Well, it's early days, but Nurturing Potential has been getting some very good feedback from the people who've seen the prototype issue; and the current issue has had even more acclaim from those who have read it as work-in-progress.
We are still on a learning curve. There are questions to be answered as well as some that we haven't yet asked.
We have been amazed and delighted by people's willingness to contribute articles, advice and criticism and, in some cases, time. Every input is highly valued and appreciated, even when it feels uncomfortable. In this last category was an experience that arose out of the major theme material of our prototype issue: the theme of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
Did you know that EFT and Thought Field Therapy (TFT) that preceded it and inspired it, are not the happy bedmates that we had presumed them to be? Astute readers, who have viewed the original version of the prototype issue and have since returned to it, may have noticed that two articles were removed and replaced. We had asked for (and believed we had obtained) permission to reproduce material from both Gary Craig's EFT site, and Roger Callahan's TFT site. We were not aware that there was a disagreement between the two parties, and we were asked to remove the two TFT articles as their proximity to the EFT material was apparently found to be offensive.
It was all done in a very respectful and civilized way; and it was a valuable learning experience. It also had the merit of introducing us to a great website: The Skeptic's Dictionary. This provided us with a comprehensive background to the EFT/TFT dispute and also suggested a very interesting and provocative major theme for a future issue of Nurturing Potential, namely a consideration of scientific, pseudo-scientific, and holistic concerns . . . with, we are pleased to say, permission to use material from the Skeptics' site. Further information in this respect will be found in The Last Word section at the foot of the contents page.
For the future we will be considering how best to continue to offer the Nurturing Potential experience. The first two paper issues (as well as the first four online issues) are being totally subsidised by us. This is clearly a situation that cannot continue indefinitely and we are working out a scale of charges that will enable us to become financially solvent while holding subscription rates to the bare minimum. Our current thinking is to charge £10 a year from the beginning of 2003, to cover the six online issues each year as well as the three paper issues - and to include postage and packing in that price. Further information about this can also be found in The Last Word.
We look forward to serving you and, hopefully, pleasing you for a long time to come.