Print & Distribution Policy

Guidde: Distribution Policy Overview

As a City Lifestyle publisher, you benefit from a strong set of core pillars that define success in the publishing world: a respected national brand, a proven business model, and comprehensive training and support from professionals with deep industry expertise. Print and distribution stands as one of these essential pillars, ensuring consistency, quality, and reach.

A hyper-local, luxury lifestyle magazine provides readers with high-quality content, exclusivity, and a tangible connection to their community. Our 82% read rate demonstrates this impact, reaching more than 6.5 million readers every month — and our magazine is FREE to the consumer!

Because you are part of this franchise, you benefit from collective buying power. This provides access to shipping lanes and volume discounts not available to single magazines or small independent publishers. Along with that, buying power comes the knowledge and experience of professionals in every area of publication production.

Distribution Brand Standards & How Residential Routes are Chosen

Mailing is complex, so we’ve built a dedicated Black Tier team to ensure you have the best support available.

Each month, 6,500+ residential copies are mailed directly to the most affluent single-family households in your community. To achieve this, the distribution team selects full postal routes covering the top 6,500–7,000 homes in your territory. 

Your magazine is mailed as USPS (United States Postal Service) Marketing Mail. Residential copies are sent to full USPS carrier routes. Why? Because this secures the best possible mailing rates. 

USPS routes are not static—they regularly shift because of new construction, community growth, and other changes. Because of this and list expiration, we review and update your residential mailing list annually for these route adjustments. We cannot simply “leave distribution the same” when routes change; distribution must align with the current USPS routes. These changes ensure your magazine consistently maintains the best homes for your advertising value.

Once your sales are $6,000–$7,000, you will get video training and then a one-on-one call with the distribution team to review your specific delivery routes.

You can suggest changes during the review, but the list will mostly remain as provided. The highest-priority neighborhoods are typically already selected.

During in-house training, you will receive a business list, which becomes part of your initial distribution plan.

The distribution minimum is 7,000. This number consists of the following: a minimum of 6,500 residential, 475+ businesses, XX customers/clients, XX Additional readers, XXX Publisher Copies. Individual breakdowns can be found in your distribution summary screen. ARC >Distribution> Summary > Use the arrows to select the correct month/year

When to Expect Magazines in Mailboxes

Our target in-home dates vary slightly depending on the part of the country where you live and your deadline dates. Those with earlier deadlines hit the earlier part of the window, and those with later deadline dates hit the later part of the window. Plan to see magazines in homes between the 23rd and the 5th. 

There is a difference between mailing and shipping. CL magazines that arrive in mailboxes are both SHIPPED and MAILED. This strategy furthers the affordability of the mailings by shipping presorted mail directly to a USPS sorting facility, closer to the final destination—saving you postage.

While there are some parts of every magazine that must “drop” locally, 98+% of every magazine is drop-shipped to the local sorting facility.

• Delivering directly to the presort facility saves money on postage
• Presorted mail saves days of time on delivery - delivering deeper into the USPS stream
• Allows distribution to track and verify the movement of the magazines

Mail is Drop shipped via various trucking companies, THEN delivered by the USPS mail carriers

• 1-3 days for the trucking company or a full truck to deliver to the sorting facilities (SCF)
• 1-3 days to deliver from the SCF to the local post offices (DDU’s)
  • Most tiles have a minimum of 4 local DDUs
• 1-3 days to deliver from the DDUs to homes. 
• AVERAGE time from the printing facility to homes is 7 days - NOT counting weekend days

Publisher copies are SHIPPED ground via FedEx. 

• Usually takes 2-3 days.
• Publisher copies and mail copy skids are normally shipped from the printing plant on the same day.
• The average time for publisher copies from the printing facility to the publisher is 2 days

Changes in Distribution 

Changes can be made to the distribution. In fact, we love change! It means GROWTH, excitement in the community, and love of the magazine! There are some facts to know— things to consider— and requirements to meet. 

