Lots of long-threatened changes are taking place behind the scenes at ETS!, culminating in some big ones next month, when we take the leap into the world of newsprint and advertising (the latter hopefully providing the regular cash flow to sustain the former). Our target for the switch is the June 9 issue, although with the usual snafus that come with major changes, and an all-volunteer staff that takes summer vacations, we reserve the right to fudge.

What it all means is: we will have more column inches each week, with an eight-page tabloid format, and roughly double our current free circulation. We'll be easier to find in our current distribution points and be able to add routes in parts of the city and metro area we've never had the copies to get to. We'll have a couple of new regular columns and the freedom to run a greater variety of stories and voices. (Even positive ones!) More letters, bigger calendar, maybe even more history. We will probably take the calendar and history out of the e-mail version so as to keep it to a manageable file size.

We envision three different types of ads: display ads, directory listings for progressive businesses or organizations, and flyer inserts for local events (which we've already started doing, as you may have noticed). It's all real affordable, reaches a highly motivated audience, etc., etc. It's also important to note that the ads are only a part of the revenue that ETS! needs each week in order to keep publishing; we'll still depend on donations and subscriptions, too. We're keeping subscription prices the same.

We've managed 87 weekly issues in a row now strictly on folks' generosity, and we can't convey our thanks enough. But our pattern has been to get by on a steady stream of those donations plus occasional very large donations; without the latter, which we feel we can't count on, we continue to lose money each week. The ad revenue will bridge that gap; we recognize that it changes the tone of ETS! a bit, but it also makes us more sustainable for the long haul. By increasing the circulation, it also makes us easier to find (a common complaint). And, it also makes us more a part of the community, by allowing groups and businesses that share our ideals a place at the, er, table.

Helping make this possible are several volunteers who've taken on significant new tasks. Valerie Jean will be coordinating ad sales; Sean Knight, as an actual Business Manager, has already transformed our records into something resembling bookkeeping; and Rob Wiley will help out with distribution coordination.

And this seems as good a time as any to recognize some of the other folks who have helped this amazing project continue to come out each week: Lance Scott, who has done layout on all but two of those 87 issues and can honestly be said to be far more indispensable than any of us editors and writers; John Reese, whose below-cost photocopying made the whole thing (kind of) affordable; Eddie Tews for amazing office and distribution assistance in every week when Robin Hitchcock is not playing somewhere on the West Coast; John Jonik, Ron and Emily Austin, Tom Tomorrow, Roberta Gregory, Donna Barr, Dana Schuerholz, and all the other folks who've contributed free graphic work; the dozen or so other Monday night regulars who help fold and stuff; another dozen or so who help out further with distribution (this is why we list 'em in the Tiny Print!); and a couple dozen other regular writers, letter-writers and tipsters who've done the most to help us keep it interesting each week. Thanks!

Usually such lists only get printed when a publication is about to fold. We thought it'd be nice to do it while ETS! is healthy and expanding!

Other kitchen notes: we've recently switched to bulk mail (yes, from Bellevue) for our subscribers, and reports have been mixed. The postals say it should be delivered locally in two days, which means each Thursday, and later for you out of town folks. If you've been having problems or getting your copy late, please let us know so that we can shift into our familiar complaint mode: "outrage with documentation."

We had several responses to Maria's mention a couple weeks back of our need for writers for a "Local Heroes" column. We're also looking for someone to write a regular--even once a month--labor column; preferably someone well plugged-in to the local labor activist scene. Call us! Or contact us if you're interested in doing any kind of writing in general, would like writers' guidelines, etc.

Now, then: to advertise in our swell publication, write or e-mail or call us; our voice mail is 206-215-1156 and (barring more cases of editors suffering strokes) we really will call you back. Or, send us your donation or subscribe or renew early; we'll need the money to get this newsprint thang up and running. And if it works--and we think it will--it'll be a whole new level of visibility for radical journalism and opinion in Seattle.