Okay, Fella, easy there! I came on a little strong, and in the calm light of day, I regret it, and therefor apologize.
<br>My point is, Rick seems like a kind, easy going, tolerant person. Being in publishing myself, as an owner, I can imagine only too well the tribulations a small operation faces. In fact, I don't have to imagine. My publications are also 'niche' pubs, and like Rick, I enjoy, value and must work assiduously to preserve a long-term relationship with a low-turnover readership to which I am known by name. One difficult situation is when a reader, who by definition is a treasured one, forgets or fails to understand that a publication costs money to produce, and that, even when the pub is practically non-profit, such costs must still be covered by the paying ads of for-profit businesses that wish to sell their wares to the pub's readers.
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<br>I'm a little protective of Rick, even though I don't know him personally, because I believe you have put him in an awkward position - - albeit accidentally... no publisher/editor wants to 'take issue' head-to-head with a reader, yet for ineluctable business reasons, a line must be drawn *somewhere* or eventually the suppliers will padlock the press for unpaid bills.
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<br>Certainly, that line is Rick's to draw and to gently or firmly defend, but, wouldn't you agree, a pretty handy place to put that line is between "for profit" and "not-for-profit" concerns?
<br>By 'graduating' to a for-profit business plan, you have moved up into the world where one of your costs should properly be the 'cost of marketing'
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<br>Even where the advertised product is known to be one that is desirable (it is to be hoped that most advertised products are desirable) and even where the seller's profit is expected to be small, business is still business. If a product can't be sold for enough money to make it commercially feasible to produce *and promote* then it should and ultimately will join the thousands of potentially 'cool' products which go un-produced for the simple reason that today's marketplace won't support them.
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<br>The sole exception to this rule is and should be products of such great benefit to the pub's readership that the editor deems them worthy of subsidy, for the good of the readership. Rick seems to feel this way about your halyard ring. But it would be more polite to ask him first. The proper way to do this, and we receive such letters and emails daily, begins "Dear Editor, I believe I have a product which will be of interest to your readership…"
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<br>For the record, I once came awfully close to having to tip my cat over on the beach, after a first sail with a new main, which jammed up in the slot and wouldn't permit me to lift the ring even so much as a millimeter or two to unhook. Eventually it slipped upwards just enough, but, ya know what? I could have tipped her over, unhooked, and righted her in less time than I spend tugging away. Would I like an extra line flapping away up my mast just in case this happened again? I’m sure somebody would, out there - - I hope you find them and make each other happy - - just don't forget Rick in all your success!
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<br>And please, don't confuse how badly you *want* a new sail with how you believe you *deserve* free advertising. The one doesn't follow on the other.
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<br>Rick's decision was predicated on the probability his readers might benefit, and I admire his selflessness.
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<br>Sail Fast!<br><br>