************************************************************************* This conference transcript is the exclusive property of the ST Advantage on DELPHI. Permission to reprint is granted only if this notice is included and the transcript is left unchanged. To get your own DELPHI account and join in on the many activities sponsored by the ST Advantage and the Atari Advantage on DELPHI, use your modem to dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002. Press once or twice to get a connection, then at Password:, type in COMPUTERFEST then press again. Basic sign-up is free! ************************************************************************* Official Transcript of a Formal Conference with Pattie Rayl, of Unicorn Publications Tuesday, May 19, 1992 .Gordie> Pattie, do you want to make an opening statement, and get this officially started? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Ok....here goes... Bill and I have been publishers of an Atari-specific magazine since the Dec '87 issue of Michigan Atari Magazine.... a small, Michigan only publication going to 10 clubs in MI. Now, Atari Interface magazine (AIM) has a circulation of over 10,000 and is available in bookstores across the US and Canada, not to mention Germany, Australia, and the UK. AIM has over 110 participating clubs currently, and we're growing each month as more clubs join the "AIM Family." ga .Gordie> Pattie, how would you describe the growth of AIM? Has it been picking up lately, or is it plateaued? ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, AIM is growing faster and more and more each month. Unlike some other Atari publications, AIM keeps increasing in circulation... In the last year, we've been growing much faster than the year before. It's a trend we hope keeps going! :) ga .Gordie> It seems that you could soon be the largest circulation monthly magazine in the country. I assume that would help you get better response from developers, more ads, etc. ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, well, Explorer is the largest Atari specific magazine in the US/Can market. Advertisers are very happy with the response they get from placing ads in AIM, and our low ad rates are a good enticement to start advertising in the first place! :) ga .AP7> Is there any connection between Atari Iterface and AtariUser magazine? Does it have a Disk? .Pattie@AIM HQ> AP7, Atari User is published by Quill Publishing in CA. AIM is published by Unicorn Publications in MI. AIM has three monthly disks....ST/TT...Mac/Spectre... and 8bit/Classic... which means AIM has something for every Atarian, no matter what their system is set up like. ga .AP7> How can I get info to my local user group? Perhaps, a sample issue, or can I subscribe? ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> AP7, just have your local officers call us at (313) 973-8825 or write us at 3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108. Clubs get the magazine for 50 cents per person per month, sent to that member's home. If you'd like a sample copy, just send us a letter or postcard asking for a sample issue, and we'll send you one by return mail. ga .AP7> Including Disk!? For only 50 cents?!!! .Pattie@AIM HQ> AP7, a subscription to AIM is $18 (US addresses 3rd class). A disk subscription is $50 additional. (Participating clubs get the ST and 8bit Disk at a special discount.) And, we accept MasterCard and Visa. The 50 cents club rate is only for participating clubs, and you would have to subscribe through your club. If you subscribe directly, the cost is $18/yr/3rd class, or $36 1st class to US addresses. ga .Game Dude> Yeah...I heard about a split-off from AIM, an all Atari 8bit mag They sent me this thing, they were looking for subscribers. Did it ever get off the ground? .Pattie@AIM HQ> GD, the Atari Classics campaign, being run by Jeff McWilliams and Ben Poehland, is totally separate from us here at Unicorn Publications. While we support their effort, we will definitely not be "splitting off" the 8-bit coverage in AIM, even though the Classics kit indicated this would (might) happen. Currently, the Classics people are working out details at to what kind of publications they are trying to put together, etc. At last count that we heard, they had close to 600 responses to their mailing campaign. ga .Dana @ STReport> Pattie, is Unicorn Publications an independent outfit, yours, or do you work _for_ Unicorn. If so, how did you manage to start up your own publishing co. and hold on? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, Bill and I are owners of Unicorn Publications... we both work for ourselves (each other!) :) .Dana @ STReport> So it's a "family" business?! .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, Bill worked full time until a year ago as a Technical Writer, so that was how we paid the bills while AIM was growing. .Dana @ STReport> So this is now a full-time business for both of you? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Yes.... AIM is our only "job/source of income." We rise and fall with the Atari market in general. Similar to many US developers :) ga .Dana @ STReport> Great, good luck for the continued growth of AIM!! .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, thank you for the kind wishes! :) .Norm!> Did Unicorn come out of AIM or what? Which came first? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Norm, Unicorn Publications was formed to publish Michigan Atari Magazine, which later turned into Atari Interface magazine. ga .Norm!> How did you get the area groups to cooperate in putting out MAM in the beginning? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Norm, I don't quite understand your question. MAM was started because newsletter editors realized they could save themselves a lot of work by joining their efforts together into one publication all clubs would receive.ga .Norm!