This is a bit off-topic, but I feel it's important. I'm a long-time subscriber to Missing Links, which is an excellent free news letter, valuable to genealogists. Evidently due to the RootsWeb merge with Ancestry.com it was dropped from RootsWeb support. $$$, of course! I'm copying the editor's message from the Oct 6 issue here (and sending this as well to the other 11 lists I subscribe to). I urge all of you who don't subscribe, to look at a past issue at < http://www.petuniapress.com/> You may find you want to subscribe and support this valuable genealogical newsletter: Jean Chapman Snow LETTER FROM THE EDITOR. Perhaps you noticed that after the 1 September 2001 change from a mailing list of nearly a million at RootsWeb to a mailing list elsewhere starting over from scratch, the circulation of MISSING LINKS peaked 11 months ago at around 18,300, since when it has lost ground, inching inexorably toward oblivion. As there is no income from this effort, there are no funds for advertising. Clearly word-of-mouth isn't working very well, as the circulation has dwindled to about 17,000. Fewer readers mean fewer articles, stories, letters, and small miracles. The "staff" consists of one person, your editor. It is frustrating to spend as much time and to work as hard to continuously diminishing effect in these reduced circumstances as I did with nearly a million readers and a salary. I can't continue much longer as things are. Petunia Press needs to attract more advertisers or devise another way to generate income. Advertisers like lovely large numbers, which Petunia Press cannot offer them. Of course, MISSING LINKS and SOMEBODY'S LINKS will never be able to compete with the big guys (RootsWeb, Ancestry, et al.), but five years ago or so, before its move to RootsWeb, the circulation of MISSING LINKS was 25,000+. A return to the status quo ante RootsWeb would be a long stride forward and might make enough of a difference. Every week I implore you to tell your friends about MISSING LINKS and its offspring SOMEBODY'S LINKS, and how to find them at Petunia Press http://www.petuniapress.com/. While I have not drawn a line in the sand, the end of this year is a target date for reassessment and decision-making that is rattling around in the back of my mind. So, there you have it. If you would like for MISSING LINKS and SOMEBODY'S LINKS to continue, please do what you can to help spread the word. Thanks.