From: "Ernest Lilley" <elilley at mindspring.com>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] ...and paperbacks cost 50 cents.
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2005 17:37:28 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

...and that you could buy a paperback for 50 cents...maybe 75 if it was
good. So given an inflation multiple of 10...that would mean memberships
would cost $300-500. Wait a minute. They do.

Ernest Lilley

Home/Office: 703 371 0226
EJ: 757 581 4146
email: elilley at mindspring.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ted White [mailto:twhite8 at cox.net]
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 5:20 PM
To: WSFA members
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Is the WSFA journal eligable for fanzine Hugo?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Elspeth Kovar" <ekovar at worldnet.att.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 4:12 PM
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Is the WSFA journal eligable for fanzine Hugo?

[...]
>
> And don't get *me* started on why it costs so much; I'm not happy about
it
> so have spent enough time studying the matter that I'm satisfied that the
> only options are to greatly grow the convention or shrink it
> drastically.  People might argue for either choice but that's where
things
> stand.
>
> Mind you, I don't like the fact that it does and to me the amount that
gets
> passed along is an indication that more is taken in than is needed.  (On
> the other hand, those pass-along funds come at a very useful time for the
> upcoming conventions.)  A lot of what winds up being surplus comes from
> late or at-the-door memberships while the budgeting starts years in
> advance.  Figuring what you can spend based upon what you might or might
> not get in the last months is unwise.  I know of at least one recent
> Worldcon where they did this and didn't know until several days into the
> convention if they were even going to break even.
>
> There's no good solution, so let's just skip this.

Yeah, this is better confined to you, me and Mike in a corner, talking.  We
each have pieces of the puzzle and I don't think we're actually in
disagreement.

But I betcha most current-day Worldcon attendees would be stunned to know
that as recently as 35 years ago the fee ranged from $3.00 to $5.00 for an
attending membership.

--Ted White