Big Changes for GreenPrints!
By Pat Stone
We are all so grateful to you. You get it: you understand—and cherish—the value of a magazine that shares gardening’s heart. It is a joy for me to help Mequoda Publishing Network create this little gardening gem for you. Thank you for making this possible.
GreenPrints is now going through some important changes:
- There will no longer be a print edition. Why? Cost. The big expenses in publishing—paper, printing, and postage—have finally gotten to be too much. This, of course, is happening all over. (How many other gardening publications are still in print these days?) Bill Dugan and all the people at Mequoda are doing a terrific job on the magazine. They’ve created an amazing website. They’ve done great promotion. I’m truly impressed by—and grateful for—their efforts. But, alas, it just doesn’t work to print the magazine anymore.
- That’s the sad news. But there is good news along with it.
- GreenPrints is now monthly! I always wanted to have the magazine come out more than four times a year, but it was too much for me to do by myself. So when they told me the magazine was going digital, I said, “Well then, team, let’s make six issues a year instead of just four.” They came back with “Heck, let’s do it monthly!” That’s 12 issues a year instead of 4! And that’s good news.
- We’ve added audio. My dear wife, Becky, and I have recorded a couple of stories for this issue so you can enjoy listening to GreenPrints! For now, we’re doing a couple of stories per issue to see how subscribers like it. If we get good response, we’ll do more. So your feedback will make a difference.
- We’ve added color. Now the stories themselves can have color illustrations, so enjoy all the delightful artwork—in full color!
- You can print your own issues. Download them, print them out, and enjoy. Or share!
The print edition of GreenPrints lasted a third of a century. That’s a pretty good track record for a small, mom-and-pop-started magazine. And it happened because of your support.
Please stay with us and we’ll keep warming all our lives for another third of a century. Or more!
Thank you and bless you. Keep growing, giving, and loving,
Pat Stone
GreenPrints Founding Editor
P.S. Please feel free to email Bill Dugan, Editor & Publisher of GreenPrints, with any feedback you have about these changes. Bill will share all your comments with me.
As a long-time subscriber, I couldn’t help feeling a pang of regret for the loss of the printed magazine. I have never thrown away my copies but instead shared them with people I met who shared my gardening interests. I sent a number of them to the wife of the man who shared my husband’s room in the cardiac ICU in hopes they would provide some escape from the reality of everyday stress she was facing. I saved an issue from 2004 that has a letter from a woman describing the impact the “donate a subscription” Pat facilitated had on her life. I will scan the letter and send it to you if you wish…it’s so touching. Today I decided to visit your site, and it shows how much work you put into it. The ability to download an issue will enable me to keep treasured stories in a file on my computer to reread. I love this feature! Congratulations on the transition and I believe your membership will increase significantly as you carry GreenPrints into the future. I will gladly share the news!
Thank you, Joan! With readers like you, we’re better positioned to succeed. Your comments are very much appreciated, and I’ve passed them along to Pat Stone. Sincerely, Bill Dugan, Editor & Publisher, GreenPrints
I so agree with Joan. I have kept EVERY issue of my beloved GreenPrints magazine. I too have shared them with many others through the year, & have gifted memberships to friends & family through the years. Those magazines in my, and their, hands have brought much joy in times of grief, struggle & yes, joy. I’m sad to see the print edition discontinued. I am grateful that the last winter edition was still a print edition. The illustration on the front page is my sister, a perfect portrait of my sister (I’m not kidding!) who left this world in 2022. I keep that one on my office desk.
I am very sad to see the discontinuation of the print version. I understand, but I, too have kept most copies since 2018, have shared several, and reread from time to time.
I love the audio stories! I can listen to them while I do other things—like exercising or gardening!