From the Editor
Over the past few years, many of our friends have asked what it is like to run a newspaper. Like you, we are locals who want to share the latest happenings and issues that affect our community. We care about the Jersey Shore because it’s our home and we love everything this area has to offer.
Shore Local has been our full-time job since its inception in March of 2016. Many people have asked how it can possibly be free. It is the advertisers that make it happen. They fund this publication and it would not be possible without them. We appreciate them greatly and humbly ask that you in turn, support them.
From the beginning, Bob and I took on distinct roles. I handle editorial, online content and social media, while Bob heads up all advertising and accounting. Fortunately, as the business grew over the years, our adult daughter, Sarah moved back to the area to also work full-time as a staff writer. Our other daughter, Holly teaches full-time and edits part-time.
Shore Local is SO much more than simply our family though. We have been blessed with a team of fabulous writers, photographers and videographers, all of whom live in and care deeply about our community.
We began working remotely, but opened an office about six months prior to the pandemic. Realizing we were not utilizing it as much as planned, coupled with the unknown of 2020, we quickly gave it up and resumed working from our home and favorite coffee shops.
Every morning, Sarah and I will discuss story ideas, schedule interviews, and discuss upcoming publishing dates. We will stop at Wawa and Acme on the way to a cafe, grabbing bundles of magazines from the trunk and adding them to the rack in the store lobbies.
Then we get to work. Sarah types quickly, taking notes while she conducts an interview. I examine the layout, carefully placing each feature. One by one, I turn in each to our graphic designer with specific instructions.
Each day is a little different, depending on how close our publication date is set. On deadline days, Bob, Sarah and I work closely with our copy editors James and Holly to get the final draft of each story. We are in constant communication with our graphic designer to set pictures and write captions, include bio boxes and headlines, and finalize the cover.
On Wednesdays, from 6 p.m. to 11-ish, the three of us are staring at our computers, studying each page to make sure there are no typos. (there is always one that gets by us.) We submit photos and brainstorm cover headlines that will draw in new readers. At the end of the night, Bob sends the final version to the printer and thousands of copies print overnight.
Early the following morning, Bob wakes up, grabs his coffee for the road, and drives out in our cargo van to pick up all the bundles of the new issue. Then it is feet on the street. Throughout the rest of the day, he will hand off bundles to every delivery driver, each covering different zones.
At home, I upload the new issue to our website and post the cover shot on social media, tagging every writer and photographer included in the book. I make sure the event listings are available digitally and our subscribers receive an email outlining the new stories. We do it again and again and we have now published well over 200 issues in our six years in business.
Thank you for supporting our little family business. We couldn’t do this without you, our reader, who generously devotes their time to this homegrown publication.
Peace & Love,
Cindy
