I just wanted to let everyone know where things stand with the first
digital issue of the magazine. I had some troubles getting my ex printer
and ex designer to send me the artwork and files they had , which has
delayed things a bit. (Since I will no longer be using their services
they decided they ought to soak me for as much as they possibly could
while they had my materials hostage. They hit me with charges-some of
which they have yet to itemize or explain, and some of which was for
work I never authorized-which they wanted paid before they would return
my materials. And when I paid one of them, who had the pictures I really
needed, he waited 3 weeks, knowing I was on deadline, and then instead
of sending them to me, as promised, sent them to the other guy so he
could hold them hostage too. All in all they were really a pain in the
butt about all this, though one of them was a bit better about it and
did finally send me some of my materials so I could get this issue
done). I did finally get some of the materials yesterday, and I have
been working on the rest of the conversion process over the past few
weeks as well. It is about 80% completed and I hope to have the web
version finished this weekend. I will advise everyone as soon as the
issue is available on line. Some things I hope to have in this issue,
that will show how much this new format has to offer, such as video
clips, are taking some time and may not be working for another week or
so, but everything else should be fully functional by early next week
sometime. As I said I will advise everyone when it is available. The CD
version should ship out by mid April barring any unforeseen problems,
but I make no promises at this point because this is all so new and
there is just too much that can go wrong. I'll do my best to get the CD
out by mid April at any rate. I would really like to have them mailed
out before the MA show and also be able to bring them to the show, so I
am giving it my best effort.
So far 5 people have opted not to take the CD version, which is less
than 1%. And as of this date none of our advertisers have pulled out
(this was a bit of a culture shock so-to-speak for some of our
advertisers, and a couple of them are still a bit unsure about this new
format). So we seem to be making this change without significant loss of
readers or advertisers, which is great news.
I apologize for the crappy customer service lately. I still do not have
a customer service rep replacement and so I am trying to cover that
myself. I really do not have the time for it and the editorial work, and
I figure that the editorial work is primary, so it gets my time first.
After all, most of the customer service calls I get are simply asking
where the next issue is, which if I get it out, will be an answer to the
questions. I can't do this all myself, and until I can find someone, the
customer service will be slow. I have created "boiler plates" and a lot
of reusable graphics for the digital format, and I have pretty much
completed negotiations on CD manufacture, etc. which I won't need to go
through again, so future issues will not be quite as demanding as far as
my time goes as this one has been, and I should be able to do a bit
better with customer service after this issue is done. Plus I will
finally have time to start interviewing people again too, so perhaps I
will actually have a helper again soon. I do try to answer calls in the
afternoon, so I suggest you try then, if you have to talk to me.
--
Marc Sayer
Editor/Publisher
Z Car & Classic Datsun Magazine
http://zcarmag.com
Voice 541-726-6001
Fax 541-746-0863/726-6001
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