About 70 readers who ordered our new 64-page “Chickens” mini-anthology, which we advertised on the inside front cover of last issue (Issue No. 109), will be getting a refund of their money. We mailed the checks out yesterday. Instead, I will send these people the book free. I decided the book didn’t live up to a statement in the ad, namely: “Everything you ever wanted to know about chickens.”

It is really a beginner’s book, so I retitled it: “Chickens, a beginner’s handbook.” It’s very good, edited by both Jackie Clay and Rhoda Denning, and it should be off the press in two to three weeks. Now this may sound a little extreme for a publisher to return checks to people who just paid him for a book and instead give them the book free. But it is consistent with the sound financial philosophy I have used to guide BHM since the beginning. I am essentially protecting BHM’s Integrity Equity, which is a phrase I just coined to cover an intangible ingredient I’ve always held dear when it comes to BHM.

Integrity Equity is the measure of trust your readers place in your product and in the way you do business. BHM has high Integrity Equity with its readers, and it is my job as publisher to ensure it stays high. Sending out a chicken book that does not live up to our ad’s claim would damage our Integrity Equity with some of those 70 readers. It doesn’t matter how good a beginner’s guide this chicken book is. We advertised it as “everything you ever wanted to know about chickens,” and it is not. It is a beginner’s guide. Very thorough in its 64-page treatment, but still a beginner’s guide to starting and maintaining a flock of chickens. The money we lose in refunds and by giving 70 books away free will come back to us in other ways, through the vast array of tentacles honesty sends out through the marketplace.

Since we are giving the books away free to some subscribers, we will offer it to all subscribers for our minimum shipping charge of $4.95 until April 1. It’s not on any of our order forms, either in the print issue or online, so you’ll have to call BHM (1-800-835-2418) if interested. Otherwise, in a few weeks it will become a subscription premium for multiyear subscribers.

My own chickens, meanwhile, are happily free-ranging our five acres this time of year. Larry Bird, our rooster, tries to keep them in one place so he can sound the alarm in the event of danger. The hens usually go back to the coop to lay their eggs.

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I am stunned! I had planned to spend the rest of Sunday evening after the Superbowl watching reruns of the plays, listening to all the victory interviews of the Patriots. I turned to my wife after the Patriots’ loss and said, “Now what are we going to do with the rest of our lives?”

I’m glad I have this upcoming Issue No. 111 to delve into. Losing is painful! Congratulations Giants! You played a terrific game, especially on defense. Brady hasn’t been pressured like that all year. I’ve always wanted Eli Manning to succeed, but I sure didn’t expect it would be at the expense of my team.

So much for predictions. I made no bets on the game, except with my heart. Silveira always calls me after these big games, but there’ll be no call tonight. He’ll busy himself in writing or in studying poker. Funny how men, especially, pour their soul into their team. It is total war without the bloodshed. Well, I’m the vanquished tonight, and it feels like a form of death. But luckily, I’ll live to fight another day.
 

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The Backwoods Home Magazine website has its own server, which is housed at VPOP Technologies in Southern California, which is owned by my friends Joe and Tom McDonald, and their sister, Maureen Crouse.

Joe McDonald’s buddy, Tom Barron, made a commercial that’ll be shown during the Superbowl.  Check out videos 1 and 2 here.

So when you’re watching the million dollar commercials on the Superbowl this afternoon, you can say you know Dave Duffy who knows Tom McDonald who knows Tom Barron who made that spectacular commercial.

After the game, you can say you know Dave Duffy, a former Bostonian who predicted his New England Patriots would win the Superbowl by 17 points.
 

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The March/April 2008 issue (No. 110) hasn’t even arrived in readers’ mail boxes yet, and I’m hard at work on the May/June 2008 issue (No. 111). This is very early for me to get so deeply involved with an issue. Usually I take a few weeks off and build things on my property, but this issue needs more planning. It’s going to be stupendous. I’ve already talked to most of the involved writers to discuss their contributions. BHM has superbly talented people; I never tell them what I want, but instead listen to their ideas and make suggestions about how it would fit into the overall theme.

Now that I know that TMEN Publisher Bryan Welch is a regular reader  of this blog, I can’t divulge the theme of No. 111 too early, lest Mother Earth News try to steal some of the thunder we will create. We’ll probably expand No. 111 by a full signature (16 pages) and print an extra 10,000 copies. At least! It will be, I think, the most sought-after issue of our 19-year existence, and I don’t want to have to reprint it, like I did once before with our Issue No. 55. We had to reprint 10,000 copies of that one. Hmmm! Maybe I should print an extra 20,000 copies of this one.

Silveira will play an important role. I’ve suggested he bring back O.E. MacDougal for it. We’ll see. I’ve got one more important article to nail down. I may have to write that myself.

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Patriots by 17 over the Giants. This even if Eli matches his stellar performance over the last four games. The Giants can obviously score on the Patriots’ defense, but the Patriots will simply explode on offense. Moss will have over 100 yards, including a long touchdown. Welker will go wild with short passes. Maroney will run for a 100 yards, and Brady will pass for more than 300. You can’t fight destiny.

I was the cook this morning at our house since my three sons had a day off from school for teacher conferencing. Lenie went to work. I don’t know much about cooking but I make delicious fried potatoes mixed in with fried garlic, onions, carrots, and home-grown scrambled eggs.

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