Welcome to another issue of PLN . If you read these editorials often, you've no doubt noticed that we usually mention that PLN is entirely reader supported and we need donations from you. Somehow you always manage to send "just enough." And we manage to make ends meet. Lately, though, money has gotten real tight out here in PLN Land. We've always said that we need your financial support to continue publishing ... but the "continue publishing" thing has been more hyperbole than fact. This time it's not.

As I write this editorial, our staff person is doing the layout on the November issue. She'll mail the rough draft to Paul and I. We'll hunt for typos and make the final corrections and send it back to her to run off the proof copy. That proof is sent to the printer, along with the thousand dollars or so it takes to cover the printing bill.

As I write this December editorial, I can't help but wonder how PLN is going to scrape up the money to print and mail the November issue. We've never cut it this close to the bone before. We've never had to wonder how we were going to pay for next month's issue. But that's how tight things are.

Well, you might wonder, how in the heck did we get ourselves in such a tight fix? I'll spare you the sordid details. Suffice it to say that circumstances beyond our control derailed our fundraising operations. But, on the up side, the future doesn't look nearly as gloomy as the present. We're putting the train back on the track, and we can definitely see how things are going to turn around. It's going to take a few months to turn the corner, though, and they may prove to be the leanest months PLN has ever faced.

So this month, when I say: " PLN is reader supported and we rely on your donations to continue publishing .... it's not just hyperbole. It's grim reality. So, for now ... for this month, I implore you: dig down into the cookie jar and kick a few crumbs on down PLN 's way. If your subscription does not expire until March or July, don't wait. Go ahead and send us the money to extend it for another year.

On the brighter side, I'd like to tell you about one of the projects we have in the works. PLN is writing a book. Yep, that's right. Paul and I are working with an editor in Boulder, Colorado, who is slaving away on the manuscript even as I write this. He's been working on it for a month or two, and what began as nothing more than an idea and a formless collection of PLN articles is slowly being roughed into shape. A chapter outline is taking form, and you know what? A pretty darn fine looking book is beginning to emerge.

A couple of publishers have expressed an interest. We plan to have a rough draft of the manuscript finished by the time you read this. If the book sells moderately well, and I think it will, the income it generates will help put a healthy flush back into PLN 's bank account. Most of the book's proceeds will go directly to PLN .

We're excited about the book. It will mark a milestone in PLN 's evolution. We'll keep you posted as the project develops. Of course, when the book goes to press Paul and I will shamelessly promote it here in the pages of PLN . Would you expect any less?

For those of you who care about such things, we at PLN wish you a happy holiday. Can I go out on a limb here and say: May the coming year be better than this one? Since 1996 witnessed the passage of the PLRA, the "Effective Death Penalty" bill, Lewis v. Casey ; not to mention welfare reform and having to endure the quadrennial presidential election circus .... How could 1997 possibly not be better?

Pass this issue of PLN along to a friend. Fill out the subscription card with the name and address of somebody you know, somebody who could benefit from receiving the news and information only PLN provides, mail in the card along with the required donation, and they'll thank you all year long. And so will we.

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