The following letter was sent to subscribers to ELT News &Views when the printed magazine ceased publication in May 2000. It was also posted on the N&V-L List.

Announcement to ELT News & Views subscribers

Issue 7.1 of ELT News & Views is in from the printers and is being mailed to subscribers today.

It is with great sadness that I have to inform subscribers to ELT News & Views that the April/May 2000 issue will be the last issue to be published in its present format. Rising costs and dwindling advertising this year have compounded the financial problems that started when we lost our VAT exemption and were no longer able to accept payment through credit card.

The additional cost of trying to publish from Europe and the high cost of transferring relatively small amounts of money has meant that this issue has been produced at a substantial loss, a loss which we see no realistic chance of recovering and which we can no longer allow to continue.

Subscribers who still have monies credited with us will be contacted individually. We are currently in talks with another international ELT publication and will be offering discounted 'transfer' subscriptions which we feel will offer acceptable compensation, although of course we shall also be pleased to return subscribers the corresponding unexpired portion of their subscription payment if they prefer.

Subscribers with email and web access may also wish to transfer their subscription credit to a new service we shall be starting up (see below). If your subscription is still valid (see the address slip accompanying issue 7.1 if you are not sure) you should expect to hear from us within approximately six weeks.

ELT News and Views will not disappear from the world of Latin American ELT. We have plans to produce a wholly electronic publication which will in a sense meet the original brief of ELT News & Views when it set up in 1994, providing information on events and contact details for ELT activity and agents both throughout the region and also in countries which supply ELT related services.

This new project is scheduled to start later in the year and if you would like to be contacted with further details when it starts up please mail me at <me@eltnewsandviews.com> and I shall make sure you receive progress reports. However, do note that this new service will only be available electronically (email, attachments and web) and that we do not have the resources to enter into postal correspondence.

It is not easy for a publisher to close down a publication with a healthy circulation and that is enjoying a good reputation and fulfilling a useful regional need. But one must recognise when to cut one's losses. I have enjoyed our seven years of publication and made many good friends. To these, to the contributors and advertisers who have supported us over the years, and to the subscribers ­ without whom none of this would have made any sense ­ my sincere thanks and best wishes.

Finally, I should like it to be understood that the closure of the ELT News & Views printed newsletter has no relationship at all to the continued existence of the N&V-L list.

Martin Eayrs
Editor, ELT News & Views