The Q-Notes staff is excited to announce two new changes we hope will streamline your experience as a reader and strengthen our ability to deliver you the best and most up-to-date LGBT news, arts, entertainment and opinion across the Carolinas.
CityPages
Coinciding with the distribution of our Oct. 31 print issue, we unveiled our new “CityPages” at www.q-notes.com.
Readers can now view news, opinion and arts and entertainment features by city and metro region. Each CityPage features local news stories, local links of interest and links to Q-Notes’ QGuide, featuring local listings for community organizations and non-profits, nightlife venues, restaurants, cafés and bookstores, LGBT-inclusive faith institutions, AIDS service organizations and other LGBT-friendly businesses. Listings in the QGuide are free and can be submitted online at www.q-notes.com/qguide/submit/.
Current CityPages include Charlotte, Raleigh/Triangle, Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point) and Columbia. Other CityPages are coming soon, including Eastern N.C., Western N.C., Upstate S.C. and Coastal S.C.
Distribution strategy
Our second change comes as all print media struggle to find ways to shift and adapt strategies for surviving in a tough economic climate and a new media reality.
Many readers have surely noticed that our print version, delivered to home subscribers and hundreds of newsstands across the Carolinas every two weeks, has decreased in page count as a result of this changing marketplace. We’ve had to make a tough decision to realign our print distribution strategies and focus resources where they might best serve our readers and enable us to continue our more than two-decade service to the LGBT community.
Without cutting our 11,000 bi-weekly print run, we’re dropping much of our print distribution in South Carolina starting with the Nov. 28 issue and will begin consolidating distribution in the Columbia area. We feel we can make an impact in local and state politics by focusing our print copies in the Palmetto State’s capital city. As much of our news and features focus on our community’s political and social movement, we think increased Q-Notes distribution in Columbia will help provide a more effective platform on which your needs can be placed right on the doorstep of the South Carolina State House.
For those readers living in other parts of South Carolina, we know this might come as a disappointment. We want you to know that we haven’t and won’t forget you. We’ll be adding Upstate S.C. and Coastal S.C. CityPages to our website soon and will continue to cover your events and local news online and in print when possible. We intend to initiate similar print consolidation strategies in North Carolina, as well.
Home subscriptions are available for reasonable and affordable rates as low as $10 per year.
Your feedback is valued
We want you to know that Q-Notes appreciates and values your comments, suggestions and criticisms. We take them to heart and put them to use in improving our coverage of the Carolinas’ LGBT communities. We’d love to hear your feedback about our new CityPages and new distribution strategy, as well as any other comments or suggestions you might have. As always, feel free to email or call us at anytime. You can reach us at info@q-notes.com and 704-531-9988.
We appreciate and thank you for your readership and support, your patronage of Q-Notes’ advertisers and the support and encouragement you’ve continually given us for almost 24 years.