Back to My Roots
In early 2001, I drove my pickup truck two hours to a family-owned print shop in Spokane, Washington where I loaded up 5,000 copies of my premiere, full-color, self-titled, self-published magazine, MaryJanesFarm.
Prior to that, I was printing a catalog locally on black and white newsprint, making its way into the world by word-of-mouth and sophisticated marketing endeavors like my son selling them along the side of our gravel county road.
Back then “cut and paste” really did involve scissors and glue. Along the way, I tossed in a few stories and called my publication a “magalog.” Seven years later, we were still in business, producing, by then, 12 more issues of MaryJanesFarm magalog. In 2008, an East coast publisher approached us, saying they’d like to join in by paying us a set production fee, and take over its promotion, subscriber management, and the collection of monies.
Eighteen years later, they informed us that the Oct/Nov 2027 issue of MaryJanesFarm magazine would be the last one they’d publish, in other words, we’d produce six more issues (one more year). It was early summer 2025 and we’d just sent the Oct/Nov 2025 issue to the printer and was about half-way done with the Dec/Jan 2026 issue (we work months in advance to allow for printing and mailing). They did one last promo to find new subscribers and pick up as many renewals as possible. Once those monies had come in, they informed us they were discontinuing the magazine. No more issues. The six issues we’d been told they’d publish were canceled, effective immediately. The money they brought in from our subscribers is called “subscriber liability.” As deal making in the world of publishers goes, they sold their subscriber liability to People, Inc., specifically Magnolia Journal. Why would People, Inc. buy it? They can turn to their advertisers with new statistics, laying claim to more subscribers (possibly increasing the price of their ads). In addition, they essentially purchased a mail list they can use to pick up new subscribers for their own publications. And they can also make money by selling the names they bought to other publications wanting to buy names.
We have been denied access to any, and all, information about our subscribers. We’ve heard from some of our readers who’ve called the publisher’s call center, 800-476-4611, and have been successful in getting a refund rather than a replacement.
Our plan is to return to our roots and self-publish MaryJanesFarm magazine four times per year. We will create and print it at the farm and mail it from the farm. In doing so, we’ll be able to provide our readers with the care and respect they deserve. If you have questions, you can call us at 888-750-6004 or email us at iris@maryjanesfarm.org.
Going forward we won’t have subscribers. We’ll sell the magazine issue by issue. Future issues will be mailed out:
April 1 (April/May/June 2026) Currently being mailed out from the farm!
July 1 (July/August/September 2026)
October 1 (October/November/December 2026)
January 1, 2027 (January/February/March 2027)
Each one will sell for $19.79 plus shipping. If you buy more than one in advance, your total shipping charge will reflect separate shipping charges for each issue. Please note that because MaryJanesFarm
is a magazine with ads, it cannot be shipped USPS Media Mail.
Below are some notable advantages to our self-published magazine.
- Our magazine will be printed on sturdy paper, perfectly capable of supporting the two metal ring binders used to keep it together, a plus because the magazine can now fold back on itself (lay flat) when following crafting, stitching, or recipe instructions.
- Its design will be such that the recipes can be pulled from each issue and put in a binder, eventually creating a farm kitchen recipe book. Routinely, we get requests for past recipes that a reader somehow misplaced and can’t remember which issue it was in; this will solve that problem.
- Each issue will be shipped in a kraft box ensuring that it will arrive safe and sound.
We’ll continue our successful and immensely joyful “Keeping in Touch” section. Please email your Readers Write entries to KIT@maryjanesfarm.org.
Oct/Nov/Dec 2026
theme: Everyday Miracles
Readers Write deadline: August 1, 2026
Jan/Feb/March 2027
theme: Exclamation!
Readers Write deadline: November 1, 2026
I have a pile of lovely and supportive cards and letters in a basket on my desk. Please know that your kindness and overwhelming support has transformed my dark moment with a blaze of light.
