Attraction Versus Promotion in the AA Grapevine

This is a topic often discussed by the folks at the AA Grapevine. One Grapevine director's thoughts on the topic: "Like everything else in Alcoholics Anonymous, the Grapevine is for those who want it, not those who need it. We have to keep that very much in mind when we get concerned internally here about circulation. We have initiated surveys to identify who our readers are, and who the nonreaders are; however, in the end, we must trust the Higher Power's plan for the Grapevine. It is my judgment that those of us concerned with the production of the magazine must do our jobs as stewards for the Fellowship and then let the members of the Fellowship decide whether they will not accept our offering. There are days when I'd like to go out and buttonhole everybody and make them subscribers, just as the early members of the Fellowship roamed the gin mills on Third Avenue looking for recruits. As those early members discovered, that was a mistake, and so is excessive promotion of subscriptions. I think our job is to make the magazine available to all and to make it attractive."