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From The Editor
By the time you read this, it will be
January or almost January, but as I write this, it is still a couple
of weeks before Christmas and everyone is gearing up for the festive
season. So just why does the January Lowdown go to print so early?
Simple, the printing companies have their industrial break at this
time of the year so for us at The Lowdown, it is always a mad rush
to get things together for the January issue. Just a few days in
between putting the December issue to bed and getting started on the
January issue.
And as always, the January issue is
thinner than our other issues. This is really a matter of economics
- the size of the magazine is governed by the number of adverts,
because it is the adverts that bring you the magazine, not the cover
price. There is also an international ratio which is used in the
publishing world on the number of adverts to the amount of text. We,
however, don’t stick to this and use a lower percentage of adverts
so that we can give our readers more content. And for most
advertisers, they are still trying to think abut December and
getting through the silly season before they start thinking about
what they are going to be doing in January.
And for 2007, we have some very interesting content planned. The
first major addition is going to be a supplement to the magazine,
The Lowdown on Travel. Supplements will not be published monthly,
but rather quarterly and we will be targeting the different areas of
Zambia, taking a look at what the tourist attractions are in the
area, where to stay, what to do whilst you are there and giving you
all the gen on the area. The first of these appears in our February
issue, so don’t miss your copy.
We will also be giving readers the chance to win, win, win and your
first chance is within the very pages of this edition. And do keep a
look out for more chances to try your luck and take home the prizes.
One of the biggest pests in my life is SPAM, as I am sure it is for
anyone who has an email address. I have generally found that an
email address will only last about three years before you have to
get rid of it and get a new one.
In the last issue, my advice to all was not to make any New Year’s
resolutions, but I have failed to take my own advice (something
which I frequently do) and my resolution for this year is that I am
going to have an all out war on spam and other issues of netiquette
(etiquette on the internet and email). As email is relied upon by
more and more people for communication, the importance of good
manners cannot be stressed enough. Poor netiquette is akin to having
someone slurping their soup in front of you throughout the day. |
January
2007