I edited a magazine for 40 years and still love getting magazines in the mail but soon it looks like I’ll be down to one sub.
The first to go was Sports Illustrated, which I had subscribed to for most of the past 60 years. SI kept sending ever more frantic renewal notices, always offering a special price for loyal subscribers. But the special subscriber deal was more than twice the price if you just went to the SI website and subscribed. Who likes to be treated that way?
Then the New Yorker. Again, I had subscribed for years and sometimes gave the New Yorker as a holiday gift. But they not only treat subscribers as stupid but to me they run a subscription con game. Special deal: Subscribe for 12 weeks for a $1 an issue. Really special deal: Subscribe for 12 weeks for 50 cents an issue. And give us your credit card number.
Then how much will a one-year sub cost? Well, when we automatically renew your subscription you might be charged $99.99 a year. Or $119.99 a year. Or $149.99 a year. You have to wait to find out when they charge your credit card.
My special subscription offer in the mail from the New Yorker this week was 50 issues for $50. And we’ll send you a tote bag. But, again, you have to agree to automatic renewal. How much will a sub then cost? We’ll let you know.
The Atlantic, under the ownership of David Bradley, treated subscribers like adults. Basically the sub rate was $24.50 a year with a discount for a longer sub. Now, under the ownership of Laurene Powell Jobs, the Atlantic’s message this week to subscribers was:
Renewal Authorization
LOCK IN YOUR SAVINGS—within 10 days!
Now is the time to secure your preferred savings and guarantee your continued access to the exclusive benefits
The Atlantic delivers. Don’t put your account in jeopardy! These savings should not be missed. Act now!
The renewal price? One year (10 issues) for $19.95.
Is my subscription about to run out? No, the small print on the magazine label says the sub expires in April 2019.
To the Atlantic’s credit, the one-year $19.95 rate in this week’s renewal offer is a discount from the $24.50 you pay if you go to the Atlantic website to subscribe. Still, I think I’ll wait til spring, hoping the magazine and the country will be more optimistic about the future. The cover headline on the Atlantic’s October issue:
Is Democracy Dying?
Also headlined on the cover:
A WARNING FROM EUROPE: The Worst Is Yet to Come
ON THE SLIDE INTO TRIBALISM
JAMES MADISON VS. THE MOB
ON RACISM’S THREAT TO THE AMERICAN IDEA
ON AMERICA’S ISOLATED COURTS
TRUMP BUILDS HIS AUTOCRACY
HOW A1 COULD GIVE RISE TO TYRANNY
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Update on April 17, 2018: An email from Vanity Fair offers a one-year subscription for $8, two years for $15, plus you get a free tote bag. You have to pay by credit card: “Your credit card will be billed now and automatically before each renewal we will send you a reminder with the term and rate then in effect. If you do nothing, you will be charged or invoiced. You may cancel at any time by contacting customer service at ‘amazon pay’ or ‘PayPal.'”
Vanity Fair thus joins the New Yorker—both Conde Nast magazines—in offering very low-priced subscriptions if you’re willing to sign up for automatic renewals. How much will a renewal cost? You’ll find out at the time. How easy or hard will they make it to cancel? You’ll find out at the time.
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