Hi Jody & Robbie,  I don't mind paying another fifteen dollars for the
Digest, but I do wonder if this will obligate you to provide the Digest on
a regular uninterrupted basis for the remainder of one year.  Will you be
making this sort of obligation for a paid subscription?

The rational for my question is not so much for me as it is for recent
members or new members.  If I were new to the MMD and you requested
(not demanded) a minimum recommended fee based on one year, I would like
to know for certain that if I paid the recommended amount that I would
receive the Digest for at least one year.  And if you decide (for whatever
reason) to stop publishing the MMD in March of 98 and I contributed $30
in November of 97, will I get a refund?  And at what percentage?

Things change... people change... Are there any guarantees?

I hope you get my drift.  I'm not balking at the request.  I think it's
worth $30/yr.  ($0.08219 cents per issue) That's less than a cup of
coffee, if I make it myself.

Musically,
John A. Tuttle

P.S.  The check's in the mail.... trust me..... :-)

 [ Editor's Note:
 [
 [ John, thanks in advance for the additional support!
 [
 [ We are unable to guarantee our publication schedule, or even
 [ that we will continue to publish.  To be sure, we have no intent to
 [ give this up "as soon as everyone pays"!  We're trying to further
 [ automate the Digest assembly and write a style guideline so that we
 [ might take on another editor or two.  In other words, we're trying to
 [ fix it so that the Digest can operate even when we can't.
 [
 [ You ask if there's guaranteed publication for your donation.  For the
 [ moment, unfortunately, the answer is "no."  That's why we emphasize
 [ that the donation is an expression of gratitude for Digests previously
 [ published.  We're getting closer to our goal, but until the processes
 [ of editing and subscriptions and e-mail management are better auto-
 [ mated, so that we can have additional people helping with production,
 [ we just can't guarantee anything yet.
 [
 [ The correspondence on this subject is generally heart-warming.  Many,
 [ many members comment that the Digest is enjoyed each morning with the
 [ first cup of coffee!  We think that we've found our little "niche
 [ market" in mechanical music, and we hope to continue MMD for a long
 [ time.  (Maybe, someday, with a guarantee!  ;)
 [
 [ Jody and Robbie