We're putting this special editors' note on the front page because, after years in which the volunteers who produce ETS! have contented ourselves with cranking out the paper, we're getting a little--OK, a lot--more organized about the rest of the stuff that goes with it. So we wanted to explain what's been going on.

In 1999, after three years of coming out every week, we pulled back to publishing every other week--partly to save money, partly to give us volunteers some of our weekends back. And for the last two years, along with fewer issues, we've been unable to find someone willing to put consistent energy into recruiting and overseeing our volunteer distributors--in other words, making sure people could find the paper.

As a result, while our web site--despite its own problems last year--is thriving (between 100,000 and 150,000 requests per month this year, from all over the world!), far too many people in Seattle, after all these years, aren't familiar with ETS! or rarely see it. But that's changing; we're focusing now on improving the non-political part of putting out a newspaper.

Earlier this year, we (finally!) incorporated. For the last month, I've taken on the task of systematically resurrecting our distribution system, with immediate and remarkable results (thanks to new distributors Dale, Morgan, Brian, Bruce, Ellen, and Joe!). Last issue, from a low of 2,500 copies, we were up to 3,500 copies printed, and they're almost all gone. We want to shortly be printing 5,000 copies each issue, which will help our visibility a lot. I have no doubt we could find places to distribute, and people to read, 10,000 copies each issue, if we had the money and volunteers.

Maria, Troy, and I were in San Francisco last weekend at the alternative media conference organized by Project Censored. We came away with many impressions, but the most obvious of them was that ETS! is pretty unique. Not only was there nothing else like it in evidence, but nobody we talked with knew of anything else like it. And that's just the paper--we also have the web site and the Saturday morning show on KEXP (nee KCMU). Moreover, my columns in the Seattle Weekly and regular appearances in Alternet, In These Times, Working Assets, and other national outlets are all as a direct consequence of ETS!. That remarkable combination gives us something else in rare evidence last weekend: an alternative media outlet in a large city that has a real impact on the politics of that city.

We're proud of our content, but we want to--must--make it more consistently visible. We're getting there; distribution is improving, and we just got a major new commitment of support from faithful advertiser Essential Baking. (THANK YOU!!--and many thanks as well to other long time advertisers like Hot Mama's, Catalytic Communications, and the Asteroid Cafe.) But ETS! is a community effort; we rely on our writers, our readers, our subscribers, our donors, and especially our volunteers.

Beyond increasing the print run, we also have the vexing problem of too many things to cover, too many articles and letters we get that we don't have room for. Possible solutions: expanding our web content, linking to other alternative Internet news sources, expanding our pages, even going back to weekly publication.

We're strongly committed to--if possible--getting that material into print, not just cyberspace. And increasing papers and/or pages requires money. A 5,000 copy print run is an extra $100 per issue; each extra four pages in an issue at 5,000 copies costs $250; every extra eight page, 5,000 copy issue we print would cost an additional $500. If we get truly ambitious and throw together a business plan, we think there's room for an additional weekly paper in Seattle that reports seriously, and with attitude, on local, national, and global politics.

Here's what we need to get it done:

1) Volunteers! Ad sellers get a 20% commission--about the only folks we pay for helping out--and the satisfaction of helping keep us alive and thriving. Call (206-903-9461) or e-mail (ets@scn.org) for rates. Do you know of a local business or non-profit that might be interested in supporting ETS!, either by carrying it, or by advertising, or both? We also need distributors (Eastside, Queen Anne, Ravenna, Shoreline/South Snohomish), a fill-in co-editor for when Troy Skeels takes his inevitable lengthy Mexico trips, and a backup layout person (e-mail Lance Scott at lanscot@aol.com if you're interested in layout; call or e-mail ets@scn.org for the rest). Our monthly business/editorial meetings, open to all, are on the second Wednesday of each month. Or just call or write if you'd like to help.

2) Money! Beyond ads, we'd also like suggestions for possible grants or major donors, or, of course, send us a donation of your own. We don't want to keep asking our faithful, long-time readers to keep whipping out your checkbooks (though it's always appreciated), but expanding our readership, and having people help out who've appreciated the free paper but never pitched in, are priorities for us.

That's the gist of it. Sorry for the length, but we wanted to explain what we're doing--it's your paper, too. With your help, we can and will do a much better job of getting it out into our community. Thanks.