To Our Readers
In June 2007, in keeping with a trend that has shaken the newspaper industry around the world, The Nantucket Independent became free to you, our readers. At the same time, we embarked on a business model that has worked well for 20 years for the Martha's Vineyard Times; that of mailing the newspaper to every address on the island.

We have learned once again what we always knew; that Nantucket and the Vineyard are not the same. On the other island there are almost no carrier routes. Just about everyone gets their mail in post office boxes. In contrast, on Nantucket there are extensive carrier routes, but many people also have post office boxes.

To address this overlap, the delay inherent in reaching readers through the post office and the difficulty in timing the seasonal ebb and flow of the population with updated mailing lists available only once a month, effective with the issue of April 30, we will discontinue mailing The Independent.

At the same time we will step up very substantially the "drop" distribution, so that you can pick up the newspaper in a timely manner. As noted in an announcement elsewhere in this issue, The Independent is available at more than 50 yearround locations and another 30 or so in-season. We will continue to add distribution points, as well as increase deliveries to places like the real estate offices where we already drop off extra copies of the Nantucket Real Estate Guide.

As the distribution process evolves, we welcome your comments and questions. Please email me at drake@nantucketindependent.com or call me at 508-228-1654. We understand that the decision not to mail the paper will disappoint some, but we also believe that many of our staunchest supporters will welcome the decision.

We greatly appreciate the welcome the newspaper has received from our readers and advertisers. As the result, of that support, in less than five years The Nantucket Independent has become the island's most trusted and widely read news source.

Without question, The Independent will continue to be free - every Wednesday!

- Daniel W. Drake Associate Publisher