Writer Calls E-News Pub Grove Notes Labor Of Love

When Editor Joe Starr decided to start his e-publication Grove Notes, he didn’t anticipate the time investment that would be involved with its publishing.

He compares the operation to a one-man band, but in this case rather than playing the harmonica, guitar and drums simultaneously he is conducting interviews, writing stories, editing stories, designing news pages and doing website maintenance for the whole operation.

“It can be overwhelming sometimes, but I love the work and when you see the end product finally go out the door to appreciative readers it makes it worthwhile.”

Grove Notes is an e-publication covering local government and community news in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. Starr started the publication after seeing a need for additional local news coverage in the area. The publication website at www.starrwriter.comis where the latest news can always be found. Grove Notes also has a popular e-mail distribution list where subscribers receive e-news blasts from Grove Notes. Word of the new e-pub is spreading fast as people throughout Cottage Grove and surrounding communities continue to join Grove Notes.

“I am so inspired every time I receive a new subscriber,” says Starr. “These are people who are interested in their community. If I can continue to keep them informed, they are more likely to get and stay involved in the community in different ways. And the more involvement we have in groups, committees and events here in Cottage Grove the better place this is to work, play and live."

As of December 2011, the Grove Notes website was averaging 2,000 hits a month. "These are real people; not 'bot' visitors," says Starr, referring to bot as a virtual tool used by marketers and other businesses to search the Internet for information.

While Grove Notes brings great satisfaction to Starr, it certainly comes at a price. While working a full-time day job, he puts in about an extra 20 to 30 hours on nights and weekends each week working on the e-pub’s production. Beyond the time commitment is monetary expense of publishing. Starr says they publish about 150 copies of the newsletter every month, which costs about $150 when all is totaled for paper, ink, packaging and distribution. Then there are the web expenses that run about $400 a year.

Starr says he has some advertising income and hopes to bring on more in the near future. “We continue to add more subscribers every week, which increases our advertising appeal to local businesses here in Cottage Grove, McFarland, Sun Prairie and other surrounding communities.” And since he has few overhead expenses compared to larger news publications, Starr says he is able to keep advertising rates much lower than the competition while still reaching much of the same audience. Grove Notes also has a donation page where people can visit to find out how to contribute to Grove Notes.

“My goal with Grove Notes is slow, steady growth that allows the publication to evolve in a way that is best for the community it serves,” says Starr. There is the potential for expanding coverage beyond the township and into the village in the future, but he says with the limited money and resources on hand, it will remain as is for now.

Starr, a Michigan State University School of Journalism graduate, started his career in newspapers as a writer for community newspapers in Michigan. He later moved on to the copydesk at Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Ann Arbor News before it closed in 2009. Starr also worked on the copydesk at the Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City and has written for a number of Wisconsin publications, including the Wisconsin State Journal and Madison Magazine.