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Download a list of 2024 due dates The Latest
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Executive Summary
BackgroundOur Community News (OCN) is an all-volunteer monthly newspaper that has been published since June 2001. We have been on newsprint and taking ads since November 2001. About 30 volunteers are currently involved in writing, editing, layout, and distribution. Click here for more information on OCN. We offer Display Ads and Inserts. Our ad rates remain among the lowest in the area. Considering our very large circulation, OCN offers a per-printed-copy rate that is a fraction of the cost of advertising in local commercial newspapers. OCN does not use contracts but you can buy all the space in advance you want to lock in the current rate for that space. You can purchase ad space month-to-month to meet your changing advertising needs. Everyone pays the same low rate. You can also buy all the ad space in advance you want at the current rate. You aren't obligated to run any particular size ad or to run in any particular issues. We hold the space on account until you are ready to use it. In addition to writing fewer checks, another advantage to buying space in advance is that you are buying the space at the current rate so even when we must raise our ad rates to cover increases in circulation and production costs, your ads are run at the rate you paid. Some of our advertisers have paid a year or two in advance, which has been quite a savings for them. Unlike advertising contracts, it's risk-free: If you find you bought more space than you need, you can get a refund for the unused space at the price you paid. To purchase space in advance, all you need to do is send a check for the amount of space you want to purchase. Click here for more information about payments. Advertising PolicyLocal Advertiser Preference
To calculate the non-discounted rate that applies to out-of-area advertisers, divide the discounted rate by 0.75. Our advertising rates are subject to change without notice. Our Community News reserves the right to determine which ads will be published. CirculationOCN's primary distribution is by U.S. Postal Service carrier route saturation mailing covering the area from County Line Road on the north to North Gate Road on the south and from the mountains east to Highway 83. Each letter carrier delivering in that area receives enough copies for their route and places one copy in each mailbox. On Friday, the day before the publication date, our volunteers deliver the copies counted out by carrier route to each of the three post offices (Briargate, Monument, and Palmer Lake) that serve our area. With carrier route saturation mailing, the postal service has a three-day window for delivery; however, our experience has been that the vast majority (95% or more) of the papers are delivered on the publication date. OCN's guaranteed mailed circulation is 22,000. The print run for the March 2, 2024 issue: 23,450. Distribution of those copies:
Total mailed circulation = 22,704 papers. Most of the remaining 746 papers from our 23,450 print run go to stacks at more than 100 locations in Monument, Palmer Lake, Larkspur, and Black Forest. Copies are almost always available in racks at the Covered Treasures Bookstore (on the corner of 2nd and Washington in Monument). We also offer subscriptions. Due DatesDownload a list of 2024 due dates The publication date and ad due dates appear on the right near the top of the home page of this web site and on the inside back page of each issue of the paper. Note that we call them "due dates" rather than "deadlines." Even if you contact us after the due dates, we will do our best to get your ad in the next issue. Regular Publication Date: First Saturday of Each Month.Due Date for Space Reservation and Ad Copy: Friday, 5 pm, Three Weeks Prior to the Publication Date.To be sure your ad is included in an issue, please let us know what size ad you are planning and, the graphics and ad copy if we are to do the layout, by Friday three weeks prior to the publication date. Although we will work hard to get your ad into the paper, we greatly appreciate it if you can send all submissions, changes, and cancellations by this due date. If you contact us after that time, we may not have sufficient ad space remaining in the paper or may not be able to offer layout of your ad. Due Date for Finished Ads in Electronic Form: Friday, 5 pm, Two Weeks Prior to the Publication Date. Requests for ad layout or ad changes received after this due date may not be possible or may be subject to additional charges including a late booking fee of 10% of the ad cost and a late layout charge of $60 per hour for the time it takes our advertising staff to prepare the ad layout.If you plan to prepare your ad or have it prepared by a graphic artist, finished ads in electronic form are due Friday, 5 pm, two weeks prior to the publication date. Formats for submission of ads in electronic form are shown below under Ad Layout. If it looks like you are going to miss a due date, please