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2 messages in this thread
There is a thread on PLINK claiming that TransAmi is dead. They claim that
TransAmi is no longer answering their phone, but has a message up that they
will be back if they can find a buyer.
I called the phone number, and I heard the message. The voice sounded a bit
young, and the number wasn't the same as was listed in the magazine (different
area code).
I can see a couple of possibilities:
1. Someone is intentionally trying to trash TransAmi, buy spreading rumors
concerning their financial status.
2. Someone thinks its a great joke to spread rumors concerning TransAmi.
3. TransAmi is really gone.
I know I would like to see TransAmi succeed, but I have been waiting for
quite a while for issue #3, and I was wondering if anybody knew just what was
going on.
Hi Jeff:
Just what's going on:
It's true that there is a message on the phone that we are looking for a
buyer. Fact is, we've found several BUT we wanted to be sure that the
buyer would:
Assume the liabilities of Transactor Publishing Inc.
Honour our commitments to the subscriber base and the people who have
ordered other products from us, i.e. back issues, 8-bit hardware and 8-bit
software.
Allow us to continue to produce magazines with top quality editorial
content
We probably could have sold the whole ball of wax in a minute if we'd been
willing to back off of any of those. From where I sit, those are the most
important concerns to me; i.e. what we are (and have been for 10 years) to
our readers. The other people here would second that, I'm sure. I wouldn't
be here Sunday midnight if I wasn't serious about this.
On Friday we received a call from one of our prospective buyers. They have
consented to the points noted above and they have stated that they WILL
buy.
Sometime next week we expect them to come to the Transactor offices for the
signing of papers and wrap up. At that time, I expect, we will hand them
the film for Issue 3 and they will take it to press and it will finally
appear on the North American market. We are presently finishing up Issue 4
for the U.K. and Australian divisions. I have Volume 9, Issue 2 of
Transactor (Classic – the 8-bit mag) mostly done.
The young-sounding voice on the answering machine is that of Richard Evers,
our publisher. It's time we made a new tape…
Rumours began to spread about us when Karl Hildon left the company. A lot
of people (including me) thought that Transactor and Karl were the same and
began to speculate negatively about Transactor's future. Those rumours
served to reduce revenue which caused some problems but the real crusher
came from the company that did our printing. THAT was the pivotal event in
the sequence leading up to the sale of the company.
The good part is that T will continue, mags will get printed and the
subscribers (and newsstand readers) will get their magazines.
The other good part is that we all get to keep our jobs and keep on doing
what we love to do: producing the best magazines for programmers (and
users) of Commodore computers.
Transactor is "too good to give up", as Ricardo would say.
So that's what's happening, Jeff. Please capture these messages and post
them on PLINK and anywhere else you can. We're NOT dead but for awhile
there we were ailing. When the deed is done, it'll be here on CIS first.
I'll be on line before the ink dries <grin>.
Malcolm O'Brien, Asst. Editor Transactor Transactor for the Amiga