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What keeps you from subscribing to some magazines?
For me, typos. I have an aversion to typos. (Yes, I do make some but I'm also not being published for money.) ;) Every issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine that I have purchased has had typos. Some are minor but others actually affect the project like missing steps, etc. In the Aug/Sept issue, and I'm only up to page 37, I've found a few:
Page 17, step 1 for creating the leaves: "Lay a piece of green cardstock on a printer and copy onto printer paper." Um.... MY printer doesn't copies. Now, my scanner does. I can lay cardstock on my scanner and then send the image to a printer. To me, this is just bad. (I was also a technical writer for three software companies, writing software manuals and training guides.)
Page 28, step 10: "Notice that on the last photo I have a piece of transparency or embossable plastic on top of the photo." When I look at the last photo on the page, it is of a photo of a chalk ink pad, a stylus and a foam tip. Even if I turn to the previous page, the last photo doesn't show a transparency that has been stamped. One of the photos on the that page does show this, but this does not appear to be the last photo of anything. Granted the writer may have had the photos organized in a different order when the article was submitted. I should think the editor would have noticed this as they proof-read the article.
Page 32: This isn't a typo.... but there is an article about inks and I don't see the Palette hybrid ink mentioned at all. Not even a sentence. I know, there are many brands of ink, but this article was discussing types of ink.
Page 35: Step 3, "Attach die-cut letter to upper corner of tin with mounting tap." Must be some new product. I've heard of mounting tape.... but not mounting tap.
This particular issue has a lot of neat projects and I was seriously considering subscribing but I feel my blood pressure rising as I find the typos. I had the same "problem" with one of the digital scrapbooking magazines I had subscribed to. Typos either in the magazine or in the pages that were submitted. To me, this all falls to whoever is doing the copyediting or proofing. If I am going to be paying good money for a publication, I expect to receive a professional product - not something that looks like it was put together in someone's second bathroom that also houses the cat's litter box. (Meow! Because I'm feeling kind of catty right now.)
I know that typos and such bug other folks... especially when I see some of us make correcting posts to fix our own typos since the edit feature is disabled in the threads here.
So.... do typos and such cause you to second guess subscribing to magazines? (Whew! I feel better now.)
__________________ "There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness." -- Dave Barry
It must be a personality thing. Typos don't bother me THAT much, as long as the message doesn't get lost. I'm just not a stickler for details. I'd also be a HORRIBLE eye witness! Officer, he was medium height, medium weight and medium complexion.
I don't buy subscriptions because I just won't read them. I do most of my reading online.
Typo's drive me nuts! Especially in this day & age when we have spell check (I have horrible spelling). I love when I get the teacher's weekly newsletter and it has many typos, the same typos she marks wrong on the kids' papers. hmm, proofreading?
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Cost!!!! I paid $20 dollars for a Cards Magazine--and was so disappointed!! I could have bought some really fun toys for that money. I love SCS and am happy to pay the DDD fee. What a value for my dollar. There are also so many great glogs with inspiration!
I don't buy magazines because of the cost. I have one subscription to scrapbooks etc- because it was super cheap for 2 years. But card magazines are SO over priced. I won't buy subscriptions or single issues.
Typos drive me nuts, too. I make mistakes, but like the OP said, I don't get paid for the words I type. Can't they hire an editor (spell check isn't useful when the wrong word is actually a word, but just not the word it's supposed to be - tap vs. tape)? I used to freelance edit, and I always seem to find the errors. I wouldn't cancel a subscription because of it, but I probably would write to them and let them know of all the errors (and probably ask if they want to hire a freelance editor - :oP).
Typos aren't a big deal to me. Sloppy, yes...Demonstrates that the editing staff doesn't take care.
What keeps me from subscribing to magazines is that the samples seem to be ads for the latest products. I do buy a lot of stamping stuff, but I like to see samples geared toward demonstrating a new technique or lay out. Not custom designed to show off the latest DP or accessory.
And after paying so much for these magazines, I usually find better samples here on SCS...
I can live with a certain amount of typos, but what really gets me mad is when I'm looking at Stampers' Sampler and the project or projects don't match the description. For the price, I feel this in inexcusable especially if it's a complete page. Had this in the past. Not sure if it's been corrected. I don't subscribe, but will peruse in a store and buy if it suits my needs.:mad:
1.) cost
2.) not my style of papercrafting
3.) directions too vague when the concept isn't obvious
4.) mag delivered long after it has been on newsstand
I saw no need in the past as SCS has helped me so much, but now I DO want to at least check them out for more advanced projects and inspiration.
