Ho-ho-how much for a letter to Santa in the newspaper?

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus —  but if you live in some Newfoundland communities, your parents are going to have to fork out a bit of money to get a letter to him in the paper.

The Western Star, Central Voice and Northern Pen newspapers — all owned by SaltWire Network — have each begun charging $12 for letters from children to Santa to be published.

Until now, the service was free in the Western Star, and the other weekly papers charged a nominal fee, according to the company.  

However, SaltWire says the fee is necessary to pay for a costly production process. 

Lizzie Cramm, regional president of SaltWire in Newfoundland and Labrador, estimates it costs the company $15,000 to print the letters to Santa. 

She said the Western Star, for example, collects up to 800 letters every year. 

"It goes in to our newsroom, to our editorial team to edit them and then from there it actually then moves in to our layout team to design the page [and] from there it actually goes to another department too for the printing of the plates. And then from the printing of the plates it actually then goes to our press room," she said.

"It's quite a process."

Cramm, who said the costs of ink and labour have increased, said the $12 fee still "doesn't even break us even."

"It just goes back to … a business decision based on the economy." 

For now, the St. John's Telegram isn't charging a fee to print letters to Santa, but Cramm said that could change.

"I can only kind of bite off so many things at a time ... the Western Star to me had a little bit more urgency," she said.

"I'll be honest about it. I can't say next year that The Telegram will be in the same boat."

Mom plans her own publication 

Lynn Drover, owner of the Kinder Castle toy store in Corner Brook, said she felt she could do a better job for other families — and free of charge at that.

"Parents have come to me and said 'it's not fair, we can't afford it,'" she told CBC Newfoundland Morning. 

"Twelve dollars is a big jump."

In response, Drover came up with a plan to publish her own book.

Bonus material — including recipes, puzzles and games — will accompany children's letters. She said the resulting publication will cost $2 a copy.

"It doesn't make me any money whatsoever. If we sell every advertising spot available, we would just break even for printing and binding the books," she said.

"So it's really not about making money. It's about carrying on a new tradition for me and my family and hopefully for other families in Newfoundland as well."

Ad spots are selling for $25. Drover said other parents have "already flooded my inbox" with their children's letters.

With files from CBC Newfoundland Morning and Colleen Connors

Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador