New Subscription Policy

[Ally]

Because it has recently been suggested that the new subscription policy is one of the reasons one of the editors chose to resign over the "raw deal" we would be giving our subscribers, we have decided to post the details a little sooner than we had planned.

The details are as follows:


The Examiner has decided to become a free magazine. At the end of the year, we will request of our readers that if they have enjoyed our efforts over the last year, to please make a minimal donation (the same as the current subscription price of $9) and we will donate the entire profit to charity in a lump sum. As it is now, when we go to make a donation, we have to calculate how much we need to hold back in order to refund money if we need to, and the volunteer nature of the enterprise which is subject to the whims of people who can decide between one week and the next to quit means that we must always look to being able to refund any amount owed. We are better historians than we are accountants, so we decided to go free. However, we did enjoy giving to charity and struck this compromise. The magazine is free. If you enjoyed it and would like us to continue, donate a small bit to charity at the end of the year.

In the coming weeks, we will be contacting any current subscribers who are still owed money/subscriptions under the old system (a small portion of our total subscribers) and asking them if they would like refunds at this time, and any amount left over after refunds will be donated to charity.

We were not going to announce this at this time, because we wanted to be ready to roll with offering refunds to anyone who wanted them, and we are planning to take a short break and relax. If you are one of those who are owed subscriptions, we will be contacting you shortly to process your refund.

We do not see how going free and refunding any outstanding money can be considered a raw deal but of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we are sorry if this is viewed as a raw deal by any of our subscribers.

[Archaic]

Hi Ally.

I think that this idea to make the Examiner free, ask for a voluntary donation if readers enjoy the magazine, and then donate the proceeds to charity is a wonderful idea!

I thought that donating the first year's proceeds to a women's shelter in London was exactly the right thing to do, and am very pleased with this new development.

I'd like to say thanks to Don for all his tireless dedication to the Examiner, and thanks to everyone else whose hard work, support, contributions, and subscriptions have made it so enjoyable.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Casebook Wiki Editor]

Woodstock August 15, 1969

This is one thing that.. I was gonna wait a while before we talked about. Maybe we can talk about it now so you can think about it.. It's a free concert from now on. That doesn't mean that anything goes, what that means is we're going to put the music up here for free. What it means is that the people who're put -- backing this thing, who put up the money for it, are going to take a bit of a bath. A big bath. That's no hype, that's true, they're going to get hurt. What it means is that these people have it in their heads that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important, and that the music is, than the dollar. ... Now, the one major thing that you have to remember tonight,. when you go back up to the woods to go to sleep or if you stay here, is that the man next to you it your brother. And you damn well better treat each other that way because if you don't then we blow the whole thing, but we've got it, right there.

[Chris]

As it is now, when we go to make a donation, we have to calculate how much we need to hold back in order to refund money if we need to, and the volunteer nature of the enterprise which is subject to the whims of people who can decide between one week and the next to quit means that we must always look to being able to refund any amount owed.

How will the subscription being voluntary change that?

[bolo]

Sir Robert,

This is one thing that.. I was gonna wait a while before we talked about. Maybe we can talk about it now so you can think about it.. It's a free concert from now on. That doesn't mean that anything goes, what that means is we're going to put the music up here for free. What it means is that the people who're put -- backing this thing, who put up the money for it, are going to take a bit of a bath. A big bath. That's no hype, that's true, they're going to get hurt. What it means is that these people have it in their heads that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important, and that the music is, than the dollar. ... Now, the one major thing that you have to remember tonight,. when you go back up to the woods to go to sleep or if you stay here, is that the man next to you it your brother. And you damn well better treat each other that way because if you don't then we blow the whole thing, but we've got it, right there.

heh, I was about to post the same Woodstock quote when I saw your post. My compliments!

Ally, as a day-one subscriber and avid Examiner reader I appreciate the decision and hope this will help to spread the word even more.

I will keep up my payment/donation, if it goes to charity, the better.

Thanks,

Boris

[Ally]

How will the subscription being voluntary change that?

You will in essence being paying for your subscription, AFTER you have already received your magazines.