Typos are annoying, but I can forgive because the benefit of a great article far outweights unintended human error. In the case of magazines, you have several people involved in the creation of an article and between photographers /stylists /editors and creators, well ship happens (typo intended).
My subscriptions to three scrapbook/card making magazines will expire this fall and I have decided not to renew. I sat down the other night and paged through all the magazines that have been accumulating these past two years and I realized that while I enjoy looking at the pretty colored pictures I have only been inspired to use ideas from a couple of projects. I am not sure why. Maybe they are not my style. So I have decided that it has not been worth the cost to me.
However, my recent SCS fan club subscription in support of this great website has been worth every cent. I am inspired every day from all the talent exhibited here. And the forums are so full of helpful information. I have learned so much here. This subscription is one I would not hesitate to renew.
The typos really don't bother me that much. The reason I don't buy or subscribe to some of the magazines is because they lack consistency. Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, and Scrapbooks Etc. are very consistent in quality articles, photos, and creative projects and layouts. I will continue to subscribe and buy these.
However, I have noticed that Making Memories and Paper Crafts are not always consistent in great articles and projects.
I had not subscribed to a magazine for a few years until the SU offer with Country Living. I took that magazine and then constant solicitations started coming in. Somehow I ended up with House Beautiful (on deep discount) and a friend gave me PaperCrafts and Southern Living. Now I have more than I have time to read and I feel guilty throwing them away since they should be recycled. To recycle them is a 12 mile drive, so they are stacking up in the garage. And, the majority of mags these days has 10% content, 90% ads.
But, the biggest reason I will not renew any of them is their overly aggressive marketing. Receiving an unsolicitated DVD with a very misleading letter trying to trick people into paying for it was just the end for me. So I won't be renewing any of them.
There's more info on any given day here on SCS than in any of their monthly issues. I did enjoy seeing projects by some of our talented SCS sisters, and will miss that aspect of the magazines, but that is the only thing I will miss.
I like Creating Keepsakes. It's fresh every month. I decided not to renew my Everyday with Rachel Ray subscription because it got kind of same old, same old. Fun and interesting for a bit, but not long term.
I have only one subscription and that is to Paper Crafts. I am going to let that run out too. It seems that I page through them and that is that, I never pick them up again. I can find much more on this web site and by looking up things that I am really interested in.
I will try alot of my subscriptions at least once. If I find myself interested in one after buying it for a couple of times I will give it a try in a subscription. After the year or two is up I will then re-evaluate and decide if it is worth renewing. For example I tried Scrapbooks Etc., but I have decided not to renew because I find myself drawn more to cards and not scrapbooking. I didn't find myself refering to them when I was needing ideas. I agree that it is just a matter of prefrence or style.
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Caren
For me it is the cost. I find the subscribtion to SCS out wieghts all the magazines. I started to buy magazines cause I like to cuddle up on the sofa to read or in bed. I found that I was sitting at the computer and hours would go by without noticing! BUT I found that these magazines content was different from how I stamp. I look for stamp sets that I have and materials that I have to make cards with. I never find a card in a magazine with stamp sets or materials that I have. I find everything I need at SCS, so I have not bought a magazine in 4 months!
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
I stopped all magazines, but then I'd find myself grabbing one at the bookstore or the super market, and that is a very expensive way to buy magazines! So I subscribe to Paper Crafts and to Digi Scrapbooking. I stopped some other subcriptions because I wasn't inspired by the content.
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
Some great posts here. I heard myself saying, "yep, that's me, too, and yep, that one, too."
For me it's a combination of factors. Sometimes it's the change in format for the magazine. They've done a big overhaul and changed either how often you get it, what type of articles they run, etc. If I was getting it for a certain thing and they do away with it, then there's not much reason for me to continue getting it.
I have a problem with the typos, too. Yes, I make them, but like others have said, I'm not getting paid for my writing or editing skills. If there seem to be too many too often, it makes me wonder what else they messed up on. Since publications are expensive and I'm paying for them, I expect a certain degree of professionalism.
Percentage of ads vs. content is big, too. I'm paying for the content. Advertisers pay to get their message out to me via the magazine. When there are more advertisements than content, then I feel like I'm paying to see advertisements and that's not why I get the magazine.
Time to read them is at a minimum now as is places to store them. Some magazines issues don't seem as good as others so I tend to just pull out the little I want and recycle the rest, but others have a lot I want to use as inspirational reference and there's just not room to have more than a few magazines around.
