There are three crucial factors in keeping subscription rates low. First, the Journal is the property of a nonprofit organization, and all of us who work for it take that seriously. We do a quality job with minimum expenditure - all the time. We are a stand-alone operation; Journal revenues support Journal activities, but they don't support anything else.

Second, we sell advertising space each month, and advertising produces about a quarter of our total revenue. Readers can help increase advertising revenue by letting the advertisers they deal with know that they read and use the ads in the Journal. Using the Reader Inquiry Card regularly helps too - reader service response is a very common way for advertisers to evaluate the return on their ad dollars. Our recent survey shows that readers use the advertising, which is good, because advertising is a major part of what keeps the cost of the Journal low.

The third important cost factor is the number of readers - we now have just about 15,000 subscribers, and this is a large enough base so that the printing cost per issue is significantly lower than it would be if the circulation were, say, about 5000. You are important! Maintaining or expanding our subscriber base plays a very important role in keeping the Journal affordable. We need to attract more subscribers, and you can help by advising colleagues, and even students who are interested in teaching as a career, to subscribe.

To summarize my response to Paul Poskozim, the Journal is a real bargain because it has

·a dedicated, effective staff who believe in it

·advertising revenues

·many loyal and thoughtful subscribers

You, and all other readers, can help maintain the Journal's affordability by

·volunteering to work with the staff as a reviewer, a column editor, or in another capacity

·using our Reader Inquiry Card and telling advertisers you saw their product in the Journal

·urging others to subscribe and maintaining your subscription.