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The most recent arrivals of assorted writing and publishing magazines, journals that review books, and newsletters focused on writing and publishing trends are forming a mountain on my desk. This pile is competing with the to-be-read novel pile. All this reading is cutting into my writing time. No lie--I’ve started keeping some book review magazines in my car to read when I show up somewhere a tad early or I have to wait for someone or something.
And there are lots of tempting magazines, journals, and newsletters available: Publisher’s Weekly, The Writer, Writer’s Digest, Poets and Writers, The Writer’s Journal, The SCBWI magazine, Lion and the Unicorn, Horn Book Magazine, School Library Journal, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Children’s Writer newsletter, Children’s Writer Marketplace . . . And I’ve named just a few.
A little voice in my head is nagging that I must trim down on the subscriptions. The only thing I know for sure is that I will not (WILL NOT) give up my subscription to Writer’s Digest. An issue of that magazine will have to be pried from my dead, rigor mortised hands at some point.
Am I alone here? Do you subscribe to magazines, journals, newsletters, and periodicals? If so, do you have a favorite or favorites? If you had to give up one or two, which would you let go?
I can only afford one subscription, so I have my prized subscription to Writer's Digest that I've pre-paid for the next two years! I used to get issues of The Writer from the Fair Lawn library, but they stopped their subscription two years ago.
ReplyDeleteOh I have a subscription to Women's Weekly and Woman's Own! :-) Otherwise I borrow writerly mags from friends and work in a library that has e-access to lots of lit mags so that's ok otherwise I don't think I'd be able to afford any of them!
ReplyDeleteTake care
x
I used to subscribe to magazines, but then felt like because I subscribed. I had to read every single word of the magazine, and it just got to be too much. So, I quit cold turkey. Every once in awhile, I think I should re-subscribe, but so far I've held out.
ReplyDeleteWe keep our magazines in the bathroom. Yeah, I know, it's not always the most convenient place to read, but I do get my magazines read that way. And I get some alone time.
ReplyDeleteOnly get rid of the subscriptions you find yourself flipping through. That's how I know I don't need to receive them anymore.
Wow. I don't subscribe to ANY magazines!! My only reading of that sorta stuff is online. I can see how a lot of them would cut into your writing time (like all the online info cuts into mine!!)
ReplyDeletePS! I mentioned you in my blog post today. :D
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem. I think I need to do what you talked about--taking some of those publications with me to read when I have to wait. Otherwise I've paid for these publications that I never read. ugh
ReplyDeleteAh, the loss of THe Writer sounds like a library cut back, Sabrina. I subscribed to that mag for a while, but it was too expensive.
ReplyDeleteWorking in a library has it's perks, doesn't it, Old Kitty? ; )
Quit them all? I'm impressed, Alissa.
Great point about the flip test, E.R. And too funny about the bathroom being an escape for alone time.
Thanks, Carol. And now I'm curious. I'll pop over to your latest post. : )
It is frustrating to pay for the darn things and then struggle to find time to read them, Donna. And they do pile up. Ugh.
They definitely are useful and worth the money spent buying them. I've cut back drastically though. I get the Writer's Digest freebie online. I find tht too many of them distract me from writing.
ReplyDeleteI get Children's Writer and the SCBWI Bulletin. If I could afford it/had more time, I get Writer's Digest...but...every once in a while I buy an issue at the book store.
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh, I had a giggle when I read this post. I can sooooo relate!! I have so many of those types of magazines cluttering up my desk waiting to be read. I really need to make the time for them.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking to me? I can't tell. The stack of magazines is blocking my view. Wait a sec' while I move them....
ReplyDeleteI get the online version of the Writer's Digest. Because I live in Canada, it's A LOT cheaper to subscribe to it that way (it's $16 instead of $30+). I switched to getting the SCBWI Bulletin online, but I never read it. I do, though, get the RWA magazine. It's way better than the SCBWI Bulletin.
ReplyDeleteYup, it's the distracting that's killer, J.L.
ReplyDeleteBuying the issues is another option, Bish. I've been considering that.
Ah, I'm kind of glad that I'm not alone, Lynda and Carol. : )
Interesting, Stina. Online subscriptions would, at least, clean up my desk.
I don't have a subscription, but I pick one up once in a while. Too many things to read and too little time, that's my problem.
ReplyDeleteI subscribe to Mslexia magazine, which is good and used to subscribe to Writers' Forum. I find I don't always get around to reading them from cover to cover though.
ReplyDeleteI get the SCBWI magazine and I received Writer's Digest for a year. I still have issues of Writer's Digest to go through. Both mags are so informative, but as with everything, i have to find the time for it all!
ReplyDeleteI used to subscribe to Writer's Digest back in the day but now I just bookstore browse them. I did just pick up the Poet's & Writer's latest issue, which had the theme of inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI subscribed to most of the above at one time or another, plus Prevention, Reader's Digest, and no doubt ones I'm forgetting. Ten years or so ago, I gradually let most of them go, realizing how much money I could save and that so much was available online. I miss in-print book reviews, but not enough to re-subscribe. I browse magazines at the library now and then.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any paper subscriptions anymore. I realized I just didn't have time to read them a while ago. Most of the good articles get posted online anyway.... I hope! Then I can get picky with what I read and don't have the urge to read from cover to cover
ReplyDeleteI don't subscribe to anything and I'm not much of a magazine reader. Anytime I buy a magazine, it sits on top of my desk for months before I get to read it. I used to read them many years ago and found their writing tips and inside info on the business helpful.
ReplyDeleteYour magazine pile is much more cerebral than mine--I use mine to take to the gym and read on the treadmill, so I have Organic Gardening, Shape, and that quintessential celebrity rag, Star. My guilty pleasures have been revealed!
ReplyDeleteSCBWI and a magazine for my church. That's it for me! So hard to find time to read-- I don't think I could add another.
ReplyDeleteHi, new follower here! :) I actually don't have any subscriptions to any magazines. (*gasp* I know...) But I want to change that, since I'd love to start writing for a magazine sometime in the future. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteThose things DO add up fast! I struggle to read the very few I subscribe to, so usually I think of that before signing up for another.
ReplyDeleteYes, I need to pare down some of the magazines,but I can't give up my SCBWI Bulletin and I love my Writer. They are the best.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Lydia. That's my problem, too. ; )
ReplyDeleteTwo magazines I had not heard of, Madeleine.
Love those two, Kelly.
Ooo, now I'm tempted to find that issue of Poets and Writers, Karen.
That's what I need to do, Marcia. Thanks!
Smart, Michelle.
It's true: Those magazines are often helpful, Medeia.
Funny, Julie! We all have our guilty pleasures. ; )
It really is all about the time, Peggy. There's so little of it.
Welcome, Shelley! And you bring up a great point. To write for magazines, you probably would need to be a subscriber.
Unfortunately, I didn't consider the pile up factor when signing up, Janet. ; )
Oh, I'll never give up the SCBWI Bulletin, either, Cleemckenzie. It's wonderful.
I do love Writer's Digest, but that's the only magazine I subscribe to. There just aren't enough hours in the day!
ReplyDeleteI just signed up for Publisher's Weekly. I'll let you know how that goes! One more to add to the pile.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, Susan, but Writer's Digest is worth the time there is.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know how Publisher's Weekly works out for you, Shannon. Thanks!
I don't subscribe to any, but it's nice to know which one is so good it would have to be pried from your cold, dead hands!
ReplyDeleteHa! That's a decent recommendation, right? Thanks, Nancy.
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