this is a message from punk planet publisher dan sinker, whose office is about 20 feet from mine.

we're trying to figure out what we can do to help them get out of the debt created by the situation the magazine has been put into. please read:

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Hey there,

Last Thursday we received some distressing news--the kind of news that made our very bones ache when we heard it; the kind of news that felt so significant we simply couldn't function after it sank in.

With a few days time and the ability to process it, we decided it's news worth sharing: It was a letter from the president of the Independent Press Association, the not-for-profit organization that owns the company that distributes the majority of Punk Planet's copies, BigTop Newsstand Services. The letter acknowledged the truth of a rumor that had been running through indie publishing circles for months now: the distributor was having cash flow problems. Payments to publishers for magazines already distributed had been and would continue to be effected for an unknown amount of time. In case you don't operate a magazine, the money coming in from newsstand sales is vital to publishers' bottom line. For a magazine like Punk Planet, where our ad rates remain very low to cater to independent businesses, those distributor payments are even more critical.

This news leaves us in a tight spot: BigTop is the last distributor in the country that specializes in distributing independent press magazines like Punk Planet. When we started 12 years ago, there were close to a half dozen such distributors; each one that has gone belly up dragged a few magazines with it. Because BigTop is owned by the IPA, an organization whose mission is to "amplify" the voice of the independent press, we don't expect that they will go out of business; but we also don't know when we will see the money we are owed.

What does this mean for the future of Punk Planet? The truth is we don't yet know.

But we do know there are things you can do that will help us in both the short term and the long term.

1. Please consider subscribing (or resubscribing) and purchasing some merchandise from our webstore today. (http://www.ppmerchtable.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv) If you have a product, idea, or event to advertise, purchase an ad. (http://www.punkplanet.com/pages/mag...dvertising.html)

An immediate influx of cash will allow us to pay off back debts--to contributors, printers, web hosts, etc--and better enable us to weather any coming storm caused by nonpayment from our distributor. Our annual end-of year subscription sale is just starting now—get a whole year for only $18, or really help us out and buy a couple of them! http://www.ppmerchtable.com/Merchan...Category_Code=S

2. Please forward this information--or this whole email--on to your lists and friends, and specifically ask them to subscribe or buy merchandise from us.

In addition to a two-year subscription for only $30, you can pick up any of our amazing books—Joe Meno's HAIRSTYLES OF THE DAMNED, Bee Lavender's LESSONS IN TAXIDERMY, Mark Anderson's ALL THE POWER, or Jay Ryan's brand-new 100 POSTERS 134 SQUIRRELS now available for pre-order! We've also got Punk Planet T-shirts, underpants, and the awesomely cool PPAP: Punk Planet Artists' Prints wearable art series. (http://www.ppmerchtable.com/Merchan...Store_Code=PPMT)

3. Consider donating to the Community Supported Journalism Fund. It's a small-fund donations program, made up almost exclusively of donations of less than $20, but it's already allowed us to bring you the amazing END OF RADIO cover story of PP69: four full articles on different aspects of radio creation and tons of teeny interviews with audio experts: (http://www.independentsdaymedia.com/csj/). It wouldn't have been possible without your support!

4. Please continue to support independent print media. The payment issues effecting us are not singular--there are others in the same predicament that need your support as well.

Thanks so much,

Dan Sinker

By the way, if you are not familiar with Punk Planet, please become so. This is one of the last bastions of decent publication left for the independent community. I have been consistently impressed by the level of writing and journalism that exists in this zine-on-BGH. I will freak out if they get sucked under the bus in this fray...off to the online store for me. And for the record, I'm not affiliated other than having been a subscriber and back-issue purchaser for some time.

What he said.

This is distressing news - Punk Planet has been a rare source for independent research and local/world news journalism, beyond its great music coverage and interviews. It's really the best magazine of its kind I've ever found.

I'll be posting this elsewhere, and definitely giving some dough.

thanks guys, you are RAD.

Spudboy wrote:By the way, if you are not familiar with Punk Planet, please become so. This is one of the last bastions of decent publication left for the independent community.

This seems true. Though in Canada we have the free monthly, Exclaim magazine (which is definitely less 'punk' and less political and/or journalistic). But, is there something similar in the States?

Regardless, if I lived in the States I'd likely subscribe. As it is, the least I can do is bump this thread.

I bought the book We Owe You Nothing for a friend a couple of Christmas' ago. After peeking inside, I decided to avoid her for a whole day so that I could read it (she still got her present by Christmas). It's really tough to find alot of those artists interviewed ANYWHERE. Great book! I think I will buy it for myself now!

That's a good price for a subscription since back when I was subscribing they raised the price too high for me and I had to quit. They've had some great interviews since the book, ones that I wish were much longer however. This is weird though since the publication is in the big chain stores so I thought it was surviving very well.

Bad Bad news.

....But I did just pick up a copy of Mr. Ryans Art book and whole mess of interviews from some crazy rock n rollers!

I wish PP and Dan the best. I had a rare opportunity (being outside Chicago) to meet Mr. Sinker at the EMP Pop Conference 2004.. he was extremely nice and helpful, regarding my questions about getting started in print, and he was the only one who went on the rides behind the EMP... "Why isn't anyone else riding these bumper cars or the water ride in between panels at the conference? These are awesome!".. Very youthful in a good way.