Don't worry, you won't be seeing stuff like that for the next 6 or 10 years. That renewal letter is a one-time mass mailing to all subscribers because we have a price increase coming up thanks to the jacked-up postal rates that Congress just approved. (1st class is not changing, but we're seeing several percentage points' change.)
We wanted to make sure all our current customers know the increase is coming and have a chance to buy at the old price, since unlike most magazines, we reward our subscribers with the best prices, instead of offering all kinds of cut-rate come-ons to newbies and then gouging the subscribers.
Our normal renewals include one "renewal at birth"--standard in the industry, just like newsstand cover dates that are far in advance of the actual calendar date--that comes out when you subscribe and clearly indicates it is an advance renewal. It also offers the best deal so we can hopefully avoid having people lapse accidentally, and its main purpose is to save us sending multiple later renewals that may overlap. (The possible overlap is necessary because an incredible number of people wait for multiple renewal notices, again thanks to industry standards--most magazines never stop hounding people for renewals, so people've trained themselves not to respond to the first few.)
After that first early renewal, we wait until just until you really are running out before we send the final renewal notices.
Magazine renewals are a heavily researched field with lots of standards, many of which we find annoying and choose to ignore, but you will find that the wording on them tends to be a language unto itself. So yeah, these probably don't sound too much like us. Thank goodness! I'd hate to spend all my time asking people for their money. It's... awkward. But necessary.
Margie
