Raising Steam...   by Ian Shires

There is a joy I take in analogy that just never gets old. So I am going to liken getting Self Publisher! back in action, to getting a restored steam train back on tracks and pulling cars again. It's not enough to just repaint, replace broken parts, or even just have it on the track. Getting a juggernaut out of the station requires a lot more than the machine itself. It requires fuel. Without fuel, there is no heat, no steam, nothing to make the pressure that drives the great arms to move the steel wheels. The fuel for SP! magazine comes from individual creators who have something to say and are willing to put themselves out there and try to be noticed. When a grand machine is pushing down the tracks with a full head of steam everyone stops to take notice. But driving every chug of that is a bit of fuel that made that possible. Without a strong supply of fuel, there is no trip to take. To that end, I am turning on another aspect of SP! Magazine this week, the NEWS. I have gotten a simple form up for people to quickly and easily submit news releases, and we'll be doing a bit more adjustment to the SP! Homepage to continue to get it where we want it to be in presenting new info as visually pleasingly as we can. You'll note if you go look, a number of reviews were posted since last Kick Start...so that fuel is starting to come in...the beast is starting to hiss, we're raising the steam.

But there is one more aspect to running a great steam engine across the tracks, dragging it's full cars of people along for the ride. You know, people will travel great distances to simply ride on a great old, running, steam train. And it really is worth it if you've never done it, to get out there, ride, see the countryside like you really cannot from a car. That majestic machine that is chugging along, it is more than a train. It is hundreds of hours of maintenance, love, and know-how. For the machine does not run itself. It needs people. And not just one person...it takes a number of people that care about every aspect of the trip. The guy running the engine cant check the tickets, and serve the drinks, and get on the intercom to tell the fabulous stories about the history of the vehicle. It takes teamwork, and SP! Magazine, to grow into a real force that makes an impact for the people who need the publicity it can provide, is no different. I know cause I have run it myself in the past, and I have had people run it for me when I could not direct enough attention to it to run it myself. But one thing we have never really accomplished with it, is a solid staff all pulling together at the same time. It is like having a big hole in the tank letting the steam escape, you can get a few great chugs out of the beast, but, that trip is not going to happen. So I am also, BESIDES calling out for people to start sending news, looking for some people interested in writing articles, writing reviews, joining in with the SP! Monster and seeing what needs done, and helping get it done, so that it really works for everyone. And we can take it up and down the tracks for decades to come, bringing new people and return guests, the service they deserve. Because it's not just another news/reviews zine. It's Self Publisher! Magazine - started in 1991, 20 years ago by a kid with a typewriter. Grown, and honed, and developed over time by dozens of great self publishing minds. On the tracks again, getting fueled up, and raising steam.

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