From: poehland%phvax.dnet@SMITHKLINE.COM
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: ATARI CLASSICS: IT'S ALIVE !!
Date: 3 Sep 92 05:28:24 GMT

--------============>>>>  A T A R I   C L A S S I C S   <<<<============-------

-----=====>>   A  New  Magazine  for  the  8-Bit  Enthusiast !!!   <<=====-----


                     Greetings Fellow Atari 8-Bit Users!

     My name is Ben Poehland, and I'm pleased to announce that I shall be
serving as Managing Editor of Atari Classics (AC), a new magazine exclusively
devoted to the Atari 8bit user.  If you are among the thousands who have
bemoaned the recent loss of nationally distributed magazines that once sup-
ported your beloved 8-bit, I'm here to add a ray of hope to your 8bit future!

     The philosophical orientation of AC- incorporated in its Manifest- is
to be a magazine "of, by , and for the Atari 8bit user".  Unlike previous
8bit periodicals, the content of AC will directly reflect the expressed
desires of the user community, especially as recorded during the Mail-In
Campaign conducted January 15- May 2, 1992.  The magazine will be staffed by
members of the user community, and its content will be drawn entirely from
the user community.

     Unicorn Publications, already well-known for its outstanding Atari
Interface Magazine (which covers both the ST and 8bit markets), has agreed
to provide publishing services for AC.  AC and AIM will be essentially
independent publications, and the addition of AC to Unicorn's stable of
products will not affect AIM's present subscribers.  One of the many unique
arrangements concerning AC is that its actual day-to-day operation will
be largely in the hands of the user community rather than the publisher.
Whatever "flavor" we decide to give it will be entirely our own.

     Atari Classics represents a unique experiment in the history of the Home
Computer Revolution that began in the mid '70s.  With Atari Corp.'s cessation
of support for all 8bit products beginning January 1992, an entire
class of machines with a global installed user base numbering in the hundreds
of thousands was abandoned along with the community of users who still use
them.  But for the first time, a rejected user community has marshalled its
resources and declared its right to exist independent of Corporate America.
We respond to Atari's challenge in a way that would make our forefathers proud:
by rolling up our shirtsleeves and doing the job ourselves!

     This will be YOUR magazine.  AC will succeed- or fail- on the number of
subscription orders it receives.  Although seed money to print the Premier
Issue has been provided, the magazine will need 500 paid subscriptions to
succeed.  A limited production run of 800 issues is scheduled for October or
November 1992.  Most of these will be distributed- FREE OF CHARGE- to the
roughly 600 people who sent in commitment cards during the Mail Campaign.

                That's right: if you sent in your card,

  YOU WILL GET TO READ THE FIRST ISSUE FOR FREE BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BUY.

          (When was the last time you saw a deal like THAT???)

     Of course, there were some folks who got missed in the Mail Campaign.
So we ordered up those few extra copies which will also be distributed for
free.  First come, first serve, please don't block the stampede!  You can write
to:
                  Atari Classics
                  179 Sproul Rd./Rt. 352
                  Frazer, PA  19355   USA
            ATTN: B. Poehland, Managing Editor

to have your name added to the list for a free copy of the Premier Issue.
(No guarantees, and be sure to include your postal mailing address!)
If you sent in your Campaign card it will NOT be necessary to request your
free trial issue, as your name is ALREADY among the LUCKY 600!

     The basic subscription fee is $25/year in the USA, with higher fees for
Canadian and other non-US subscriptions.  Full details on subscriptions will
appear in the Premier Issue and in future announcements.  Beginning in 1993
the magazine will be distributed bimonthly (6 issues/year).

     A software disk bearing programs published in AC plus selected offerings
from the Public Domain, will be available separately for $9/year in the USA.
The disk will be distributed independently but will be timed to appear with
every other issue of the magazine (3 disks/year).  Full details on disk
subscriptions will also appear in the Premier Issue and in future
announcements.

     The content of Atari Classics will initially lean toward user
applications, hardware tutorials and modifications, programming, and soft-
ware reviews.  We plan to agressively recruit paid commercial advertising
from scarce 8bit vendors, and to publish periodic lists of current 8bit
supply sources.

     Best of all, PAID subscribers will be able to place FREE ads in AC
to buy, sell or trade their personal 8bit treasures!  (But of course, yah
gotta SUBSCRIBE first!)

     And, we'll have a whole bunch of other stuff, contributed by some of
the most talented writers and hackers in the Atari 8-bit world, authors
whose names you've seen gracing the pages of ANTIC, ANALOG, Current Notes,
and Atari Interface Magazine.  (You'll notice not very many details there-
we wanna pique your imagination!)

     As of this announcement (August 5, 1992) only a few of the Staff
positions at AC have been filled.  We are starting completely from scratch,
but anticipate most of the administrative machinery for operating the
magazine will be in place by the end of August and production begun on our
Premier Issue.  (We'll need a month to get used to working with each other
in an environment of near-total chaos!)

     And when you see that first issue appear in your mailbox this autumn,

       IT WILL BE YOUR TURN TO DECIDE THE FUTURE OF YOUR MACHINE !!

Please post/copy/distribute this announcement freely, and stay tuned for
future announcements !!!
                                                                            
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