GS+ Magazine Ceases Publication!!!

[gsplusdiz@aol.com (GSPlusDiz)]

For Immediate Release - GS+ Magazine Ceases Publication

Not a hoax!  Not a dream!  Not an imaginary tale!  What follows 
is a slightly edited version of the "Writer's Block" column
that will appear in the upcoming issue of GS+ Magazine (V7.N1 -
which will be mailed out the week of August 28th).  Please
distribute this information as far and wide as possible.  

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Writer's Block
By Steven W. Disbrow

Believe it or not, I'm writing this editorial while this issue of 
GS+ Magazine is at the printer.   This page is actually being 
substituted for the "Writer's Block" that I had already written 
for this issue.  So, what you read on this page will take precedence 
over some of the other information that you will find in this issue.  
Why am I telling you this?  It's because I've got some very 
bad news . . .

It is with great sadness that I am forced to announce that this (V7.N1)
is the last issue of GS+ Magazine.  After six years, and thirty-seven 
issues, it has simply become impossible to continue publication.

As you might be able to guess, the main reason for this decision is 
money.  Specifically, the lack of it.  As I mentioned an issue or 
two ago, renewals have been off.  Since then, renewals went through 
the floor and new subscriptions have been almost non-existent.  
I've tried everything I could think of to reverse this trend, but 
nothing has worked.   The end result is that EGO Systems has no more 
money to publish GS+ Magazine.  So, I've reluctantly decided to 
pull the plug.

I know what you are thinking, "Ha!  Now Diz will show his true 
colors and disappear like all the rest."  Well, I'm not gonna do 
that.  While GS+ Magazine is ceasing publication, EGO Systems will 
stick around for just as long as possible.  Specifically, we'll 
still be selling and supporting all of the back issues of GS+ 
Magazine, as well as our other Apple IIGS and Newton products.  
We will also continue to sell Procyon's, Zip's, Animasia's and 
WestCode's products for just as long as there is a demand.  
Heck, we might even come out with some new stuff after the 
dust from this settles . . .

What About my Money?
Of course, if you're thinking ahead, you've figured that, if 
there's no money to publish GS+ Magazine, there's probably 
no money left to repay your subscription.  Sadly, this is true.  
But, that doesn't mean I don't intend to try.  It's been my 
intention since day one of GS+ Magazine to repay every penny of 
subscriber money, one way or another.  So, here's what we are 
going to do:

First, check your mailing label.  If it says "<*Last Issue!*>" 
this was your last issue of GS+ Magazine, so you've gotten all 
the issues you've paid for.  (You can skip to the last paragraph 
if you want.) Otherwise, your label will have a dollar amount 
and a volume & issue number on it.  (It will look something like 
this:  "$30.00/V7.N6".)  This tells you how much credit you have 
in your account as well as when your subscription would have 
expired.

To translate this last issue figure into an actual number of 
issues that you had coming to you, use the following table:
V7.N2 = 1 issue, 
V7.N3 = 2 issues, 
V7.N4 = 3 issues, 
V7.N5 = 4 issues, 
V7.N6 = 5 issues, 
V8.N1 = 6 issues,
V8.N2 = 7 issues, 
V8.N3 = 8 issues, 
V8.N4 = 9 issues, 
V8.N5 = 10 issues, 
V8.N6 = 11 issues, 
V9.N1 = 12 issues.

[Note: since you are reading this online, you probably
don't have V7.N1 yet, so you can't look at your mailing
label to see how much credit you have.  Just give us 
a call at 615-332-2087 (please don't use the toll-free
line for this!) and we can tell you.]

After you figure out how many issues we owe you, you need to 
decide how you want to be repaid for those issues.  Here are 
the options we are making available at this time:

1)  Back issues.  You can take back issues for unmailed issues 
on a "1 for 1" basis.  So, if you have five issues remaining, 
you can take five back issues.  Just send us a list of the ones 
you want.  (We'll pay the shipping.  I'm not sure HOW we'll pay 
the shipping at this point, but we're going to try.  If you'd 
like to throw in a little money [$3 would be a good amount] to 
help us pay for shipping, I won't complain!)

2)  Out of print Back Issues.  If you have all of our available 
back issues, that first option might not appeal to you very much.  
So, for the first time ever, I'm making available disks containing 
the text of our sold-out back issues.  Like regular back issues, 
you can take these on a "1 for 1" basis.  So now you can have any 
GS+ Magazine back issue you want.  We'll also pay the shipping 
on these.  (Here again, if you want to help us out on the shipping,
I certainly won't pitch a fit!  And if you could send us some 
blank disks to copy the text onto, that would be GREAT! ;-} )

3)  Use the credit that's shown on your label.  If you don't just 
want back issues, you can use your credit towards the purchase of 
anything we sell.  That includes AutoArk, Addressed For Success, 
GS+ T-Shirts (please!), Balloon, or any of the third party products 
we sell.  You can also use your credit to pay for multiple products, 
or to pay for shipping.  You should figure shipping costs for the 
products you order as detailed in the ads in this issue.  If you 
don't have enough credit to cover everything you want to get, send 
us your Visa or MasterCard information, and we'll bill you for the 
difference.  You can also send us a check for the difference if you 
want, but it will be easier for us to bill an exact amount to a 
credit card.  By the way, if you want to use your credit to buy 
back issues, figure their cost using the costs shown on the back 
issue information page in this issue.  I realize it's more expensive 
that way, but it's just too much trouble for us to figure all the 
different costs involved.  (By the way, the special back issue offer 
detailed in the a.Read.Me file on the GS+ Disk is no longer valid.) 

