Simplified Subscription Renewal Process

Subscribers to The Watchtower and Awake!, whether printed magazines or audiocassettes, have received two notifications that their subscriptions are expiring. The first is a preprinted, bar-coded Expiring Subscription slip that is distributed to subscribers through the congregation. This form has been reformatted and will now be printed on off-white paper. The bar code is used to renew the subscription quickly with automated equipment. This is the recommended form to renew a subscription.

The second notification was the subscription renewal form that was inserted into the wrapped magazine or, for audiocassette subscriptions, was mailed directly to the subscriber. Subscribers to the printed magazines will no longer receive a subscription renewal form inserted into the magazine. Instead, an expiration message will be printed on the subscription wrapper. Likewise, most subscribers to the audiocassette editions of The Watchtower or Awake! will no longer receive an expiring subscription notification in the mail. An expiration message will instead be printed on the outside of the cassette subscription package. However, renewal notices will continue to be mailed to subscribers who receive Braille labels and others who receive the audiocassettes as free matter for the blind.

The message printed on the magazine wrapper or on the audiocassette package will serve as a reminder that the subscription will soon expire. If you see the printed message but have not already received the Expiring Subscription slip, please contact the brother who handles subscriptions in your congregation. Renewal subscriptions should always be submitted through the congregation.

For subscriptions obtained from the field, the primary means of notification will be the preprinted Expiring Subscription slip distributed through the congregation. As soon as these forms arrive in the congregation, emphasis should be placed on handing them out to the publishers who originally obtained the subscriptions. Since the subscribers will no longer receive a renewal form inserted in the magazine, it is vital that we follow up with these interested ones and encourage them to renew their subscriptions.​—See Our Kingdom Ministry, October 1988, page 8, and January 1986, page 8.

These timely journals will continue to shine forth spiritual light in a darkened world. We are sure that all will work along with this new arrangement so that all subscribers to The Watchtower and Awake! do not miss a single issue.