Nearing retirement, Mike Quinlan reflects on his 26 years of editing and publishing newsletters.

"I found my home, and it was newsletter publishing." This is how Michael Quinlan reflected on his 26-year career as president of Quinlan Publishing Group in Boston. As he currently passes leadership of QPG to Dennis Hofmaier (formerly of Oakstone Publishing), Mike will assume a much less active role.

"I'll write four newsletters, work out of my house, and try to spend more time with family, friends, golf, and continue hoping the Sox can get over the curse of the Babe," Quinlan said.

"This is a family-owned business, like many others in NEPA, and we grew up stuffing envelopes, folding letters, and even running a linotype machine.

"We are very excited about Dennis taking command. He comes with great credentials and a sustained track record of success. Already well-known in the industry, Dennis inherits a terrific staff and fine products that have survived many, many recessions, database crashes, and other such dilemmas that sometimes makes this a business 'not for sissies,'" Quinlan said.

Their roots

The Quinlan family publishing roots go back to the Great Depression when Mike's grandfather produced yearbooks for associations for which he handled ad sales and production. Mike's father, a beginning lawyer, earned some extra cash helping out in that business.

Then in 1952, while in New York City on business, the elder Quinlan got a call from a friend who was running a seminar for local government officials and had lost a speaker. "Do you know enough about land use to fill in?" As a favor he boned up in the law library and made the talk.

When afterwards several people told him he should publish a report on the subject, the lightbulb flashed. "I know a little bit about publishing," he thought.

So a newsletter on the subject was born, published monthly in a 6X9 format and priced at $10 per year.

Zoning Bulletin is still being published by Quinlan, a biweekly now priced at $92 per year.

"One major achievement of the Eisenhower administration was the creation of the interstate highway system," Mike Quinlan said, "but what that led to was lots of litigation over eminent domain actions and the launch of Eminent Domain, Quinlan's second title." Other newsletters followed over the years.

Mike Quinlan joins the company

But Mike Quinlan didn't go directly into the family firm. After college and Navy service, he worked in Providence for Merrill Lynch while attending law school. His brother called and said he wanted to leave for another venture. Mike returned to his native Boston in 1978 to take over the business.

"It was a small business, no debt, and a very solid base," he said. "Five or six titles, maybe $300,000 in annual revenues. We had five employees, and we still hand-typed the renewal notices, printed the newsletters and did our own direct mail.

"But we had great products with outstanding renewal rates. It was a good place for me to begin. I was 33 years old and had a lot of ideas," Quinlan said.

"Everything I had done at Merrill Lynch was related to 'selling' and asking for the order. I put what I had learned there into all the marketing we did at Quinlan. At first I wrote most of the editorial copy myself and was also our only proofreader, but after a year or so I began contracting with freelancers to produce editorial.

"For about 15 years we did mostly that, but over the last ten years or so we've shifted to more in-house editorial. Today Quinlan produces more than 30 titles (most monthlies) with 50 employees.

"Over those 25 years we grew gradually until our revenues are substantially more. I've never had to borrow a dollar. Money came in the door and we sent it back out again in more direct mail," Quinlan said.

The technology

"But by far the biggest change in the newsletter business during my time has been in technology," Quinlan continued. "The information itself hasn't changed that much, but when I began here we used linotype and letterpress equipment and maintained each subscriber record on a 4x6-inch index card in pencil.

"Over the years I bought several pieces of used printing and mailing equipment, presses, folders, cutting machines, but now we have the latest desktop publishing facilities and use QuickFill for fulfillment, which has worked very well for us."

The people factor

"I have four employees who came to us right out of high school or the Army and are now in their 40s. They've been able to learn and adapt to change all along the way and have remained fiercely loyal throughout the years," Quinlan said. "I will especially miss the day-to-day interaction with our fine staff."

But even with a "fine staff," Quinlan said, "Newsletter publishing can be a lonely business. It was for me until I found the newsletter association (old NPA). I learned there were a lot of people just like me, people with the same day-to-day problems. They've been enormously sharing and helpful--people like Jim Marshall, Jim Muntz, Bob Jenkins, and many others who are direct competitors--very, very fine people.

"This can be a difficult business, and it has been a great help to be able to bounce a problem off a colleague who says, 'Hey, that happened to us. Here's what we did....'"

The Quinlan philosophy

Quinlan concluded our interview with this statement: "My philosophy of business has always been this--for one to do 'well in business,' one must do 'good in business.' We try to take care of our customers, our vendors, and our employees, and in the end our shareholders will also do well. That culture always comes from the top. A little luck does not hurt, either."

22 Drydock Ave., Boston, MA 02210, 617-542-0048, fax [phone], www.quinlan.com

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In recent years Quinlan has used forced-free trials heavily. "I was hesitant at first," Mike Quinlan explained.

"I didn't want to do anything that could be called 'deceptive.' But we give prominence to the disclaimers of 'no obligation' and 'this is not a bill.' That may depress response a bit, but it suits me.

"In any event, we've now used FFTs on just about all of our 30+ titles. They work well for some, but not others--with no pattern that I've been able to discern.," Quinlan said.