• ALL changes in distribution take place within the territory zip codes defined in the franchise agreement. CL does not add zip codes as the magazine advances in tier. All territories are strategically designed from the outset to support and sustain a Black Tier publication, with a residential distribution range of 14,000 to 20,000 homes.
  • Zip codes are defined when a territory is created. Each territory is designed at the onset to support and sustain a Black Tier magazine (120+ pages, 14,000+ in distribution) in line with brand standards.
  • City Lifestyle monitors USPS activity closely for any zip code additions or changes. If a new zip code is established within an assigned territory, the publisher will be notified, and it will be added to the territory. However, existing zip codes are not added to territories once the territory has been defined.
  • Once a publisher has reached and consistently maintained:
    • Platinum Tier or higher for 180 days
    • 90 days projected $45K or higher
    • with an appropriate, fully trained staff

They may discuss the possibility of launching an additional publication with their director, provided there is an available territory of interest.

• All residential mail lists have a one-year expiration date. This coincides with the annual review of your distribution. If a current signed franchise agreement is not on file when your list expires (you will have been given ample opportunity to comply with signing your agreement), before we have to proceed to print, CL will proceed with the best possible list based on brand standards, and you will be charged accordingly for production costs incurred based on the new list.  
• A signed franchise agreement must be on file before any distribution changes can be requested or made by the publisher. If the current list expires while the agreement is unsigned, CL will proceed to print as noted in the bullet point above.
• Each Round of Distribution Changes will incur a $500 fee. 
  • This fee may be waived once per year if the publication meets the requirements listed in the tier policy breakdown once Gold status or above is achieved. 
  • If a publication falls below Gold status, the publisher must then adhere to the policy for their current tier.

A Round of Distribution Changes is defined as any/or all of the following:

• Adding one or more new residential routes
• Deleting one or more residential routes
• Replacing one or more residential routes

Annual reviews are conducted on every title

• Required USPS changes must be executed 
• The distribution team will reach out with any updates required by the USPS
• A second Round of Distribution Changes at a later date/time may be permitted upon approval (again, subject to a $500 Fee)

Dropping to Business Refresh, Silver or Bronze Tier for 90 days…

• The Distribution team will reach out with an updated, lowered, or brand-adjusted distribution overview

• All self-managed lists will be pared down, and the title will be reset for

  refresh success.

• The publisher will be given at least 30 days' notice before changes take place

How Readership is Calculated and Media Kit Info

Readership is calculated based on your distribution.  At launch, once your distribution has been finalized, your media kit will be updated. 

Your readership is calculated based on your total number of businesses, clients, and residential homes.  Publisher copies and additional readers are not counted in readership numbers on the media kit. There are some instances where publisher copies might be counted. Ask Distribution for more details.

• Residential homes x 3 - the standard is that each residential home will have 3 readers. 6,500 x 3 = 19,500
• Businesses x 20 x 4 - the standard is that each business will keep the magazine around for approximately 4 months. During each month, 20 people will read it. 500 x 20 x 4 = 40,000
• 59,500 total readership

Core home value range and average income will also be updated at the same time. 

NOTE - Since our brand always mails to the highest value homes in all zips for your territory, when additional residential homes are added, you will be mailing deeper into your community and opening a wider reach to your advertisers. This will always result in a lower “Lowest home value.” This is a good thing; your range just opened, along with the readership number and the distribution quantities.    

Subscriptions or Charging for Magazines

We are a free publication. Charging for publications is a violation of your franchise agreement and would change the postal rates that are paid by CL, preventing the lowest possible rates and causing increases in production costs. Anything mailed by CL on the mailing list is a free publication, therefore not eligible for charges to the recipient of the publication. 

NOTE - There are circumstances where a publisher can charge for SHIPPING magazines to a client for a special event or circumstance. Request additional information through the ticketing process. 

Distribution Policy by Tier

All residential lists expire annually, prompting the time for YOUR annual review.

The distribution tiers outlined below detail what is available and required. 

• The signed franchise agreement must be on file before making changes to distribution.
• USPS-mandated changes are required and may result in increased quantities, which can impact production costs.
• Total print count should not drop below 7,000.
• Residential + Businesses + Clients + Additional readers + Publisher Copies - Exemptions = Total Distribution

Tier Policies:

Just Launched ($16K - $19.9K):

• No changes in distribution or binding are permitted - time is needed to establish the brand
• Page count - 36 to 40 pages (Stitched magazines)

Bronze ($20K - $24.9K): 

• One Annual Round of Distribution Changes for $500
• USPS-mandated changes are exempt from the $500 fee but typically result in quantity changes.
• Targeted page count for a Bronze publisher — 36 to 40 pages

Silver ($25K - $29.9K): 

• One Annual Round of Distribution Changes for $500
• USPS-mandated changes are exempt from the $500 fee but typically result in quantity changes.
• Perfect binding is available when the publication reaches a total page count of 44 pages AND a 3-month revenue forecast of $25K is attained
• Targeted page count for a silver publisher — 36 to 44 pages

Gold ($30K - $39.9K):

• One Annual Round of Distribution Changes at no charge if the page count

  minimum is met —

  • Page count must be a minimum of 44 pages for 3 issues
• USPS-mandated changes are exempt from the $500 fee but typically result in quantity changes. 

