17 replies to this topic

[Gregory DG]

January 1, 2004

For immediate release:

WINTER HAVEN, FL - The editor of The Atari Times (www.ataritimes.com) has announced the upcoming January 31, 2004 release of the annual paper-based book titled the 2004 Compendium. A limited-run of copies will be printed to accommodate the demand.

The book will include at least 100 page issue of news, features, reviews, and previews for all Atari home systems that have appeared on the website over the past year. These include articles for the Jaguar, Lynx, 7800, 5200, 2600, home computers, and even the arcade systems. In addition, the 2004 Compendium will include a minimum of 15 pages of previously unreleased material as well as a color cover.

Gregory D. George, editor and writer for The Atari Times commented, "The 2001 and 2002 Year End Issues were wildly successful, and I was very pleased at the response I received from the readers." On the name change, George said, "I decided to change the title to more accurately describe the book and the time when it was released. It seemed funny to be selling a 2002 Issue all through 2003! Also, this slightly reduces the workload of postal workers who are already burdened by the extra load of Christmas deliveries."

The pre-order pricing of the 2004 Compendium is $11.00 plus $4 for continental U.S. shipping (outside the continental U.S. shipping is $8.) After January 31, 2004, the price will be $14.00 plus $4 continental U.S. shipping (outside the continental U.S. shipping is $8.)

Continued Mr. George, "As with last year's book, the 2004 Compendium is seeking sponsors and advertisers to help reduce overall costs. Full page ads are $30 (includes a free copy), half page ads are $15 (buy a copy for $10) and quarter page ads are $10. The only requirement is that the ad be something Atari related. To buy an ad, please contact me at http://www.ataritimes.com/email"

More information about The Atari Times 2004 Compendium can be found at http://www.ataritime...compendium.html

The Atari Times is a web-based newsletter devoted to all Atari game systems. Updates to the site are on a weekly basis. Visit http://www.ataritimes.com/ for Atari related news, previews, reviews, and feature articles.

END PRESS RELEASE

[sdstuff64]

Pre-ordered mine today.Yes!

[elviticus]

Me too! I just checked out the past isssues - these are great.

[Gregory DG]

Whew! Major milestone #2 is complete!

Major milestone #1 was to get all of the articles from last year pasted into the main document in anyway possible. That took about 2 days...

Major milestone #2 was to trim the articles to fit on the pages, include the screenshots & pictures, and italicize the game titles. That took about 2 weeks (and 80 pages)! Ack!

Major milestone #3 will be to add captions to all the screenshots and include the new articles (with pictures and captions.) That should take another week. Hopefully less.

#4 will be to create the title pages (TOC, gamer shows, Jaguar, Lynx, etc) and include any advertisment pages. This'll probably take 3 days.

#5 will be proofreading. Probably take another day.

That gives me JUST ENOUGH time to get everything done before it goes to printing on the 26th... Gotta love deadlines!

[Gregory DG]

Just a few thumbnails of some pages:

Attached Thumbnails

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[Gregory DG]

Well, it's all done! I just took it to the printer's today, so I should be mailing it out by Monday!

[Gregory DG]

Here it is! All finished and on the way! It was a day late due to the printer though. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Attached Thumbnails

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[Adrian M]

Nice!
Looking forward to receiving it!

[Adrian M]

My 2004 Compendium arrived this morning!
Wow...the quality is remarkable! Great cover plus over 100 pages of Atari literary goodness.

[Gregory DG]

Thanks for the positive feedback! It's much appreciated!

[Gregory DG]

Well, after less than a month, I've sold out 65 copies of the 2004 Compendium already! I'm considering printing another run, but I'd have to have at least 30 requests!

http://www.ataritime...Compendium.html

[HawgWyld]

Gregory DG said:

Well, after less than a month, I've sold out 65 copies of the 2004 Compendium already! I'm considering printing another run, but I'd have to have at least 30 requests!
http://www.ataritime...Compendium.html

Yeah, come on, folks! You wouldn't want to miss out, would you? Great stuff.

And, Greg -- I do believe I owe you a review on "RealSports Tennis" tonight

[davidcalgary29]

I received my copy last night and -gasp- put aside all game-playing time last night to read the Compendium from cover to cover. Great job, Greg -- and thanks for the kind acknowledgment!

[Gregory DG]

Well, there's still demand for this book even after I ran out of copies! And there's a constant demand for the previous two books even though I ran out of them years ago.

So....

I've got plans to not only get the 2004 Compendium back in to regular production, BUT to get the 2001 and 2002 Year End Issues out to anyone who wants one! If things work out as I hope, those of you who missed out on getting any of the three books should be able to get one very soon!

[Gregory DG]

Extremely good news is right around the corner for anyone who missed out on getting a copy of the 2004 Compendium and the 2001 and 2002 Year End Issues!

[video game addict]

Cool beans! Put me down for one each of 2001/02 when they're available.

[Gregory DG]

video game addict said:

Cool beans!  Put me down for one each of 2001/02 when they're available.

I'll make an announcement when they're ready!

Also, I've been kicking around the idea of recreating/reprinting the *ORIGINAL* 10 paper-based issues of TAT plus the web-only issues 11, 12, 13, & 14 into a single book. But I'm wondering...

Should I make this book so it looks exactly like the original newsletters, or should I modernize those original articles/pages so they look more like the ones for the 2004 Compendium?

[Gregory DG]

Good news is finally here! You can finally get back issues of the 2001 Year End Issue and 2004 Compendium at http://www.cafepress.com/ataritimes

http://www.atariage....ic.php?p=594891

More books (2002 Year End and Original Newsletters) are forthcoming!