contact us as soon as possible. We will work hard to help you meet your advertising objectives; however, we cannot guarantee that any ads or changes that come in after the second due date will be included in that issue. Display Ads in the paperRatesBusiness card related sizesOCN's only fixed-size ads are business card size and related sizes. The rate for business card sized ads (3.25" wide x 1.75" high) for local businesses is $36.97 For out-of-area advertisers, the rate for business card sized ads is $49.31 Multiples of business card size cost the same multiple of the business card rate. For example, for a local advertiser, a double business card sized ad (3.25" x 3.5") costs 2 x $36.97 = $73.94. A triple business card size (3.25" x 5.25") costs 3 x $36.97 = $110.91 and so forth. Please note that our "business card size" is a bit smaller than a conventional business card. That is done so three business card sized ads will fit within the printable width of the page (10"). Vertical format business card sized ads (1.75" wide x 3.25" high) are OK. Aside from sizes related to the business card size, OCN doesn't have fixed ad sizes and, for local advertisers, the ads are instead priced at $6.50 per square inch. For out-of-area advertisers, the rate is $8.67 per square inch. To determine the cost for an ad, multiply the ad's width in inches by the ad's height in inches to get the number of square inches and then multiply by the applicable rate per square inch. With the exception of the full-page ad dimensions given above, these are just examples. OCN can accept any size ad as long as it isn't wider than 10" or taller than 20"; however, the minimum ad space purchase per issue is the equivalent of a business card size. If you have an ad you like that has run in another publication, please ask them to email a high resolution version (300 dpi or better) electronic form of the ad to ads@ocn.me and we will usually be able to run it as is. If minor changes or resizing of an ad you have run elsewhere are needed, we can usually handle that as well at no additional charge. There will generally be more flexibility in where your ad appears in the paper if you use the preferred OCN ad widths: 1.9", 2.4", 3.25", 3.9", 4.9", 5.9", 6.6", 7.4", 7.9" or 10". All the dimensions shown above are full-bleed. The border of the ad should match the specified dimensions. Unlike most newspapers, OCN does not charge advertisers for the white space that surrounds their ads. Some ads may be printed larger than specified if space is available and we feel it will improve the appearance of the page or the response to your ad. During newspaper layout, your ad may be reduced in size up to 3% in order to include your ad on the page or position you requested or on the page or position where we think your ad will garner the greatest response. Special placementThere is a $0.25 per square inch additional charge for special placement; that is, if you want your ad to appear on a particular page or position. Please contact us well ahead of the ad space reservation due date if you are interested in space on pages 2, 3, 4, 5, or the back page. Those locations tend to sell out quickly. Unless otherwise stated, those who pay for special placement have a right-of-first-refusal on that special placement for the following issue. That means if someone has paid for special placement in a particular spot in the paper, they have first call on that spot for the next issue. If they decide not to run in that spot in the next issue, then it is open for another advertiser to pay for special placement in that spot. In keeping with traditional newspaper traditions, OCN does not run ads on the front page. ColorTo help you make your ad stand out, we offer good-quality, full-color printing. If you are interested in including color in your ad, please contact us. The additional cost is $1.25 per sq. in. To calculate the additional cost for any ad, multiply the width of the ad in inches times the height of the ad in inches times $1.25. That works out to $7.11 additional for a business card sized ad, $25 additional on a 20 sq. in. ad, or $50 additional on a 40 sq. in. ad. Those wanting to include color in their ads may also want to consider running an insert. Ad LayoutWe will gladly scan your artwork and work with you to prepare your ad for the paper. There is no charge for this service provided you run your ad at least once in OCN. You own the copyright on ads we prepare for you. Feel free to reuse them in other publications. If you contact us after the due date for ad space reservations, we may not be able to offer layout of your ad. In that case, we will provide you with names of local graphic designers who, for a fee, may be able to prepare your ad for the paper. Once we have prepared your ad, we will email to you an Adobe Acrobat PDF (portable document format) file of the ad. Since many cell phone screens are small and low resolution, we recommend you review the draft ad on a desktop or laptop computer screen or in a print-out to be certain it looks the way you want before emailing your approval. FormatsIf you want to lay out your ad or have a graphic designer prepare your ad, please note that we use Windows-based PCs and can accept the following file formats:
