Every issue you add to your Subsail account has three different date fields. This can be confusing but they all serve an important purpose.

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Release date

This is used for two things:

  1. As the anchor for automated renewal emails (optional to set up, but super handy for notifying expiring subscribers!)
  2. For customers to see in their accounts, so they know when their future issues are being released.

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Date as first sub issue

This date is used by Subsail to switch the start issue for your “flexi-start” products. This is great when you want to create one product that you can continue selling as new issues are released (the start issue will change automatically using this date).

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Recurring charge date

Subsail uses this date to charge all subscribers who renew with this issue. So, if you’re setting the recurring charge date for issue 5, this is a date around issue 5’s release date that you want to make charges on (for people who have bought up to issue 4).

Most publishers push the charge date a few weeks prior to release date so that subscriber orders are made in advance and can be sent out as soon as they’re printed.