...would you be interested in a mailing list specifically for node publishers
Yes I would.
I'm kinda sad about the Node-RED 2.0.2 Released thread. You took the time to contact all of us node-red-contrib makers to let us know that our package is kaput, and it seems like this 3rd Party Nodes survey came about because of the lack of response from us 3rd party creators.
I'm happy to see something being done to herd us cats 
most of us have full time jobs and prefer to create instead of live on the forum/slack in the little free time we have.
What I don't understand is its rather easy to abandon a package and make a note. Ive done this with node-red-contrib-i2c-lcd-adafruit-sainsmart and in big bold letter at the top I've posted Broken for node-red version 1.4 or greater and let others know why I'm not maintaining it and if you want to take it over.
I hope the solution your framing up now for certification will solve the issue of these packages showing up in the flows search. We need a button to sort through the 3000 packages for the maintained apples 
@dceejay has sent me off on a todo list before Node-red-node-ping - Add options for IPv4/IPv6 selection - #2 by meeki007
I'm highly interested in throwing 4hrs a week at helping out with this issue. If its just testing or contacting people thats fine. I have no issue admitting my JS skills are no where near the level of some of you guys, but I do manage to get a PR approved now and again.
