Publishers looking forward to putting the year 2001 behind them.

Newsletter and specialized information publishers, winding up the worst year for many of them since the advent of the modern newsletter industry nearly 25 years ago, are cautiously optimistic that conditions will improve in 2002.

"This was a bad year before September 11," stated one publisher. "But the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, followed by the anthrax scare and its impact on the delivery of mail and the fear that many people had of even opening the mail, made it even worse."

Most publishers that talked with NL/NL freely admitted that this was a bad year but didn't want to go on the record as to just how disastrous it has been.

Robert K. Jenkins of Health Resources Publishing, Manasquan, N.J., summed up the view of many publishers. "This is the toughest time that I've had in my 20 years in the business. I don't recall getting knocked around this badly even during the recession," he said. "We had two days after September 11 when the phone stopped ringing and we didn't get any e-mail or faxes," he continued.

Publishers returning, or planning to return, to the mail

Yet most are expecting to see a significant improvement next year. Many publishers are now getting back in the mail after a hiatus. Others continued to mail during the past two months but reduced the number of pieces dropped.

Publisher Mike Quinlan of Quinlan Publishing, Boston, cut back after the September 11 attack and isn't mailing at all in November. But he plans "to mail twice as much [as usual] in late December" for planned delivery in January. He indicated that total volume of mail for this year will equal the volume of the previous year. He said, however, that "we are still seeing declining rates in direct mail but we are still making a profit."

And Betty Lang, marketing manager at Manisses Publishing, Providence, R.I., reported that mailings were halted but that the company is back in the mail this month.

"Prior to September we had started a telephone solicitation program," Lang said. "This has helped us greatly."

Quinlan indicated that his firm has stepped up its telemarketing efforts in order to replace the new orders that might have come in through direct mail. He said that the economic downturn has made it much easier to get qualified telemarketers. "There are a lot of good people out there looking for work--even telemarketing," he said.

It's a Catch-22 for many publishers. They need to mail in order to replace the subscribers who don't renew their subscriptions. Otherwise, their subscriber base declines and the impact will be felt in a year's time when there are fewer subscribers up for renewal.

The dilemma was pointed out by Robert Williford of Pinnacle Publishing, Atlanta, during the recent audio conference on the topic "To Mail or Not to Mail" sponsored by the Newsletter & Electronic Publishers Association. You need to "mail or be damned" and otherwise it's like a basketball game: "You miss 100 percent of the shots if you don't try" (or the lottery motto, "You have to be in to win").

The impact of the September 11 attack coupled with the anthrax scare has hit the northeast corridor particularly hard.

"Reviewing responses nationwide ... everything is slow coming in versus the spike that you normally have," remarked Craig Huey of Creative Direct Marketing Group in California. "And responses, normally very high in New Jersey and New York, are now very low."