If you have a choice, we prefer Microsoft Publisher or PDF. With Microsoft Publisher, stick to fairly common typefaces we are likely to have or prior to saving the .PUB file and emailing to ads@ocn.me:
With PDFs, please select the Adobe Acrobat option to "Embed all typefaces." If possible, PDFs should be PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant. If you send your ad in a graphic image format, please use 300 dpi or higher. Lower resolution graphics will look fuzzy or pixilated when printed. For best appearance in the paper, use 600 dpi or 1200 dpi. Once you have prepared your ad, you may email the file as an attachment to ads@ocn.me or, if the file size exceeds your email system's limits, we recommend you use the free services at www.emaillargefile.com or www.transfernow.net to email large files to us at ads@ocn.me. If you don't receive an acknowledgement of your email within a day or two, please send an email to ads@ocn.me or call John Heiser at (719) 488-2455 to make sure we have received it. GraphicsNote that OCN is printed on a cold set web press on newsprint using a direct-to-plate process. This results in the contrast of photos and graphics being flattened somewhat. For best appearance, unless you are running a color ad, we recommend that you convert all graphics and photos to grayscale and then adjust contrast and brightness to a full tonal range from white to black with just a bit more contrast that you might otherwise use. If you are submitting a color ad, please use CMYK process color. OCN is printed at about 300 dots per inch (dpi). If you prepare your ad as a raster image (GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, etc.), please make sure that it is generated at 300 dpi or more. Lower resolution graphics will look fuzzy or pixilated when printed. For best appearance in the paper, use 600 dpi or 1200 dpi. Design Recommendations
InsertsFor greater visibility, have your advertising flyer inserted into our paper and distributed throughout the Tri-Lakes area. Here is how it works: You supply sufficient quantities of your flyer, we do the rest for $45.00 per 1,000 ($0.045 per mail stop) for flyers weighing up to 0.2 oz. There is a charge of $8 per 1,000 per additional 0.2 oz. A sheet of copy paper weighs about 0.15 oz. Most 70# or 80# glossy color paper weighs about 0.25 oz. per sheet, so if you intend to run a glossy color flyer, plan on a cost of $53 per 1,000 ($0.053 per mailbox). Partial-run inserts are now offered. You can pick one or two of the post offices in our circulation. See the circulation section above for the number of papers that are delivered to each area. For example, Palmer Lake and Monument 13,670 or Monument and Gleneagle 19,518 . For our current full print run of 23,440 the cost for inserting a single sheet of copy paper would be about $1,054.80The cost for inserting a typical glossy color flyer would be about $1,242.32 Pages in OCN are printed 11" wide by 21" high and then the paper is folded in half to 10.5" by 11". Inserts that are 8.5" x 11" fit nicely. Inserts that are significantly smaller than 8.5" x 11" have a tendency to fall out of the paper when the letter carriers are delivering the papers. As a result, OCN no longer accepts inserts that are significantly smaller than 8.5" x 11". Inserts larger than 10.5" x 11" must be folded to no more than 10.5" x 11" to avoid being damaged during handling. We have had good results with inserts that were 11" x 17" folded to 8.5" x 11". If you decide to run an insert, please contact us to make arrangements to have your inserts picked up. Please provide 2% spare copies of your item to ensure we have enough copies to complete the mailing. Our volunteers will be glad to drop off left-over copies. If you have questions about a particular item you are thinking of running as an insert, please contact John Heiser at (719) 488-3455 or ads@ocn.me. Order FormView and print our advertisement order Form on-line or download it in MS Word Rich Text Format to complete and print off-line. Alternatively, you can just email your name, business name, phone and FAX numbers, email address, and the size of ad you are interested in to ads@ocn.me. PaymentPayment is due when you approve your ad artwork or when your insert is run in the paper. On request, we will gladly mail or email an invoice after the issue is published. Payment is considered late if not received by the publication date of the next issue after the issue that carried your ad or insert. Note that late payments do not qualify for Frequent Advertiser Bonus (FAB) rewards. There are details on OCN's FAB rewards program posted at www.ocn.me/fab.htm. A fee of the greater of 1.5% of the amount due or $2.00 per month may be applied to late payments. Payments may be made by check, money order, cash, PayPal account, credit or debit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa), or using PayPal Credit® deferred