society, journal

Greetings all:

Today is not a day to be outside in east central Iowa, so thought I'd join
the discussion about a shade garden society and a publication to go with it.

I'm interested in joining such a society. I also want this list to remain as
it is, so that people who do not wish to join the society can continue to
chat via this site.

As for the journal, beware that it's no easy, inexpensive task. I've been a
writer/editor/publisher more than 40 years and know that's a fact.

You cannot simply say "let's have a journal" and go publish one. You must
study whether there is a market for the publication, solicit subscriptions
(membership in the society should include the journal), seek advertisers who
agree to more than one edition, and seek bids from printers.

You must select an editor who, with the help of volunteers, will bring
everything together.

You must be able to set type and produce the journal within the society or
"farm out" the project to a professional (it ain't cheap). You must decide
how many pages you want, and the size of the pages; the quality of paper;
whether you want to print color or black-and-white photographs, or both.

How are you going to solicit writers/photographers? Will you pay them or
will they do it for nothing because they love the society?

How often will you publish? Monthly, every other month or quarterly? The
African Violet Society of America publishes the African Violet Magazine
every other month. The begonia, geranium, rock gardening and gesneriad
societies publish quarterly. All five magazines have color. To make them
viable, they must attract advertisers. They also rely on a large number of
memberships for income. Some members donate extra money to the magazines so
that they can print more color photos.

Don't forget deadlines. Whether you're producing the journal yourself or
hiring a shop to do it, there's nothing more maddening than having all the
material arrive at one time, late, with a message that it is needed in 2 or
3 days or, to use the popular term, "yesterday." One of my clients, a
national professional organization that issues a quarterly newsletter of 20
pages on slick white paper, always sends the bulk of the material late. I've
screamed and otherwise complained, but they just can't understand that to do
a good job you must give the producer adequate time. I continue to deal with
this association only because it is a major money-maker for my small
business. If it wasn't, I'd tell them to shove it.

After a long career in the newspaper business, I now operate a small
publishing company. I produce newsletters for various businesses and
organizations. I'm also a freelance writer/editor/photographer, taking on
projects that are not done on a regular basis. It's fun, but not always
smooth sailing. I take pride in what I do. If the shade garden society
wishes to publish a journal and attract readers and advertisers, you must
offer a quality publication.

Keep membership dues affordable. I recently let my membership lapse in a
society because the dues were raised to $40 a year. That's too expensive for
my budget. I belong to the four societies mentioned above; their dues are
reasonable.

Now I climb down from the pulpit and volunteer to help with the journal and
the society.

John G. Adney
Marion, Iowa
johnadney@email.msn.com
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