At the beginning of the year, we announced we will stop printing and distributing the Monday edition of the Sun Journal beginning March 2. That day is almost here. Instead of delivering the Monday Sun Journal to your newspaper box or doorstep, we will deliver it to your inbox.

If you are not familiar with the Sun Journal ePaper, I encourage you to spend some time getting acquainted. It is an exact replica of the printed paper, with some added features. Every home delivery subscription comes with full access to the ePaper (and unlimited articles on our website), but you first need to create a user name and password. Visit sunjournal.com/connect and follow the easy steps to connect your home delivery account for online access, or call us at 784-5411 for help.

If you need hands-on support, please join us today — Monday, Feb. 24 — at the Sun Journal’s main office, 104 Park St. in Lewiston, at any time between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., when our staff will be available to walk you through the process.

For our Regional readers, we will hold office hours in Rumford from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. this Wednesday and in Norway from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday. Office hours were held in Farmington last week, but if you missed it and need help, please call the number above.

Once your account is connected, you can access the ePaper — on Monday or any other day — from either the prominent link in the navigation bar on the homepage at sunjournal.com or from the email that arrives in your inbox by 4 a.m. each day (we deliver it on time no matter the weather).

Ceasing print publication on Mondays was not an easy decision. If you are reading this column in print, you are most likely a seven-day home delivery customer. We know you love reading the paper in print, sharing sections and spreading it out on the kitchen table over breakfast. We love that experience, too. We also know our loyal home delivery subscribers are the people who most deeply appreciate the power and importance of our journalism.

In recent months, we have produced important stories with impact, including Lindsay Tice’s story about federal regulators focusing on increasing problems at Marshwood Center in Lewiston, and the exceptionally high number of complaints about patient care; Steve Collins’ enlightening look at Maine’s do-it-yourself spirit and first-in-the-nation innovations; and Donna Perry’s real-time and continuing reporting on the causes and consequences of the tragic explosion in Farmington last fall that killed Capt. Michael Bell and injured many others.

We are also launching a new, Monday-only feature showcasing historic photos from the archives of the Maine Memory Network and the Lewiston Public Library, and will be featuring our top staff photos of the week in Monday editions. We are also bringing back the opinion page to Monday’s paper, featuring commentary on recent events, all of which will be open for reader comments.

The digital-only-Monday strategy preserves that kind of journalism by preserving jobs. The savings in newsprint and delivery costs allows us to maintain our current staffing level, and offsets declines in advertising and increased costs in other aspects of our business.

Still, we realize one thing is not easy to do in the ePaper — the puzzles. So in addition to publishing the crossword, Sudoku and other puzzles in the ePaper, we will also publish many of the Monday puzzles a day early, in the B section of the Sunday paper, starting next weekend. You will find TV grids for Sunday and Monday in the Saturday paper, with the Saturday grid.

At this time, we have no intention to further reduce print days of the week, and we are working urgently to bring new ideas to our advertising customers and enroll more digital subscribers.

We will try to make this transition as smooth as possible, and are grateful for your continued support.

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