payment service. Our preferred forms of payment are check and money order. Compared to credit or debit cards, using a check or money order greatly reduces the associated fees and thereby maximizes your FAB rewards that you earn to reduce the cost of future OCN advertising. Please make checks and money orders payable to Our Community News and mail them to P.O. Box 1742, Monument, CO 80132-1742. Payments may also be dropped off at the Covered Treasures Bookstore at the corner of 2nd and Washington Streets in Monument. Anyone at the counter can take your payment and store it for us to pick up. On-line PaymentIf you wish to pay by credit card, debit card, PayPal account, or PayPal Credit®, you can use the following button: Note that for any type of ad space or insert purchase, the quantity you enter on the PayPal page must be a whole number greater than zero (1, 2, 3, etc.). Suppose you want to run or have run a 13.2 sq. in. ad. At per sq. in., that size ad costs as the quantity. Whenever you change the quantity, be sure to click the Update link below it to see the amount of the payment that will be made and confirm that it is the amount you intend to pay. Alternatively, you can send a payment of any size by clicking here: PayPal.me If you prefer, we will be glad to email to you an invoice with a link to a secure PayPal page where you can make the payment. If you do not have a PayPal account, when you get to the secure PayPal page, click on "Don't have a PayPal account?" or "Pay with a credit card or debit card" and then you can enter your credit card, debit card, or PayPal Credit® information to make the payment. Note that if you do have a PayPal account, for amounts of $162 or more, using a PayPal money transfer or eCheck to pay the invoice may reduce the associated PayPal fees and will result in you earning greater FAB rewards that can reduce the cost of future OCN advertising. Automatic monthly payments: Ad space subscriptionsIf you wish to run a business card sized ad or double business card sized ad and prefer to set up automatic monthly payments using your PayPal account, use the following ad space subscription button: If you wish to run a (20 sq. in.) ad and prefer to set up automatic monthly payments using your PayPal account, use the following ad space subscription button: If you prefer to set up automatic payments of up to $1,000 per month using your PayPal account and the above choices do not fit your situation, select a limit amount greater than or equal to the cost of your ad and click on the following ad space subscription button: Once you have made your first monthly payment, we will refund the excess from your first payment and adjust the monthly amount to exactly cover the cost of your OCN advertising. With any of the ad space subscriptions, your payment will be made each month on the same day as when you entered the ad space subscription except that ad space subscriptions entered on the 29th, 30th, or 31st of the month will in subsequent months be adjusted so as to be made on the 1st. To revise or cancel your monthly ad space subscription, log into your PayPal account and make the change in your pre-approved or recurring payment schedule. Alternatively, you can cancel your monthly ad space subscription using the following button: If you need help creating or making changes to your monthly ad space subscription, please contact John Heiser at (719) 488-3455 or ads@ocn.me. Double Up and Catch UpFor those with significant outstanding unpaid balances, rather than refusing to run any more ads for that advertiser, we have a "double up and catch up" program. To place an ad in the next issue, the advertiser must pay in advance twice the amount of the new advertising. Half of the payment covers the new advertising. The other half is applied against the past due amount. For example, suppose an advertiser owes $500 for prior ads and wishes to place a $100 ad. The advertiser would pre-pay $200. $100 would cover the new ad and $100 would reduce the outstanding balance to $400. Please contact us if you wish to take advantage of this program. Testimonials
Frequently Asked QuestionsWhere can I get a copy of OCN?
What about classified ads?
Can I pay with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal?
Can I get a discounted ad rate if I buy ad space in several issues?
Do you have a discounted ad rate for certain organizations, individuals, or events?
Will you run a free article about my business or run an informational article I have written?
Need more information?For more information or to arrange an appointment to discuss your advertising needs, please contact:
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Home About Advertise Archive Calendar Contact Donate Help Links Maps Subscribe Topics UpdatesContact us at (719) 488-3455, ads@ocn.me, editor@ocn.me, or P.O. Box 1742, Monument, Colorado 80132-1742.This page was last modified on February 27, 2024. Home page: www.ocn.me.Copyright © 2001-2024 Our Community News, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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