"Monthly" Update

Our new mailing address is:

Geoff Wilbur’s Renegade Newsletter

P.M.B. 350

1868 Forsythe Ave.

Monroe, LA  71201

That address is up and running and accepting mail for us already, even though I’m still in Rhode Island finishing my packing.  Anything already en route to the Johnston, RI address should arrive before I leave town, so if you update your mailing lists now, there shouldn’t be any lost mail.

But let me backtrack.  Two key items, then I’ll include the usual GWRN update information.

1) We’re moving!  As most of you know, GWRN is not my day job.  As a few of you know, I have been out of work.  As a result, for the past several months, I have devoted almost every free moment looking for work.  (I have placed my extensive job hunting links online at http://www.geocities.com/geoffwilbur.  Feel free to use them if you’re looking for a job or looking to change jobs.  The bulk of the links are for Rhode Island and Boston companies and to national job search sites, but I have links to a few websites in other areas, too.)  One result of my search has been a lack of attention to GWRN, which historically barely pays for itself and, therefore, did not justify taking time away from my job hunt.  Of course, once I started calling out-of-region contacts (most of my “day job” contacts are away from the east coast), I found something quickly, but, for personal reasons, I initially tried to stay in the northeast.  I thought being out of work would allow me to spend some time getting caught up on GWRN, but I quickly found resources to use that took 60+ hours a week to navigate, so GWRN suffered.

So, the good news is that, now that I’ll be settling into a regular day job again – and with a very short commute – I’ll again be able to devote my time regularly to GWRN.

2) I was planning to quickly get an Industry Edition and a Country Music Industry Edition out before the move.  I had a couple free days and all the material necessary to get the issues out; I just needed to spend 10 to 15 hours completing the layout.  So I turned on the old computer I used to publish GWRN… and I got error messages.  I scrambled to save material, and the computer died completely before I had finished.  The good news is that the mailing lists (including the subscriber list) and almost all of the artciles – all except those I wrote personally – are safe.  So I’ll just have to rewrite my reviews (or send the discs to my staff to review).  The bad news is that all of my formatting is gone.  I’ll have to learn a newer version of the software on my newer computer and recreate the formatting to print the next issues, so I can’t provide a schedule of when that will happen.  In order to get the issues out, I might use different software already installed on the new computer, so the “look” of Geoff Wilbur’s Renegade Newsletter may change a little.  If there are delays in getting the new software running, I’ll at least get an online edition out to bridge the gap.

Once I get settled in Monroe – my furniture won’t arrive until at least a week into September – I’ll start working hard on GWRN and may run issues at greater-than-normal frequency until we’ve caught up on our backlog of reviews.

I’d like to thank our subscribers and those of you who have submitted discs for review for your patience.  Please don’t send me requests about the status of your reviews.  I’ll be focusing on getting caught up and probably won’t be able to respond.

B) Standard, Every-Month Section

If you're new to a yahoogroups mailing list, try checking out the GWRN area at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gwrn -- there, you can read past monthly updates.  (If you are reading this on the geoffwilbur.com website, you should follow that link and sign up for the e-mail update.)  In the "Files" area, I've uploaded all the advertising rate and deadline information.  I've also put all pertinent Renegade website links in the links area.  And I have placed a few upcoming dates of interest on the calendar.  Your best sources of GWRN information, however, are at our official website (http://membrane.com/renegade) and at the GWRN information site I maintain (http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade).

As always, thanks again for reading our monthly mailing.  This monthly update ensures that, once a month, you'll always have the latest Geoff Wilbur's Renegade Newsletter information at your fingertips.  And if your e-mailbox is as full as mine, you'll be glad we only send the update once a month rather than more often.

C) Repeated From Last Update -- Please Read!

Disc Submission Forms:  We’ve put a section on our website about how to get reviewed -- http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade/reviewinfo.html.  When we update the official GWRN website (http://membrane.com/renegade) this summer, we’ll place this info on that website, too, and point you there.  We’ve place a review submission form on the website (http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade/reviewform.html) that will allow us to get reviews into the right people’s hands more efficiently, so please complete this form when sending a disc for review.  Obviously, signed bands get reviewed on the website, and this mailing list tells you when that’s been updated, so if you’re subscribed to the list (mailto:gwrn-subsribe@yahoogroups.com), then you’ll know when to look for reviews, but for unsigned/indie acts, this form is particularly important and helpful.

Promotion Idea:  Would your fans be interested in reading Geoff Wilbur’s Renegade Newsletter?  We can put together a web page for you (that will look similar to http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade/suboffer_sample.html but with your band’s name on it, of course), and we’ll also send you a Word file with a one-page form you can print out.  (If you reduce the form we send you to 50% at Kinko’s, you’ll be able to fit 4 on a page.)  Then, you can direct your fans to the web page and hand out the forms at shows and other events.  (Most effectively, you can collect cash from your fans at the show and send the forms and a check to me through the mail – you know how people can be interested at the moment, but by the next morning, they won’t fill out the form and send the check.)  If you have been reviewed or interviewed in a previous issue and if we still have copies of that issue in our files here, we will offer that issue as your fans’ “bonus” rather than the bonus shown in the sample.  Otherwise, we’ll do something similar to the “mailing list” offer I referred you to as a sample.

What do you get in exchange?  Well… we’ll offer you 50% ad credit – meaning, for every $10 subscription, we’ll give you $5 toward advertising in GWRN.  You can find ad rates for the Industry Edition at http://www.geoffwilbur.com/ie_adrates.html and for the Country Music Industry Edition at http://www.geoffwilbur.com/cmie_adrates.html.  Please zip me an e-mail if you’re interested, and we’ll get you up and rolling.

New Address:  As I mentioned above, we have moved again!  Our new mailing address is:

Geoff Wilbur’s Renegade Newsletter

P.M.B. 350

1868 Forsythe Ave.

Monroe, LA  71201

Anyway, thanks again for reading your monthly update.  As always, keep in touch.

We accept CDs and cassettes of all musical styles for review.  Please send one or two copies to the address at http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade/monthly_contact_info.html -- the shortcut listed in Section 7 above.  If  you are or represent an unsigned or independent band, please print out and include the review submission form on the website (http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade/reviewform.html) that will allow us to get copies of the reviews into the right people’s hands more efficiently.

We're always looking for more writers.  Writing positions at GWRN are unpaid, though the perks are great.  If you or a writer you know would like to cover your local music scene for Geoff Wilbur's Renegade Newsletter, please direct an inquiry to Geoff Wilbur at geoff@....

Thanks again for reading yet another monthly update.  As the months pass, watch for more improvements and additions.  Feel free to make suggestions.  And hey, go to http://www.geoffwilbur.com/renegade/subscribe.html, print out the form, and sign up to get yourself a subscription to your favorite edition.