Now that we are on the road so much I haven’t had the time to read or even the mailing address to get print magazines. I have only tried digital magazines once with a Readers Digest subscription when I first got my Kindle Fire but there didn’t seem to be as much reading material in the digital version as in one of their print versions. I do like that I can view them on my Kindle Fire and not have them taking up space in our RV.
From what we can tell from the reviews and from my own experience this format may have not hit it’s prime yet. Currently, Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine subscriptions are selling at $2.99 per month. They contain all of the short stories and most of the reviews but not as many pictures and none of the advertising as the print versions. I don’t know if I would be willing to keep paying $3.00 per month for 9 to 10 issues of these magazines that don’t have ALL that the print versions have to offer.
Of course, so long as ALL the stories are present it might be nice to not have any advertising for a change. They may have to come down on the price just a little or maybe just charge a flat fee per year. “This subscription will automatically renew until you decide to cancel at any time. We’ll renew on your behalf at the lowest price available on Amazon at the time of renewal.” This disclaimer on the Amazon page also doesn’t inspire me to actually commit to a monthly charge either. You do have the right to cancel at any time though.
For beginning writers, magazines are a great place to start getting your writings in the public eye. Hopefully, in the future, the magazine companies will figure out this digital technology and offer them at prices less than their print versions.
