A Letter to the Editor of QNM

This morning, I was reading Caity's blog and one of her posts talked about how disappointed she was in the recent changes in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. She posted a copy of a letter she wrote to the editors and I had to laugh a little because I'd done the same thing just over a week ago and had listed very nearly the same complaints that Caity detailed. Here's a copy of the letter I sent to QNM:

Dear Editors, I just wanted to write to you and tell you how disappointed I am in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine's recent format change. I deliberately waited a few months to contact you because I know sometimes we can all be resistant to change and I'd hoped that as I became accustomed to the new look and content changes that I would appreciate them more. Instead the opposite is true. I dislike it more with every issue and no longer look forward to QNM showing up in my mailbox the way I have for the past 15 years. What I always liked about QNM was that it wasn't just another average pattern magazine. I liked the emphasis on how-to articles; profiles of quilters, both well-known and not-so-well-known; reviews of new books, products, and websites; show-and-tell style photos of quilts; show info; and editorial opinions. I liked the fact that there was usually a good mixture of traditional quilts and more innovative styles represented on your pages. There were always a couple of patterns included, but that wasn't the primary function of the magazine all these years, which made it different than 90% of the other quilting magazines out there. Now the content seems to be emphasizing traditional quilts and patterns at the expense of innovation and information. The photography and page layouts seem "cutesy" to me, with props and odd angles instead of clean, professional, straight-on photographs of the quilts. I feel like I've gotten used to a sophisticated product that has decided to "dumb down". It's very disappointing. I'm a member of many quilt groups and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, so I hope others are making their opinions known too, and I hope you will listen and consider making changes that will return QNM to the high-quality publication it was for so many years. As it stands now, for the first time in 15 years I don't plan to renew my subscription when it expires. But I'll be watching every new issue and will be open to changing my mind, as I hope you are. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Deb Richardson

I received a brief, but very nice, note back from editor Irene Berry saying they were "grateful I took the time to share my thoughts", etc., etc. Of course I have my doubts about them listening, but then again you never know. If enough people hate the changes as much as Caity and I do, and all those people let them know that, then maybe it will make a difference. We can but hope...