from the editor . . . My apologies for the length of this editorial! But I have many, many important things to discuss. Your subscription is affected so, everyone, please bear with me. 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Apparently, judging from the mail I receive, some of the NQF readership believe that NQF is a non-profit organization. Others, it seems, think it is a big, sprawling business, interested only in profit. Neither is true. Genealogy is dominated by non-profit organizations, which could be the basis for the first misunderstanding. On the other hand, NQF is and has always been a one man business, operated out of an extra bedroom in our home. Tiny businesses like NQF do not have the advantages available to non-profit organization: huge postal discounts and tax breaks, tax free contributions from corporations and individuals, grants from the government, volunteer help and the willingness of some businesses to donate their services. Although Galen has been a tremendous help on several fronts, I am NQF's secretary, mail room clerk, bookkeeper, typesetter, ad representative, marketing director, editor, publisher, proof reader and subscription department. In fact, I do nearly every thing but the printing (which is expertly done by Pizazz Printing in San Jose). NQF receipts have allowed me to buy some of the necessary equipment to run the business efficiently. However, despite the fact that NQF is a commercial business, I have yet to draw any salary. The problem My principal strategy in the last fours years has been to generate subscriptions by mailing about 3,000 free copies of each issue to potential subscribers. To do so, I had to come up with 3,000 new names for each issue. However, there is only one commercially available mailing list for the genealogical market and that is not rented to other genealogical vendors. The alternative, then, has been to compile each list from scratch. For awhile, I had good luck at that and now have 100,000 names and addresses in my database. However, as the "archived" file grew, so did the percentage of duplicate entries. It got to the point that 60% to 70% of the names I entered for a mailing were thrown out because they were already in the database. Additionally, the cost of printing and mailing the freebies generally matched or exceeded the revenue generated from those mailings. A business that mails promotions to hundreds of thousands of households in a single mailing can do exceedingly well with a 2% response rate, which is considered to be excellent. However, NQF simply does not have the resources to reach potential readers in such large numbers; 2% of little is not much. In fact, it has become virtually impossible to proceed in that way. A dead end? No, not at all. First, some good news ... I plan to keep shipping NQF in bulk to fairs and conventions. I also intend to continue sending freebies to persons whose addresses have been sent to me. But I have found a far better way of circulating free copies. Beginning with NQF #34, the diskette version of The National Queries Forum has been uploaded to the BBS (Bulletin Board System) of the National Genealogical Society and to America Online, one of the five major electronic online services. Beginning with NQF #36, NQF ON DISKETTE is also being uploaded regularly to GEnie and Delphi, two other commercial services, and will soon be available from ROOTS-L on the Internet. The sysop of the NGS-BBS says that NQF will end up on nearly 1,000 boards worldwide. A ROOTS-L volunteer says that NQF can reach up to 20,000 people each month. America Online has 450,000 users and GEnie has nearly as many. Of course, the users on the commercial services are not all genealogists. Nevertheless, given some time, NQF ON DISKETTE will be seen regularly by thousands of people, with little or no cost to them and at virtually no cost to me. This means that your queries will reach a vastly greater audience than would ever be possible through the regular mails (snail-mail as it is known by the electronic world.) Now, the bad news ... Despite the above, it is necessary to take decisive steps to turn NQF around. It will also be necessary to buy ad space regularly in several periodicals. So, effective immediately, a regular one-year subscription is increased to $17.50. NQF will now be published only 6 times a year. Of course, the new publication schedule does not affect the number of issues due to you. If you subscribed for 9 issues, that is what you will get. The difference is that you will receive them in the course of 18 months, rather than a year. Can you handle some more good news? But you will not be paying more for nothing in return! I have also revised query rates to make them even a better bargain than before. The first 20 words of all subscriber queries will now be published at no charge. In fact, if you keep them to 20 words or less, you need not pay for them at all. Words 21 through 50 are now 10� each and words above 50 are still 25�. Soon, I will announce the ability to accept queries via electronic mail (e-mail). (There are several obstacles that need to be overcome.) In the meantime, subscribers can submit all 30 word queries at no charge on computer diskette (IBM / DOS ASCII text only). Obviously, when queries are presented in this manner, there is less work for me to do; hence, the additional break. Please note that free queries are now limited to 10 per mailing. Nevertheless, there is no practical limit to the number you can send in the course of a year. As always, Founding Subscribers maintain their privileges. I am also offering the NQF Query Club. For an annual fee of $15, in addition to your subscription fee, you will receive coupons for 5 free 50 word queries and 15 1/2-off coupons. Naturally, if you submit only short queries, 1/2 of nothing is not much of a deal. But if your queries average about 50 words in length, and you have plenty to send in over the course of a year, this can be an excellent deal. For obvious reasons, subscribers can submit only their own (or spouses') queries. They must be in your name and have your return address. New features Last year I introduced Open Forum. This new feature is a good opportunity for readers to exchange useful genealogical information that is not of a "query" nature or specific to an individual's genealogy. You, the reader, can make Open Forum into a dynamic and interesting addition to NQF. It's up to you. From the Internet begins with this issue. It will feature non- copyrighted material found on the Internet. Although I intend to keep NQF essentially a queries magazine, I am actively looking for items that are of general interest to the NQF readership. Contributions are always welcomed. What it all means So far as I know, NQF is the only genealogical publication that bridges the electronic and printed medias. This concept has obvious benefits to you. Non-computer users will find a vast new audience in the computer world and those that find themselves relying more and more on the "virtual domain" can maintain a link to the paper-bound population. Everyone has heard Clinton and Gore talk about the Information Superhighway. This is not a new concept nor is it empty political rhetoric. Although the Internet is really a rough and tumble (and non-commercial) version of the president's vision, it has been around for years. Big business has been encouraged by the administration's stand. In recent months, huge corporations are making big deals with one another, pairing up into competitive teams and pulling together once disparate technologies in an effort to become leaders in this new frontier. This is going to be bigger than TV! It's a wrap ... Although you will be paying more for fewer issues, NQF is still in keeping with other genealogical periodicals, and is still less expensive than most. ... And you get some of the very best query rates in the biz. Additionally, queryists will now receive an audience that only those that own a computer and modem have had access to. I am very excited about these changes and am looking forward to NQF's future. I wish every one of you the very best in 1994. Michael nqf@netcom.com