Do you subscribe to magazines?

stack of magazines

My io9 weekly fiction roundup continues apace. I decided that at the beginning of every month I would remind people that magazines need subscribers, and subscribing is awesome. Go, team! In searching for all the subscription links I took note of all the ways one can subscribe to the many and various SF zines. Where just a few years ago I complained about the lack of choices, now there are many. This makes me happy.

Side Note: Strange Horizons, what is up! There’s no way to subscribe in eBook format. The people are clamoring :)

I note that Amazon and Barnes & Noble are still not as helpful as they could be with subscriptions. Looks like many small press mags are in their systems, just not as subscribable entities. And certainly not with the fancy layout that the glossy magazines get (not that this is needed).

All this leads me to wonder how many people do subscribe to these zines, why, and what their experience is like. I’m just curious. We’ve moved into a time where tons of people can get content digitally, easily, for not too much money. How do lit mags fit into the stream of information coming at you?

And if you don’t subscribe to the magazines you read online: why?

2 thoughts on “Do you subscribe to magazines?

  1. The person we had been working with at B&N left the company and all the new contacts they left me with won’t return my emails. If you want to see Clarkesworld and others there, it will only happen if customers demand it.

  2. Now I’m in a position to be able to afford zine subs again, I subscribe to as many as I can! I’ve got Clarkesworld through Amazon UK, which was ridonkulously easy to set up and it slides direct to my kindle every month. Beneath Ceaseless Skies I get through Weightless Books, which, again was easy to set up and gets you a download link emailed every month. Shimmer I went direct through their website and they email the file over every issue. Crossed Genres I got through one of their kickstarters, I think, and they email 3 different file versions of the issues when they’re out, which is awesome. Daily Science Fiction I get through their free email sub.

    I’ve been holding off on Lightspeed as I used to slush for them and it felt weird subscribing to something you slush for but I’m on the verge of ponying up for Lightspeed and Nightmare subs through Weightless.

    And I’m definitely joining the chorus of wanting Strange Horizons on sub! Also a Giganotosaurus sub would be excellent.

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