to help produce its own magazine.)

While the Fellowship has been willing to use Directory   profits to underwrite development of Communities,  now is the time to see if the magazine can carry its own weight. We are not expecting a profit, but we do not want to support operating losses indefinitely. We want Communities   magazine to provide exciting, responsible, dependable coverage of the communities movement and   generate revenues to cover the full and fair costs of production.

Each year we'll tell you how we're doing and offer this financial disclosure, because we're committed to operating in the open and we want you to be informed. You--our readers--have an obvious stake in this, and we want your participation in making Communities financially viable. You can help--let us know what you like and how we can improve things. You can tell your friends about us. You can take a copy into local bookstores and ask that they carry it. Together we can build a strong magazine about community which is supported by a strong community effort. Makes sense, doesn't it?