EXCITING OPPORTUNITY

by | May 15, 2013

MAY

hi everyone, Mothers News has changed its distribution schema- from now on, boxes of each new issue of the paper will be sold to distributors, who are allowed to give them away for free, sell them at $.50 each, or sell them at $1 each, and keep the money.

it is our belief that by providing our individual distributors with an incentive to distribute (beyond scene points and good vibes), the paper will spread farther and wider, and weird stuff will happen.

all businesses or groups that advertise with us (at the commercial rate) are entitled to a free box of 100 per month, which they can sell (at $.50 or $1 each) to completely or partially recoup their investment. distributors who choose not to advertise can buy a box of 30 papers for $10, or a box of 100 for $20.

it’s up to the individual distributor to decide if they’re going to give the paper away, sell it for $.50, or sell if for $1. for the time being, we will disallow prices higher than $1.

all new issues will ship out on the monday closest to the 1st of the month. for the june issue that means it will ship out on the 3rd. all boxes of papers will ship out by USPS Priority Mail.

to order a box of the next issue or read more about this decision, please see http://www.mothersnews.net/distribution.php.

to place an ad in the june issue, please see http://www.mothersnews.net/advertise.php.

mothers news will remain free (meaning- illegal to sell) in providence.

further questions please write mn@mothersnews.net

thank you

| May 15, 2013
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Mothers News distribution poll

by | May 8, 2013

animated news

UPDATE: we decided to do this. please see: http://rf5.org/blog/?p=331. we’ve made the poll results public, for no reason. please bear in mind that the poll was up for a brief time only, and the sample field was very small (only 83 voters).

hey everyone, we’re going to be changing the way Mothers News is distributed (outside of Rhode Island), so if you’re an MN reader and/or fan outside of Rhode Island ORRRRRR you are / are interested in being an official distributor in your town or city or whatever, pleeeeeease take a sec to fill out one (or both, if applicable) of these polls. it’s anonymous and it would really help us make a decision. and if there’s a better way to do distribution, or some factor i’m overlooking, leave a comment on this post, or email me- mn@mothersnews.net.

oh! and realness is appreciated! thankssss

for readers (choose one):

  • i'd pay a dollar per issue because Mothers News is worth it (61%, 33 Votes)
  • i'd pay a dollar per issue because fifty cents and a dollar are basically the same thing to me (19%, 10 Votes)
  • i'd only get it if it was free. (13%, 7 Votes)
  • i would pay fifty cents per issue for Mothers News, but NOT a dollar. (7%, 4 Votes)

Total Voters: 54

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for distributors or future distributors (potentially anyone) (choose as many as apply):

  • i'd buy a bunch (30 or 100) just to give them away to friends / strangers (59%, 17 Votes)
  • i'd take out a 2" ad ($40) and get a box of 100, that's great (34%, 10 Votes)
  • i'd be interested in buying a box of 100 for $20, to resell them (31%, 9 Votes)
  • fifty cents is ok / cute (17%, 5 Votes)
  • i'd probably buy a box (of 30 or 100) to resell every month (17%, 5 Votes)
  • i'd take some on consignment, otherwise nope (10%, 3 Votes)
  • i have a band, i'd buy a box and sell them at shows (10%, 3 Votes)
  • $20 is too much, but i'm interested in buying a box of 30 for $10, to resell them (7%, 2 Votes)
  • i'd only be interested if i could sell them for a dollar- fifty cents isn't worth it (7%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 29

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thanks!!!

mini-RF

| May 8, 2013
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Mothers News benefit show TOMORROW (thursday the 13th)

by | September 12, 2012

YOW!!! sorry for the short notice here but Mothers News is having a benefit show TOMORROW (that’s thursday the 13th) at AS220 in Providence RI, and it’s an epic show!!

* Keith Fullerton Whitman
* Noise Nomads
* Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase
* Russian Tsarlag
with DJ Work/Death between sets

at as220 on empire st in Providence RI
$6 9pm all ages. drinks will be served.

this is definitely a noise show, so more than regularly, things are unbound, open to interpretation. that said, i would add that this show is going to be one of the best! all these people are the best!!!!!!! the best musicians in the game!!!!!

KFW: academic noise maven- meticulously tending to a garden of synthesizer patches, coaxing out berries and bugs for planetary movement. major league credentials, signified by scholarly beard. ex-HRVATSKI. pictured above with friend.

NN: no agenda, no ambition, no location. the best. as i have mentioned before, the single from the last sonic youth record was ABOUT him. namechecked IN THE CHORUS. because he’s good and he’s ageless in the game forever.