Remember, we aren't going out of business!  We are just stopping 
publication of GS+ Magazine.  So, I intend to do everything in my 
power to keep your trust.  (In other words, you needn't worry about 
sending us your credit card info.)

This also means that we are retaining the copyrights to all of our 
programs and all of the back issues of GS+ Magazine.  So please, 
if you know someone that wants copies, don't make copies for them, 
just send them our way.

Special Notes
If you are a magazine and disk subscriber, you'll get magazines and 
disks.  If you are a magazine only subscriber, you'll just get 
magazines.  When a paper version of a back issue is gone, we'll switch 
to the disk-based text version.  If we don't have the T-shirt size you 
request, we'll substitute the next largest size.  If you use your credit 
to order some of the third-party products that we sell, be sure to list 
alternate products that you want, just in case we are sold out of 
something and we can't get more!  (In fact, be sure to list lots 
of alternate products!)  Also, be sure to include a phone number 
(and the best time to call), or e-mail address that we can reach 
you at .

Expiration Date
Since we will probably have to move out of our offices soon (I 
plan on taking EGO Systems back into my basement.), we need to 
get all of these back issues out of here as soon as possible.  
So, this offer expires on October 31, 1995.  After that, I'll 
assume that you've taken pity on me and you've decided to let 
me keep your money.  (Not that I still have it . . .)  Frankly 
however, I'd much rather get rid of all these back issues!  
Otherwise, they'll be going to the recycling plant on December 31!

Finally, over the next several weeks I'm going to attempt to 
sell off quite a bit of our office and computer equipment.  
The production of GS+ Magazine was the main thing that we used 
it all for, so we really don't need a lot of it any longer.  
So, if you are looking for a particular piece of hardware or 
software, call me.  The only catch is that I'll ask you to 
pay the shipping.

The Phones
As I said earlier, EGO Systems is very cash poor at this moment.  
However, I'm hopeful that this won't be the case forever, so the 
1-800 number is still in service.  Until then however, I'd like 
to ask that you not use the 1-800 number for calling to request 
your back issues or credit purchases.  Instead, call us at 
615-332-2087, or FAX your order to us at 615-332-2634.  
Better still, if you can, please e-mail your orders to me 
at GSPlusDiz@aol.com.  (Don't bother sending e-mail to my old 
Delphi account, I had to cancel it in a last ditch attempt 
to cut costs.  It didn't work.)

The End
Well, that's it then.  It's been a hard, but enjoyable six years.  
There were times that I truly thought that it would last forever, 
but there were far more times that I just wanted to curl up in a 
little ball and cry.

GS+ Magazine has always felt like my "baby."  But it certainly 
couldn't have been delivered by me alone.  So, I need to thank 
the following people for helping me to make GS+ Magazine a 
reality through the years

First I need to thank my mom.  She loaned me the money I needed 
to get this whole thing going.  (And some day I might even pay 
her back!)

Even though they weren't around long, Susan Thoeming, Wilma 
Tucker, Michelle Davidson and Bill Moore all deserve recognition 
for putting up with me for as long as they did.

Michelle Ribaric deserves a huge thanks for getting GS+ Magazine 
on schedule and keeping it there.

Thanks to Robert "Bob" Ribaric for making the workplace more fun 
and for doing all the tiny little crap jobs I could throw at him.  
He never complained and always had a smile and a cheese joke for 
us when the day started.

I've always thought of myself as the "Idea Man," but the truth is 
that Joe Wankerl had some great ideas himself.  It would be a lie 
if I were to tell you that I could have done GS+ Magazine without 
him.  He always met his deadlines and he never wrote a bad program.  
In fact, I'd say that Joe's the best programmer that's ever touched 
an Apple II keyboard, bar none.  Whatever platform he ends up on will 
be damn lucky to have him.  Thanks for all your help Joe.

That brings me to Nory . . .  People, if it weren't for this marvelous 
woman, there never would have even been a GS+ Magazine.  When I wanted 
to start this magazine, she was there with all the support any man could 
ever hope for.  She helped with editing, layouts, testing, accounting . .
. 
you name it, she did it.  And, she never took a dime for any of the work 
she did.  She's been with GS+ Magazine from the beginning, and without her

help and support, the end would have come much, much sooner.  

I love you Nory!

Finally, of course, I have to thank all of you.  From our first customer 
(Mark DePeo Jr.), to our last, you guys have stood by GS+ Magazine through

bad times and worse times.  You gave us your monetary and emotional
support 
and we couldn't have done it without you.

Thanks, and farewell.

Diz
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---End Press Release

-30-
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Steven W. Disbrow
Publisher of AutoArk, Addressed For Success & Balloon
Former publisher of GS+ Magazine :-(