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ESC! Magazine
Vol.8 No.2
Publisher
Michael R. Potter
Editor-at-Large
Stan Howard
Editor-at-Large
Robert Potter
Design Consultant
Paul Tucker
SUBMISSIONS:
To receive a complete set of guidelines, please send a SASEto the address below.Guidelines may also be downloaded fromhttp://www.escmagazine.com/
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Please send all subscription orders, inquiries, and addresschanges to the following address:ESC! Magazinec/o Michael R. PotterP.O.BOX 115, Huntley, IL 60142-0115
via E-mail:
EDITORIAL
: All letters to the editor will be considered forpublication and may be edited to save space. All correspon-dence becomes the property of Michael R. Potter.
Single copy cover price:
$5.00
ESC! Magazine
(print: ISSN 1065-4844) is published twiceyearly by Michael R. Potter, P.O. Box 115, Huntley IL 60142-0115, USACopyright ©1992 - 2004 Michael R. Potter. All Rights Reserved.ESC!, ESC! Magazine, ESC! Publications, escwebs.com,escmagazine.com and all related indicia are trademarks of MichaelR. Potter.The Copyrights on individual pieces within this magazine areheld by their respective authors and artists and are reprintedwith express written permission of the authors and artists.For permission to reprint any of the pieces, please contact theauthor or artist in care of this magazine.The views expressed in the essays, fiction, poetry and artwork appearing in this issue do not necessarily reflect those of thepublisher. Unless otherwise indicated, any similarities betweenthe characters in these stories, poetry or artwork and anyindividual, either living or dead, is purely coincidental. MichaelR. Potter assumes no liability or responsibility for the accuracyor use of the information contained herein or in the advertisingappearing on the pages of this magazine.Help Reduce Waste … Recycle!
EDITORIAL
W
ith lofty goals in mind, I launched ESC! Magazine in the Spring of 1992. To everyone’s great surprise (mine), my little magazinedid pretty well. Most of the submissions came from a small 5 line Writer’sDigest announcement seeking contributors and most sales came fromNorthern Lights Bookstore in DeKalb, Barbara’s Bookstore in Oak Park and through subscriptions. The money coming in wasn’t much, but itcovered the costs of production, which is to say, we broke even. Mostimportantly, however, my goal of helping first time writers build their writing resume was realized. When I revived ESC! in its new hybrid format 4 years ago, the one thing I felt the magazine lacked the most was depth. This summer I decidedsomething needed to be done about it and I signed up to be a sponsor of Rick Lupert’s annual Poetry Super Highway contest( PoetrySuperHighway.com ). With this sponsorship came new awarenessof ESC! and, as might be expected, new contributors as well. As a result,you’ll find many of the same names here whose works you’ve loved in thepast such as Paul Tucker, Joyce Bradshaw and Bob Potocki, but you’ll alsofind a healthy serving of new names, the works of whom you will enjoy equally as well. Diane Payne, Charles Ries, Deborah Mercier and all theother new names you see here this month, provide new dimensions of absurdity, humanity and warmth readers of this magazine have come toexpect from our writers. We’ve grown in distribution as well. Today, in a single month, moreissues of ESC! Magazine are downloaded from our website than were soldby Northern Lights, Barbara’s or by subscription
combined
over the life of one1993 issue (three months). In addition, with the advent of new contributors,I’m distributing more printed issues than I have in a long time.However, while each issue now has a life of six months, the costs of producing it are not being covered as they were back in 1993. Why? Noone is buying the magazine. Yes, issues are being downloaded – moreissues than ever – but no one wants to pay for them. And, as I discoveredin a brief but ill-fated experiment last year, if I require payment beforedownload, then no one downloads it, therefore our wonderful writers andartists are not read. It’s a tough situation, especially when postage and webhosting alone quickly consume the resources of our little production. So,for the first time since this magazine’s rebirth, I’m going to risk being bold.... We need your help!
How You Can Help
As a reader of ESC!, you’ve very likely downloaded your copy. If so,please consider clicking our PayPal “donate” button on the download pageand throw a few bucks our way. Whatever you can give is greatly appreciated – even donations of $1 or $2 help. Better still, because PayPaltakes a cut of every transaction, mail your payment instead to ensure every cent goes towards supporting our efforts.
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