AHPN: solo performance from Chris Cooper, the guitarist for Fat Worm Of Error. whirring and chirping, a master at work. pointing a remote control at a guitar and saying “be a bird”. mayyyyyyybe ex-CAROLINER?

RT: the prince of the sewer, the lord of the basement. i’m reminded of a phrase from the Cramps: “[he] won’t pummel, and you won’t pogo- [he'll] ooze, you’ll throb”. working on a sort of frankie valli / david lynch / exhumed axis.

DJWD: special treat from the Janitor of Providence- a live mix DJ set- multiple sound sources, indeterminacy and room to move, speakers at a distance, people talking behind a wall… radio’s on, feeling alright…

i feel kind of foolish saying these dudes are the best, because being the best at noise music is a little like being the best at being a gust of wind, or being the best at being a faun or a tree. but that’s kind of the way it goes! these people are all very good at following their own particular path. if you’re not into noise, it’s easy to brush it off as inane postmodern posturing, emperor’s new clothes, willful ignorance, as continuing the thread of underground music as courtship displays of aggression and dominance, or as simply a weird fad. but this show is slow, careful, purposeful, with spirit and joy. new england noise godfather ron lessard once that noise music is “the True Sound Of Love”, that’s the thread we’re following here.

please come out!!!!

| September 12, 2012
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Mothers News art show in Philadelphia Sept 7th – 29th

by | September 4, 2012

philadelphia and environs, come party with us in a gallery setting! the opening is this friday the 7th, 7-10pm. we will have items on display, some interpretations, a working printing press, and lance said there would be refreshments (at the opening).

also we’ll have the fresh new issue (pretty sure).

that’s at space 1026, which is 1026 arch st 2nd floor, philadelphia PA.

| September 4, 2012
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Mothers News on Printeresting

by | June 14, 2012

ayyyyyyyyyyy printeresting did a nice writeup on Mothers News!

| June 14, 2012
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OUR NEW GOALS

by | June 14, 2012

well we met the original goal for our fundraiser / subscription drive, and can now accomplish our primary objective of hiring another Mothers News employee for the year. now we are at the part of the fundraiser where we see how much OVER our goal we can go!

why should we try to go over / why should you care? well, of course it still makes sense to contribute, for the regular reason that you want a subscription to the next year’s worth of the paper, or you want to get a gift subscription for a friend, or you want the official (and limited edition) mothers news coffee mug, or to get whatever the extra mega bonus items are, and/or to just be forward-minded plus nice, and to support the thing you like to see in the world. that’s the regular reason why. but the extra reason why is that from this point on, every additional $131 we get allows us to distribute a year’s worth of Mothers News to a NEW TOWN or CITY in the continental united states.

isn’t this an exciting prospect? people in this new town will start finding stacks of it at their record store, coffee place, book nook, show zone, friend’s bathroom, or wherever, EVERY MONTH. they’ll be like “what’s this?”. some of them will be like “huh”, some like “oh”. what will happen then? what are the ramifications? i don’t know!!!! i want to find out!!!!!!! maybe they will be inspired to start their own newspapers, or take their art project as serious as their life (q: has this been happening already? a: yes). best case scenario, short term: kids are going to pick it up and start thinking “i guess this is how the world works”.

$131 is the cost of 6 subscriptions, or 4 mugs. or one $131 donation. not a lot to mess up an entire city or town for a full year!!! what should we shoot for, 10 new cities? 20? LET’S GO!!!!!!!!

if you want to be the point person in your town, and get a box of Mothers News shipped to your house or place of business every month, and bring them to a few cool spots around town, please GET IN TOUCH with us! in addition to regular social rewards (aka “cool points”), there are special offers and opportunities for Mothers News newsies– you could even end up making money on it! email MN@mothersnews.net. if you want to sponsor a specific town with a single donation, we will try to accomplish that, but unfortunately since we are dealing with volunteer distributors, we cannot guarantee it. but we’ll really try!!!!!!

also… i’m only saying this because people have asked, but please stipulate if want to make a donation that goes towards “whatever”, and not specifically postage/outreach. if you’re like “i want to engender these funds strictly for pizzas” or “personal betterment / inreach” or something. not trying to be weird about this… ok, LET’S GO!!!!!!!!

and especially THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!! this rules so far / already / still!

| June 14, 2012
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MN in the Providence Phoenix

by | June 9, 2012

very nice article about Mothers News in the Providence Phoenix this week– check it out…

also keep writing more articles about Mothers News so we can get our wikipedia page back…

(Phoenix cosplay by chise_chan)

| June 9, 2012
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5000

by | June 9, 2012

Alright!!!! Well the Mothers News Fundraiser / Subscription Drive has reached it’s goal of $5000! And guess who sent us over the edge? It was my actual mother, Louise Berendes! Incredible!!!! Thanks Mom!!!