• Distribution increased up to 8,000 residential single-family homes with

  90 days in Gold tier and a 3-month revenue forecast of $30K+.

• Recommended to keep the business & clients to a combined to 500 
• Target page count for a Gold publisher — 40 to 56

Platinum ($40K - $49.9K):

• One Annual Round of Distribution Changes at no charge if page & distribution count minimums are met —
  • Page count must be a minimum of 56 pages for 3 issues
  • Distribution must be a minimum of 8,000 residential for 3 issues
• USPS-mandated changes are exempt from the $500 fee but typically result in quantity changes.  
• Distribution increased up to 10,000 residential single-family homes with a 3-month revenue forecast of $40K+
• Target page count for a Platinum publisher — 52 to 72

Diamond ($50K - $60.9K):

• One Annual Round of Distribution Changes at no charge.
• 2nd round waived  if page & distribution count minimums are met  —
  • Page count must be a minimum of 68 pages for 3 issues
  • Distribution must be a minimum of 10,000 for 3 issues
• USPS-mandated changes are exempt from the $500 fee but typically result in quantity changes.
• Distribution increased up to 12,000 residential single-family homes with a 3-month forecast of $50K+ 
• Recommended to keep the business & clients combined to 500
• Target page count for a Diamond publisher — 68 to 92

Black ($70K+):

• One Annual Round of Distribution Changes at no charge.
• 2nd round waived if page & distribution count minimums are met  —
  • Page count must be a minimum of 84 pages for 3 issues
  • Distribution minimum of 10,000 residential for 3 issues
• USPS-mandated changes are exempt from the $500 fee but typically result in quantity changes.
• Distribution increased up to 15,000 residential single-family homes
• Recommended to keep the business & clients combined to 500
• Target page counts for Black publishers 84 and above

*See the chart below for a quick overview of the Distribution Policy by tier.

Policy for Managing “Your Lists”

• Additional Readers are NOT included in readership numbers.
• Your List entries are self-managed by the publisher through the ARC.
• We cap the number of magazines sent to businesses, clients, and readers to maintain a high-quality mailing list. This strategy keeps the list accurate by regularly removing outdated addresses (like those for people who have moved or businesses that have closed), and ensures the magazine only goes to viable advertising partners.
  • Additional Readers: 300 maximum
  • Businesses: 500 maximum
  • Clients: 250 maximum
• Once any cap has been reached, ARC will prevent any new addresses from being added until addresses have been removed to make room for the new addresses. 
• Keep additional readers to a minimum (the cap is 300). The Additional Readers list was designed specifically for friends, family, photographers, writers, staff, article subjects, and their families, those few homes that might be very rural or included in a route of lower statistics, or an active client home address outside of the route/area. 
• DO NOT add entire/full subdivisions to additional readers; use annual distribution to make this kind of addition.
• DO NOT add residential areas outside your territory. Any areas outside of your territory will be removed from the distribution list immediately when detected by distribution.
• Maintain a combination of 500 businesses and clients, which will help to keep your readership numbers high, as businesses/clients have higher readership calculations than residences. 
• All clients are automatically added to your additional readers at the time the contract is signed. Please note that if the address information is incomplete at the time of signing, the address will be transferred incompletely. Please double-check your client addresses on the client list when signing contract

2026 Distribution Policy

Your Lists Quantity Maximum Caps

• Business list - Max: 500
• Customer/Client list- Max: 250
• Additional readers list- Max: 300

Requirements:

• A signed franchise agreement must be on file before any distribution changes can be made. NO exceptions.
• Each distribution change incurs a $500 fee. This fee will only be waived once per year if the publication is at Gold status or higher. See details below.
• All changes are made within current territory zip codes. No existing zip codes are added to current territories.