Ok friends I have a couple of questions for you:
- How many magazines do you subscribe to?
- Do you make time to read them all or do you find yourself facing growing pile of “paper” begging for some attention?
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A Writer Writes
How Many Magazines Do You Read?
This is going to be my shortest comment to date Josh…
I don’t subscribe to any magazines because I don’t have time to read them. I wouldn’t read them if I subscribed to them online because I have way too much other stuff going on and once I’m done with my work I want off this computer.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne,
I understand the time factor because that is a big part of why I don’t subscribe to more than I do already. But I have to tell you that I find them to be great resources for blogging because they provide a ton of ideas for content.
A really good question…
Just a handful at this point, and I never get to any of them. Always balancing the waste (most sit around and then go to recycle unread) with the unflagging optimism that one day, just maybe, I will be able to sit and leisurely read through one. I’ll probably give it six more months and cancel everything but Consumer Reports if things don’t change.
Happy holidays Josh!
Hi Adam,
I don’t know about you, but I think many people have faced this problem for years. It would be nice if we could attribute it to spending more time online, but I suspect that is not really the case.
If you found time to read the mags before you probably find time now to continue to do so.
What do you think?
I read several newspapers a day, but not a single magazine on paper. I’m not sure why, but it’s probably because I read a lot online.
Hi Jens,
I definitely read fewer hard copies than I used to, but I hit a lot of things online so I suspect it balances out.
I don’t subscribe to any now. When I was in college I was subscribed to Readers Digest and that’s it. I used to borrow from the library when I felt like reading any. I still do keep borrowing them from the local library if and when I feel like reading magazines.
Do you have any favorites now or is it just whatever catches your eye?
I still love readers digest. Also a few local magazines. But then, what catches the eye also gets onto my reading list.
I had not thought about it, but I don’t really subscribe or buy magazines anymore. I get only one magazine because of my membership in Mensa, and I’ve found I don’t even read it all the time, nor do I read them online. It seems that if I have time for leisure reading, I tend to choose blog posts by my social media friends.
When I lived in Germantown, MD, I bought, from the news stand, the Washington Post, every day. I loved it. If I lived in a major city (population > 280), I would probably buy that cities daily newspaper, because I like the routine of enjoying it with breakfast. Since I live in Martelle, IA, I usually just get caught up on tweets and FB posts while I eat.
I often think about what life would be like in a small town and whether it would match the Norman Rockwell image in my mind.
There is a nice ritualistic feeling that comes with reading while enjoying breakfast.
When it is warmer, life in Martelle is nice. There are many evenings in the summer when my neighbors will be sitting outside chatting. Sometimes I’ll go hang out with them and often they give me pie. It’s nice.
I have far less time than I used to so I don’t subscribe to any magazines at the minute.
I used to have piles of the things when I was younger and kept them for years but now I just couldn’t as I don’t have the space.
If I were going to subscribe to a magazine now, I’d do it online I think or on my iPhone.
Hey Josh,
I only subscribe to Success Magazine, mainly because they have a CD that comes with every issue.
My wife has all kinds of magazines coming almost daily :).
Funny thing happened last nigh as I was stepping out of the shower I saw one of her magazines wide open where one of the article was titled : “Why do my nipples change colors?” – I was like, oh man, why did I need to see that??? 🙂
best
Akos
Hi Akos,
What is on the CD that comes with the magazine? Is it special content that you can’t acquire elsewhere?
I might have wondered about that headline too. 😉
Hey JJ…unlike our friend Jayme (oh my gosh girl, you could build an entire library there!) I don’t subscribe to any magazines. I will pick up a magazine at the store when headlines/content attract me. BUT…if you asked me about books (not subscribing, but buying…the old-school paper kind), that would be a whole different story. Cheers! Kaarina
Hi Kaarina,
Do you read any magazines online? What news sources do you like to use?
I cancelled all my subscriptions, because I now read them ALL online. As you stated, I got sick of facing a growing pile of “paper” begging for some attention. It was a waste of money.
Not that I subscribed to them all, but my favorites were: Wired, The New Yorker, How, Car and Driver, Inc., Nat Geo, Spin, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and The Economist. Always my favorite mags.
My dad used to hide his Playboy mags in beer boxes under his bed, but I always found them. That’s when I moved beyond the women of National Geographic 😉
Still love Slate and Salon online.
Hi Craig,
Has the ability to read online had any impact on how much you read? I want to say I read more but I am not entirely sure it is true.
I like your list of publications, some of those are among my favorites too. I would add Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, The Week and PC World to the list. Not complete, but close enough for now.
I like the line about moving beyond the women of Nat Geo. 😉
I probably read more frequently, but don’t retain as much as I did with print. Sometimes even what we consider “in-depth” reading is like more focused scanning. Then there are the links within the stories we are often compelled to click on.
Scanning and skimming- it is contagious. 😉
Hi Josh
1. There are 3 magazines, which I usually prefer to read.
2. I really go through the entire magazine and then sell them back to the company at half the actual cost.
Thanks
Sapna
Hi Sapna,
That sounds like a profitable production.
Oh my…maybe 7? Not more than 10. And yes, I read them all. And I cut out articles and scan them. And, when I remember, I give the old issues to the school. Otherwise, recycle bin. I can’t imagine giving up my subscriptions even though I take some good-natured razzing from friends for being so old school.
Hello Rivka,
I am impressed that you read them all, not surprised though. What do you do with the articles you scan?
Do you save them for yourself or do you forward them on to other people?
Have you gotten into e-readers? I love the feel of a real book in my hands, but I also love my Kindle. It is really wonderful.
OMG…you have no idea what a disaster this question is. It gives me a headache looking around this office. Fast Company, Ad Age, BtoB, Crain’s, Inc., Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, Money, Vogue, InStyle, CondeNast Traveler, Prevention, Nutrition After 50, AARP, Nutrition Action, Clean Eating, Smithsonian, Tennis, Healthy Aging, Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg, BackPacker, Chief Marketer, Website Magazine, AND???? You count.
2) I scan; tear out articles for blog fodder, give to school, share with girlfriends, toss. I am drowning in paper.
Great Googly Moogly- You could feed all of Haiti with what you are spending on subscription fees. Come to think about it you must receive 1,893,323 letters each day asking you to renew.
On a serious note I do appreciate your list because if I had the time I would read dozens of ‘zines. When people tell me they don’t know what to blog about the first question that comes to mind is if they read.
Mags are great blog fodder.