A Note From the Publisher
Lubbock’s Home & Family Magazine is now 25 years old. I was not involved in the beginning, but, I purchased it in 2006, and have now published it for 15 years. While there were not too many changes the first 10 years—it started as a monthly tabloid size magazine—the last few years have brought several changes. About seven years ago, I moved it from a tabloid size to a beautiful glossy magazine and only produced four issues during the year. Four issues a year may not sound like much, however, we increased the content, the number of pages, the number of local photo shoots we produced ourselves, and also either sponsored or hosted a few events during the years.
Finally, in 2018, God literally woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to move the magazine to a digital platform. While we had a website, we did not promote it actively, so we built a new website to make it easier to read online and actually, we were able to DECREASE the ad prices which opened up the door for many new advertisers to come onboard that would not have been able to afford an ad in a glossy print magazine. We also decided to produce two issues a year rather than four because frankly, people don’t read as much at one setting when they are reading online. Casual reading has evolved in so many ways the last few years.
While I will always love holding a magazine, and turning pages, I have come to love the ease of finding an article in a quick minute. Beyond that, in making that simple, yet hard decision to move to a digital platform, God was preventing a major hardship for me. When our country went into shutdown mode from the virus in March of 2020, God had already provided a way for me to survive it. Previously, the magazines were distributed to hospital lobbies, clinics, daycares, schools, restaurants, and other public places, and they would have been trashed because everyone was instructed to throw away all paper products in public places. The ads of all my advertisers would have landed in the trash—however, God had provided a way to keep those ads alive and well on a website. As a bonus, readership during that shutdown actually grew because people had time on their hands to search the internet more and find all kinds of good reading material. Whew! It always amazes me how things can look so bad, but, also work out for good. The older I get, the more I realize that God truly has our best interests in mind and is watching out for us when we don’t know we need watching out for.
Finally, I am personally asking that you share the website link with some of your friends. Our audience has grown quite a bit beyond Lubbock, into many regions of Texas, the country, and even internationally. Just click the link below and paste it into a welcoming message to your friends and family. I certainly appreciate the loyal readers that have read through our information the last 15 years and I definitely appreciate the many advertisers that have supported our efforts and allowed our readers to read for FREE. Blessings to all! And here’s to another 25 years!
Melody Dawes