Bear with me a bit, as I said, we weren't quite ready to go with the wording and the explanation. You will receive this years issues for free. If you liked them, give us a small donation at the end of the year. (We were also thinking of asking for a reduced donation this year, since some people have already received paid for issues). You will have already received the magazines you are paying for that way, so we do not have to keep a log of what we owe and all the profit gets donated in a lump.

We won't have to keep any balance or worry about what happens if we fold, because you will be paying for what you have already received. You will be paying for all the issues of 2011 at the end of 2011. If we fold in 2012, even if we put out 3 magazines before we fold, you won't have paid anything for them because we will not ask for another donation until Dec 2012.

I haven't had my coffee yet, and my brain is fuzzy, so please let me know if I can explain it better.

[Chris]

Ally

I can see all that, I just don't understand the relevance of the bit about "the whims of people who can decide between one week and the next to quit."

[Ally]

If you are asking how that will change, it won't. Obviously in any volunteer enterprise, you are reliant on the whims of people. This one is no different. However, because people will quit, and depending how many do, could mean the difference between having an issue and not having an issue, this way we won't have to worry about who has the money, who refunds the money, how many people we owe.

No one has to feel obligated to keep going at something they no longer enjoy simply because we have obligations to other people. And if you believe that the above was aimed at any one in particular, please remember, this was discussed BEFORE any recent staff changes, so there was no bite intended at any one specific person. This was the reason that the change was first discussed, before there was a practical application that proved the change was needed. The timing is simply ironic.

Owing people anything, especially money, is a heavy burden and we wanted to lift that from our volunteers who put in a lot of time and effort. There is a lot of stress involved in this, and we don't want to compound that by having the burden of an obligation on our heads.

Plus everyone involved is practically at death's door with various illnesses and liable to keel over at any minute, so if we all die, we won't owe you all anything.

[lynn cates]

price

Hello Ally. I am not sure why L6 per year would seem steep to some. After dealing with archives and translation services, the price seems quite reasonable--even humourous. And if one of my race does not quibble over money. . . well, you get the idea.

Cheers.
LC

[Chris]

Ally

Thanks. I got hold of the wrong end of the stick - probably just me being slow on the uptake.

[mariab]

I completely understand the stressful part in needing to keep a balance with refunds in donation form, and the “burden“ part of owning money and magazine issues, especially after what happened with another Ripperology 'zine recently.
I very much hope that Casebook Examiner doesn't fold in 2012! I would be devastated if that were to happen, as I've enjoyed every issue of this 'zine, especially the outstanding editorial work.

On another matter, I was wondering if the amount of only $50 for a (first) donation to casebook would appear as offensive?

I'm also trying to round up some people interested in contributing to the Arbeter Fraint translation project, but this is not the proper time and place to discuss said project.

[Ally]

Hi Maria, I wanted to let you know that any donation to Casebook is appreciated...but donating to Casebook and donating to the Examiner are two different things.

Many people donate to Casebook in the form of Premium Subscriptions, and in return they don't have to deal with any of the advertisements, a necessary evil in funding a website. A $50 donation would (I believe) be worth an entire year without advertisements. The money donated to Casebook goes to funding it and maintaining it for everyone's use. If you are interested in donating to Casebook, you can go to your User CP, and look for the link that says Paid Subscriptions. It is located near the bottom of the left hand menu in your UserCP. Everyone who donates to Casebook also receives the examiner.

The money that goes to Examiner is given to charity. Just wanted to be clear that Examiner and Casebook are run as separate financial entities.

Best Wishes,

[mariab]

Hi Ally,
thanks for responding so quickly. I'm perfectly clear that Examiner and casebook are run as separate financial entities, still, I was thinking about a casebook donation since quite a while, I was aware about casebook supporters also receiving the Examiner, and I'd be glad to get rid of the ads when the casebook pages are loading.
I'm off to try a Premium Subscription through my User CP, I hope it works.

[Ally]

Hey I came to respond and see by your shiny new banner that it has. Glad it worked for you.

[mariab]

Yeah, the page looks kinda bland without the ads.
I almost feel better now, I was feeling like a total parasite for the 9 months I've been “taking advantage“ of all the knowledge so generously available on casebook.