> That answers that, I find that it is hard to even get people within one group to work together so you people deserve the success that you have reaped. GA .Pattie@AIM HQ> Thank you Norm for that kind thought! :) .Gordie> Pattie, a couple of technical questions... What software do you use to layout AIM, and what kind of lead time do you run between getting the articles in hand and getting AIM out the door? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, we use PageStream to produce AIM. We use a Mega/STe (currently up for sale!) and a TT with an Hewlett Packard LaserJet II (that we've had for 5 yrs) with Pacific Page Postscript Cartridge. All inside pages are produced at 300 dpi, with the cover being linotroned at a local service bureau. As for lead time, Our deadline for articles and ads is the 17th of the month, and we put the issues in the mail in the second week of the month (unless we run into problems or delays). So, that's anywhere from 3-4 weeks turnaround time. The May issue was late because we held it to report on the Falcon system we saw at the Toronto show, and while at the Toronto show, we caught a nasty flu bug, that wiped out both Bill and me. ga .Gordie> Wait, you saw the Falcon? I'm going to have to become a real journalist! .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, yea.. that's one nice thing about doing a magazine! :) .Dana @ STReport> Pattie, why the change from MAM to AIM - to appear more as a national mag rather than a local UG "conglomerate"? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, that's a very long story... but, the short answer is yes. The publication had grown outside the MI border, and we were only going to expand that. ga .Dana @ STReport> Do you have any other regular staff, or all volunteers? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, Bill and I are the only full time "staffers." We don't pay for articles... Most of the articles in AIM come from the user groups. Sometimes, we don't even know what's going to be in an issue until the 17th deadline and we collect submissions off our BBS and the services. We have regular contributors, tho, and their help is invaluable! ga .Dana @ STReport> So stress levels can be high in many instances! .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, sure...but, we're working for ourselves, the stress is ours, not imposed from a boss or anything! :) ga .Dana @ STReport> How about printer problems? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, well, we've been pretty lucky, knock on wood! The worst thing so far is forgetting the UPC label on the cover when they printed. But, mistakes like that come off the bill! :) We've had printers in IL, PA and MI. ga .Dana @ STReport> They must have deadlines to meet also; if you're late... ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, we don't have to worry about that, we get excellent turn- around from our current printer. ga .Dana @ STReport> Cooperation is bliss! .Gordie> Pattie, I guess that AIM is similar to the old Mother Earth News, where the readers wrote most of the magazine. Made for some really good reading, because they had been there and were sharing their experience, and not just relating things second-hand. .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, we say AIM is written by Users for Users for a reason! :) .Gordie> Have you found you're being more highly thought of with the increased circulation you've been getting? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, that's a hard question to answer.... I suppose I should say "Of COURSE!" :) ... but, it seems that AIM continues to be thought of as a newsletter in some people's minds, rather than as a magazine available in bookstores. ga .Gordie> Time will improve that, I'm sure. .Dana @ STReport> Pattie, what do you see for the future growth of the magazine, besides UG memberships and subscriptions? Anything special that you'd like to see AIM do, or become? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Dana, a big part of that depends entirely on what Atari does. AIM won't ever be a glossy, full color thoughout magazine like STart was unless something major happens with this market. Right now, we're working on expanding AIM into overseas markets like Great Britian and Australia. Perhaps one day, AIM could be a world-wide publication ... ie, have advertisers and readers from all over the Atari globe. ga .Gordie> Charles, you had a question? .Charles> Yep, Gordie.. just one. Pattie, how come you've never done an interview with those charming, funny, debonair guys from CodeHead Technologies? ga .Gordie> lol! .Pattie@AIM HQ> Charles, that's one place were I've fallen down in coverage in AIM, I admit it! :) I don't do nearly as many interviews as I'd like, and I'm sure, as our readers would like. I don't really know why this is, except perhaps it requires making extra time. ga .Charles> Well, gosh, I know I'd sure like to know what John Eidsvoog's favorite color is, among other things! ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> Charles, inquiring minds want to know! :) .JJ> Okay, my question, I'm new to delphi, but the thing I am always interested in is hands on tech articles. What are your attitudes towards those. I realize they are hard to come by perhaps, but very interesting. .Pattie@AIM HQ> JJ, we're always looking for authors! We've run hardware modification articles in the past, and will in the future. Most of the hardware mod articles focus on the 8bit (classic) system, I think, mostly because those are 'true hacker machines.' ga .JJ> Okay, I might look into submitting in the future... .Pattie@AIM HQ> JJ, that would be great! ga .Gordie> Pattie, will you be at either of the two Atarifests this summer? Milwaukee or Indianapolis? ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, we'll be attending the Milwaukee MAST show in June...but we don't know about the Indianapolis (MIST) show, since that falls right in the middle of our magazine production schedule. Also, we look forward to going to CT! ga .Gordie> Well, Milwaukee is my most likely, so that works out well for me, anyway. .Jerry> Does your magazine have any programming articles in it.....10 goto... something like that... .Pattie@AIM HQ> Jerry, yes... we currently have a series going about programming in Michtron's Control Language for Michtron BBS sysops. We have "type-in" source code frequently in AIM, and we have an author just coming online to do a tutorial in programming. Plus, we have BASIC articles pretty often. ga .Jerry> Getting back to the DISK... Can the readers get an old disk ONLY or do they have to get the mag and disk? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Jerry, people can order back disks, no problem. We've had an ST/TT disk since Jan '90; an 8-bit disk since April/May '91 and a Spectre/Mac disk since October '91. .JJ> Since the intro of GCC 2.1, I think c++ with Gem is going to be big. Anyone willing to do a series on C++ with gem that you've heard yet ? It would be nice. Although it might be a very limited market. .Pattie@AIM HQ> JJ, not that I know of, but Bill handles all that...he's the Editor-in-chief and I'm the managing editor. He coordinates the articles and authors, while I handle mundane things like ads and bills. :) .Jerry> Do you have any plans on doing something with the IBM'ers out there after they start using GEMULATOR for their IBM's, in your mag? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Jerry, I don't see it in our future...since there are plenty of PC-specifc publications out there. But, you never know. WE've just added Portfolio support to AIM! So, if you know someone with a Portfolio, send them over to us! :) ga .Gordie> Pattie, have you ever considered mobilizing your readers to do a 'united voice' kind of thing? Like asking everyone to write letters to a software publisher, or something similar? I mean, you have a lot of readers out there. .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, recently we've given a few addresses for readers to write to if they wish -- a letter writing campaign to help SFAN (Space, Fanatasy & Adventure Network) a science fiction cable channel that's trying to get cable execs interested. We've also "encouraged" readers to write to Atari Games in Chicago to get them to do a port of MIDIMaze for the Lynx. We don't very often "crusade" in AIM. We publish letters to the editor where people have a decided opinion, but we try to stay fairly neutral. ga .Gordie> I guess I wondered if AIM ever took editorial stances. I can understand neutrality, though. ga .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, sure... we have taken editorial stances, and sometimes those haven't been popular with people at Atari Corp. ga .JJ> I very much appreciate the user group coop you have going, I just would like to know, can we expect continued support via AIM? As a result.. our small group here , mostly only get info via AIM! .Pattie@AIM HQ> JJ, we are very grateful of the support we get from the clubs and their members. They make up a large part of the viability of AIM, and because of that, even if Atari were to fold up tomorrow, AIM would still be around for awhile afterwards. ga .JJ> From the bottom of my heart for that, and on behalf of the very small membership, I thank you! .Pattie@AIM HQ> JJ, thank you for saying that! :) WE hear about problems very promptly, but people are slower to say nice things! .JJ> As a sysop of of small Atari haven (Cleveland Freenet) I realize thanks are much appreciated. .Gordie> Pattie, can AIM have a postal reply card bound in? So readers could easily respond to surveys, get info from advertisers, etc.? Just a thought. .Pattie@AIM HQ> Gordie, AIM could, but unfortunatly, that would up the costs... people have asked us about putting AIM in some sort of mailer.. to protect it in the mailing process. While we do that for 1st class subscribers, we try to keep the costs as low to the clubs as possible. So, everything we do is basically cost driven. ga .BobT> Pattie, as a followup... I noticed mine was a little mangled. But that's the post office problem, as I get several other mags and most of them are okay. .Pattie@AIM HQ> BobT, we have had complaints from subscribers about their issues getting mangled in the US Postal Service. That's why we started offering 1st class; the issues go faster than 3rd class and are protected while in the mail. ga .BobT> You would think that yours would "mail" better because of the paper stock... .Pattie@AIM HQ> BobT, those mail carriers are animals! :) .BobT> I know! (GA) .JJ> I appreciate the continous look throughout the mag both in format and page quality... Can we expect this format to continue without changes on the whole? .Pattie@AIM HQ> JJ, AIM keeps improving from issue to issue.. which is easily proved by looking at issues 6 months old or even at the Dec '87 MAM! :) Any changes would be along the lines of improving the magazine. As for paper we use, Bill and I personally don't like glossy because it's hard to read (not to mention more expensive). .JJ> Okay, main thought, will you stay away from the newsprint page? .Pattie@AIM HQ> We'll stay with white paper for now! :) .JJ> Thanks! .Gordie> It's getting a bit late, so, Pattie, do you want to wrap this up? .Pattie@AIM HQ> Thanks to Delphi for inviting me for the CO tonight too! .Gordie> You're quite welcome. I'm glad I asked! .Pattie@AIM HQ> Bill and I hope to continue bringing you "honest reviews and up-to-date news..." :) For those interested, AIM costs $18/yr for 3rd class and $36/yr 1st class to US addresses. We have 3 Disks of the Month: ST/TT, Mac/Spectre and 8bit. A sub. to the Disk of the Month is $50 additional. For more information, please call me at (313) 973-8825 or write us at 3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108. Participating clubs can get AIM sent to their members for only $50 per person per month, or $6 per person per year. Free sample issues can be requested by sending a letter! (Oops! that's 50 _cents_ per person per month!) Thank you for having me! ga .Gordie> Thanks for joining us! This CO is officially over!