ARTS & FARCES internet

One of the few polices ARTS & FARCES has is that all projects must be self-supporting; otherwise they are acts of charity. This website first appeared in February 1993 and has never been a profit center for us. Rather, it’s always been used as a sort of advertisement for ourselves.

For several years, though, there has been a not-so-subtle shift in the way we’ve obtained work. Many companies—large and small—no longer contract directly with businesses providing editorial and consulting services, choosing instead to insulate themselves and their contracting decisions by using an intermediary. We prefer not to work this way for two reasons. First, an intermediary or subcontractor situation clouds the issue of who our customer is, and we find that clouding uncomfortable. Second, the intermediary situation unfairly and artificially inflates (sometimes by a factor of more than 40%) the rate our customers pay for our services.

ARTS & FARCES has always taken pride in meeting deadlines and budgets and staying profitable by reducing overhead whenever possible.

Our first foray into electronic publishing was the ARTS & FARCES Review, a weekly and monthly publication distributed on the online services at no charge and, to subscribers, on floppy disk. It managed to consistently return a small profit with no advertising support.

I firmly believe that it is impossible for a publication to serve its readers while simultaneously carrying advertising. No matter how hard an honorable publisher tries, it’s impossible for her to not think about the impact the material she publishes has on any advertisers the publication may have. ARTS & FARCES chooses to serve readers, not advertisers.

If you find value in what we publish here, there are three ways you can participate in sustaining ARTS & FARCES internet:

1. Engage us for professional services. More information about ARTS & FARCES, its principals, and our services is available in the About… section on the home page. We are currently focusing on, and accepting engagements in, the following areas:
   • Internet, Intranet, and Extranet information design and architecture
   • Internet, Intranet, and Extranet content creation and management
   • Print publication content creation and management
   • Software and hardware product documentation
2. Purchase a copy of my latest book, Information Eclipse: Privacy and Access in America
3. Become an underwriter. More information is available in the Underwriting section