Naturally the fundraiser is still rolling, and will be until July 1st, and the more we make over our goal the more great stuff we can do. so if you want to get a subscription to Mothers News, or you want the Official (and might I add Limited Edition) Mothers News coffee mug, or you just want to support a cool thing that is happening in the world and enable it (the thing, the world) to grow and mutate and enweirden, act now!!!

| June 9, 2012
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Mothers News Fundraiser- Where does the money go?

by | June 1, 2012


hi, we got a few queries regarding our current fundraiser about “where does the money go”, and since people love to ask about money and the newspaper, i thought i’d take some time out and address this.

the basic business model of the Mothers News is that we give it out for free and charge for ads. for the past two years this has worked out really great- we are able to pay our printing and mailing costs, make promotional materials (stickers), pay rent on the Mothers News office, and pay the Managing Editor (me) enough to buy food and (some) books. we also pay our Providence newsie JMO $50 to drive the paper around. while there have been tight times, and certainly no one has become monetarily rich, i definitely have NO COMPLAINTS. the paper is really a dream, it’s my only job, i do whatever i want, we have an amazing readership, an incredible bunch of contributors, and wonderful things (known and most likely also unknown) have happened as a result of the paper, no complaints.

Anyway, in the past few months the stresses of editing the paper began to accumulate, and it became necessary to hire someone else to help out. so that’s what we did. of course we were already operating extremely close to the wire, so we needed another income stream to pay them, hence the fundraiser. so: the initial $5000 goal of the fundraiser will pay for one year of administrative assistance. i should repeat- this is a necessary expenditure. making the paper is a lot of work, and while it’s not too much for one person to do, it is too much for one person to do forever. in the interest of continuing the paper, we needed to hire on. and given that, we need to pay that person. the $5000 will make sure that this person is always paid (at the current budget that’s $11 an hour, 8 hours a week). for the time being, my own salary will remain dependent on hustle (selling ads).

any money raised after the initial $5000 will mostly go towards the following objectives:

  • new(ish) laptop computer – the first couple months of the paper were made on an EeePC 701 (current retail $25), plugged into an external monitor. after that we were gifted an older mac tower from our friends at the Participatory Culture Foundation. we would like to get a newish laptop in the $300 range. I should also say that we are currently accepting donations of newish, basically not-fucked-up laptops (email MN@mothersnews.net). this would be extremely helpful.
  • savings – as a business-like entity, it seems prudent to try and sock away $300. i feel like there were a lot of situations in the past two years where if we had had $300 we could’ve done something that would recoup the money and then some. damn we were kicking ourselves for not having a swingable $300 (or less) a bunch of times! this is for things like investing in merchandise, travel expenses to trade shows and performances, printing projects other than the paper, stuff like that. also just a general safety net, haven’t had one of those in a long time!
  • distribution – it costs us $131 to send monthly bundles of Mothers News to a new city for a full year. so after the laptop thing and the savings thing, every extra $131 we raise could send the paper to a new city.

i guess that’s it? if things really go far out then we start talking about hiring more people, which would be incredible. if you want to talk more about money, call me up, and we’ll talk about money!

MOTHERS NEWS YEAR 3

| June 1, 2012
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Mothers News Subscription Drive day 2!

by | May 15, 2012

wow! our big Mothers News Subscription Drive is going great! as of this writing, we’ve reached a fifth of our goal with still 46 days to go! thanks to all the MOTHERS HELPERS, SUBSCRIBERS, and especially ASTRONAUTS out there!!!!! so far no one has gone all the way into EXECUTIVE REALNESS, but there are a few people nibbling at the concept (we didn’t anticipate this, but A Reid is trying to microfinance this mega-level- not sure how this would work but beep at this doggy if you want to go in but not get the tattoo).

in press news, we got interviewed by a nice young man from the Providence Phoenix the other day, look for that week after next. best quote:

PP: do you consider the Providence Journal and the Phoenix to be your competition?
MN: uh, no offense but the phoenix and the projo are NO competition…

also good looking out to our friends at AMIGOS publishing who gave us a nice write-up and posted a VERY inspirational video alongside!!! thanks!!!! this newspaper could be your life!

| May 15, 2012
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