As someone that has "been there and done that", frankly it's not possible. It's Jim's car and he wants to drive, even if both his legs are broken and he's blind. I did the magazine for almost a year, and even though i was trying to help, it was frustrating to say the least. Actually it was beyond frustrating. And the better i got at doing the magazine the more frustrating it got.

Even though i was doing him a huge favor, doing the entire magazine from design to writing to pictures to editing (i did everything except the printing), Jim felt he was losing control and just couldn't see the forest through the trees. The idea was to get Jim well from his cancer, to concentrate on that, but instead i think the thought that someone else was driving his car just drove him nuts. In the end, even though PGJ was coming out every 6 or 7 weeks, it was creating more stress for him (and me.) So in the end, the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze (for either of us.)

I would have kept doing the magazine if things went smoother, but that just wasn't gonna happen. Also my idea of what to print (i'm way more edgy) and Jim's idea never really overlapped. Jim likes to drive on the right side of the road, making full stops at stop signs, and signaling all turns. Me, i like to peel out, weave all over, pass old ladies (and give them the finger), and generally cause a little trouble. Again Jim didn't like this approach, and it lead to more "cock blocking", making the job of doing the magazine impossible. Jim refused to give me prior submitted articles from other authors, wanting them for "his issues." This forced me (after wearing out all my friends to write articles) to write nearly every article for the last three issues myself. I even had to invent author's names (or give friend's credit) so it didn't look like this was in fact happening. (The only guy that actually wrote consistently for me was Wiley - thanks mike!)

I would spend a month of my life doing an issue, and Jim would pretty much refuse to print it until i threatened him with putting it out in PDF for free. That situation repeated itself for nearly every issue i did, with Jim ultimately printing the issue in question... Except for the last issue i did, that's when he refused to budge, and we split ways. Jim did ultimately print that issue, but after he editing it down, taking out all the stuff that, in my opinion, made that issue really interesting and unique. (I had documented game design steps for Python, and exactly how much he got paid for each step. Jim felt this was inappropriate to print. I felt it was extremely interesting, but he removed all that stuff, including many Python sexy art pictures from the issue that ultimately got printed. My version did get released for a very short time as a PDF, which in the end probably really helped with PGJ subscriptions, but again Jim wasn't happy about that either.)

Also the job of doing a magazine is extremely time consuming. From the CS software to dealing with advertiser copy (which often changed daily) to writing and editing, it's a huge time suck. When Kevin stopped doing Game Room Magazine he called me and asked if i "wanted the magazine." As in, take this from me, it's yours, here it's free. This was after i had done my nearly year of incarceration with the PGJ. I told him, "thanks but no thanks." It's just too much work. On the PGJ thing, nearly a year of my life was down the tubes, for which in the end i received: A) no money [in fact it cost me a significant amount of money, paying for software, travel, model shoots, etc.]. B) loss of time. C) crap from people that felt i was "taking over the world of pinball." D) reputation degradation.

Frankly, doing the PGJ magazine was one of the worst experiences of my life. Talk about a thankless job (actually negative thanks) with zero (negative) pay. Jim got to cash the checks (he did also pay for the printing though), and i got a bucket of crap in the end (some would say it was deserved, but if they could walk a mile in my shoes, well, they may see it a bit differently.) I can't possibly see how anyone would or could take over a pinball magazine. The only way to go is to start a new one, and on your own terms. And frankly in today's world of blogs, doing that is probably crazy.

Also doing a magazine is expensive. The cost of printing/mailing for PGJ at the time, from what I could tell, was about $3000 to $5000 per issue. This created another problem... if you're putting out issues every 6-7 weeks, that means you need $3000 to $5000 to pay for them in that same period of time. Money comes from subscription renewals. If you're not getting that much in renewals, then you're burning through money. Yes eventually word gets out, and more money comes in, but that takes time. I think when i was doing the mag and it was coming out consistently, it was burning through Jim's money too quickly. Also Jim is not what i would call a good money manager. That is, he didn't see this coming. So he almost had to cock block me to slow down the process, hoping to get more advertising or subscription renewals to pay for the next issue. And then in the end Dennis Dodel released all the "cock block" emails in a highly edited format, making me (and Jim to some degree) look stupid. (My theory was this was orchestrated by Jim, because he was pissed about the PDF thing, but that's just my take on it.) At least that's how it all looked to me...

Actually you're doing it the right way. No subscription, so people can't get pissed about not getting their next issue on time. And doing it on your time frame, means you can do it when you want/need to, without heckling from the public. It's smart how your set that up. But on the other hand, because you're not coming out monthly (or every other month), it's not really a "magazine" after all. What you have is more like chapters of a book (released when you feel like it), than a magazine.

I saw him at Expo, but didn't talk to him. He "looked" good, but who knows what that means. My understanding is he's back on Kemo. If so, often you're up and OK for a small portion of the day, but when you crash, you crash hard. If he's still working that would explain not doing a magazine at night after work...

To make matters worse, Jim just had heart surgery last week. don't have any details past that. It has nothing to do with the cancer (hopefully), but it's just another issue he's having with his health. don't know the outcome of that surgery. just something i heard from the 'vine. frankly i hope it's not true, but i have a feeling it is.