In the last few months, we have given quite a few people the chance to try Archive out, and the result has been a huge increase in the numbers of subscribers (>30%). However, several people took the trouble to write back and say that Archive was "over their heads" or some such.
Now, given that only a very small proportion of those who didn't subscribe actually took the time and trouble to write in and say why, there must be hundreds of people out there who would subscribe to Archive if they felt it was more learner-friendly.
My feeling is that, if we had more beginners' (or, perhaps better, learners') articles, it would allow people to feel that at least they could start on the bottom rung of the ladder. Then, in the course of time, they would be able to understand some of the articles that, at the moment, are beyond their understanding.
The corollary is that if they then know more about their computers, they will make better use of them and so they will be better Acorn-evangelists - which is of benefit to all of us.
How are we going to achieve this? Well, with your help, we can do it, but I want to stress that it does very much depend on you, the readers, playing your part. For example, Ray Favre, by restarting the Beginners' Column is helping, but what he needs is for people to provide him with feedback. Ask him about things you don't understand. Tell him which bits you found difficult when you got started. Send him some simple 'hints and tips' that he can include in his Column.
But I'm talking about a much bigger strategy than that.
What I would like to do is to get a number of different people to write learners articles about different subjects. But don't panic - all this new material isn't going to squeeze out the other articles that you know and love. As long as people go on writing technical articles, I'll go on publishing them.
The thing is that because the subscription base is on the increase, I think I can almost justify putting more pages in Archive some months. (What am I saying?) I would not increase the subscription cost - certainly not immediately, even though the price has been constant for almost two years now. The idea would then be that the extra subscriptions would pay for the extra printing and mailing costs. Well, that's the theory anyway!
As I say, I'm going to need more articles, especially more learners articles. Now I know that they are the most difficult articles to write, but I also know that there are some excellent writers who have contributed to Archive in the past and who could do so again - and maybe there are others who would like to have a go.
Mind you, I would be a hard task-master if you were trying to make ideas understandable for learners. I would throw articles back, with suggestions for improvement, to make sure they were as learner-friendly as possible.
But then again, those authors who do contribute need feedback - encouragement and suggestions - so that's the second way you can help.
Thirdly, if Archive develops a broader appeal, there will be more people out there who could benefit from it if they only knew it existed. No disrespect to Acorn User and Archimedes World, but advertising Archive in those magazines hasn't been exactly fruitful, not when you consider the page rate, and Risc User, not surprisingly, refuse to accept adverts for Archive, so I can only advertise NCS there.
So, can you find those new subscribers for us? Do you know people who use Acorn machines but who wouldn't feel up to reading Archive as it stands? If so, can you either (a) recruit them (!) or (b) get them to tell you what they would like to read about. What would encourage them to subscribe?
One thing which I think might attract potential subscribers is the Archive Glossary. At the moment, this consists of 20,000+ words of explanation of computing terms, many of which are Acorn-specific. It is divided into two parts, the original general part and the newer section of internet-related terms. As I mentioned last month, this really needs bringing up-to-date. For example, it hasn't got a definition of a "network computer"! Now the only way this will, realistically, get updated is if you either send in definitions for missing words or point out to us things which you wanted to know about but for which there was no entry. If you want to do some work on it for us, there's a copy on the Archive CD - a snip at £12, or £8 if you've already got either of the '95 or '96 CDs.
When we have improved the glossary, we can use it as an incentive to potential new subscribers. "Subscribe for just £25 and get a free X,000 word glossary of computing and internet terms."
I know I say this a lot, but thanks for everyone's support of Archive. With your continued support, I can see us going on from strength to strength as we enter our eleventh year!