+ Generally, publications survive off of their advertising income, it pays the way - and the ESOPUS statement even admits you nearly lose money by offering issues for $10 retail. How can you do it?

Having founded and edited several magazines in the past, I knew one thing for sure: If I wanted to publish a magazine with no advertising I would have to do it as a nonprofit entity. A growing portion of our expenses are covered by revenues from sales and subscriptions, but because we also sell the magazine at a subsidized price, we will always be dependent on donations from individuals and grants from arts funding organizations to help us take up the slack, as it were. [ As a 501(c)(3) organization, we can offer tax deductions to anyone who makes a donation. ]

+ Normally - are all of the ESOPUS contents printed and bound at the same location? By this, I am interested in knowing if someone hand-inserts the wonderful extras (each issues audio cd, Ati Maier's 'SEE IT LOUD' print from #4.. .)

In most cases, all of the contents are printed and bound at the same place, Westcan Printing Group in Winnipeg. They are an amazing company, and their rep, Chris Young, is always up for a challenge. ["If you know of a quality more important in a printer, tell us, convince us, and we'll re-design this page. At Westcan our word is our bond. Count on it". - says the WPG page.]  The Ati Maier piece was printed there, with specialty paper and specialty inks, and so was most of the other stuff you see in each issue.  Occasionally, something will just not be doable on their equipment ( for instance, the Ulysses Davis poster from #4 [a series of forty presidential busts carved from wood by the late Savannah barber. - k ] ) was too large to fit on their press, and the Jenny Holzer project from Issue 3, which was printed with a very unstable photochromatic ink that had to be silkscreened at specific temperatures, were both produced at other presses in Winnipeg.)  
Most everything in the magazine that is "stuck on" or "blown in", from the CDs to the removable posters, are hand-inserted by the gang at Westcan.  The most intensive handwork was for issue #2, when everyone from Chris's mother-in-law to a group of ladies from the Winnipeg Hutterite colony glued together 4000 pop-up houses for William Christenberry's "Ghost Form" project. 

+ Jenny Holtzer, was that the " invisible declassified documents" project? (up until this time I thought my issue, which was purchased after the latest issue 4, had glow-in-the-dark ink that had simply stopped "glowing".. . read on)

The Jenny Holzer project (where she selected various government memos relating to the Iraq War and Abu Ghraib) was printed with something called thermochromatic ink, which only "activates" when exposed to sunlight.  Once it's no longer exposed to UV rays, it fades away again.   It seemed like a perfect way to present these declassified documents, since it gave the reader an active role in unveiling them... ( I then grabbed my issue, headed for the sun and the rest is clearly visible. )

+ May we ask the number of issues printed / circulated each issue?

We started at 3000 copies of Issue 1 and are up to 6500 of Issue 4.

+ I would say if ESOPUS had siblings on the newsstand, they may be the likes of FOUND and Adbusters - do you agree and/or do you read these publications.. .

I do read those publications and I love them both (and I'm flattered to have ESOPUS mentioned in their company!). I'm kind of a magazine hound, and devour everything from The Economist to Found (and lots in between).

+ To compile such interesting compilations, you must be into some great music.  Even better - hearing a hushed opener (Number Four: "Imaginary Friends") like Lisa, from The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers followed by Tim'm T. West and his  hopped-up Brown Buick, Brown House makes what could be another "generic comp" absolutely soar. What are you currently listening to?

Thank you for that. I'm also a music hound, I guess. Right now I am obsessed with The National's Alligator, Emiliana Torrini's Fisherman's Woman, and Sufjan Stevens' Illinois album, among many others. But that said, I have to tell you that I've been lucky to have a couple of interns who have had great taste in, and extensive knowledge of, alternative music -- my last one, Mike Powell, came up with a number of great suggestions for the "Imaginary Friends" CD, not to mention the one for our next issue.

+ In issue #3, you had 4 'mock' proposals from publicity firms / individuals to attempt to market ESOPUS to the masses. Proposal #1, Sloane Crosley, had but 2 major changes, one being how often ESOPUS is made available (twice a year). From the obvious effort and care put into each issue - even if the timeframe was possible - could ESOPUS be quarterly?

Gosh, I don't think so, unless we were to increase our staff. Right now it's just me and a steady flow of terrific interns, and that seems to be working out logistically, so I don't imagine we'll increase in frequency anytime soon.

+ Any chance of a reprint of the prior issues? I know I've tried to hunt down#1 and #2 to empty-handed results.. .

Unfortunately, each issue requires such complicated printing and assembly that it would be pretty much impossible to do.

+ Any advice to someone wishing to start a print publication? Pros - or - Cons.. .

Go into it with a solid understanding of what's involved, but don't let the difficulties scare you off -- and most importantly, make it about something you truly love. Otherwise, it's really not going to be worth the struggles and compromises that will undoubtedly be part of the process. 

+ What makes Tod Lippy / ESOPUS happy?

Finding, and then bringing to a broad audience, any kind of unique creative expression makes ESOPUS happy. And ESOPUS makes Tod Lippy happy.