I have been disappointed in some of the magazines, the last few years;
so now I spend my time on internet bloging instead.
It's been enough to satisfy my curisioty with what everyone is doing, and I keep my favorites in a "google reader"
__________________ Carolyn
my avatar: (such desparation), Dear God, if you can't make me thin; make my
friends fat"
My problem with many of the card magazines is that most of them just seem to be picture magazines. The cards displayed are poorly photographed (you can't see the detail and the colors don't seem to be as discribed). I don't see why a card that is just paper pasted on paper with a couple stickers and rub-ons should get in a national magazine. To me that kind of crafting could be done by a child. I want to see more with techniques that I can learn.
What does bother me like others have said, is the sloppy writing and lack of proofing the copy. I'm paying for the magazine, I feel it should be free of grammar and typo errors. The other that bugs me is the idea that a card has to be made in 5 minutes of less. They list many that they cram into what they call 5 steps, but they are combining many tasks within that one step. It's not or at least shouldn't be a race to see how fast you can make a card.
I realize it's a matter of personal preference, but I do like seeing the ads for various products. That way I can go out of my comfort zone and try new products. Too many places on the internet all seem to use only the same 4-6 manufactures of products of places to purchase. There are oodles more that I'm sure are just as quality as those we see on frequent websites.
I agree with a lot of reasons others have mentioned, but there is another reason why I stopped all of my subscriptions. I subscribed to a couple of magazines I really loved and they were discontinued or were taken over by another publisher. The "new and improved" magazines were nothing like the original magazines I loved so I felt like I wasted my money. Now I just by an issue here or there if it is exceptional.
Page 17, step 1 for creating the leaves: "Lay a piece of green cardstock on a printer and copy onto printer paper." Um.... MY printer doesn't copies. Now, my scanner does. I can lay cardstock on my scanner and then send the image to a printer. To me, this is just bad. (I was also a technical writer for three software companies, writing software manuals and training guides.)
***
Um, kinda off the subject, but why on earth do they want you to copy a piece of green cardstock????
I still miss RubberStamper. I've canceled all my subscriptions except Paper Crafts but I plan to subscribe to Paper Creations.
I have to look past the typos but I can easily rant about untested instructions. My favorite is, "turn away from the card and align..." If I turn away from the card, then how can I see it to do the alignment? I tried it and for the life of me I just can't see the card when I "turn away". Apparently, I do NOT have eyes in the back of my head even if my son thinks so! What it should have said was to turn the card over.
I find that so many of the cards look the same and many of the cards look like mini-scapbook pages. I'm also seeing a lot of cards that look dated (i.e. old school). Nothing wrong with this style, but I really want new/trendy. I find that as I age, I need to stay up with the trends so my cards will be of interest to the younger generation in my family.
I like reading articles about products, trends, techniques, etc. I miss the "stamp rooms" of RubberStamper. I miss the comprehensive product reviews - I still use their ink chart. It's really out of date but still useful.
I know I can get all this from SCS but I like to curl up by the fireplace with a mocha and read through my mags.
Why buy magazines when we have the net... You can find anything and everything on the net and it does not leave more piles of "stuff" laying around my house that I have to look at. ( I know I should not end a sentence with "at" but I did-I corrected my typo before I hit reply).
Magnolia ink Magazine is always loaded with typos, but I chalk that up to translation errors. However, the editor is being paid to ..well...edit and make sure these translations are correct.
Nice mag, but the errors are on every page and it takes reading the sentence a few times to understand what they are trying to say. It isn't misspelled words, but mistranslated sentences.
Why buy magazines when we have the net... You can find anything and everything on the net and it does not leave more piles of "stuff" laying around my house that I have to look at. ( I know I should not end a sentence with "at" but I did-I corrected my typo before I hit reply).
While I love the net in the amazing availability of designs, templates, instructions available, I'm still a paper/book type of person who loves to look at a magazine while waiting for my kids at the dentist or curled up looking at one before bed. Sometimes there's no replacement for having something in your hands to look at. While I'm actually working on a project, I prefer to have the inspiration picture or directions up on my laptop (at least my laptop doesn't get buried under my messy scraps from creating like a magazine can).
I, too, can't stand typos in professional publications. They're paid to do their work well, so typos are inexcusable. I love blog hopping, but like a magazine in my hand when I'm reading in bed. My computer is not near my craft area, so I can't really use pics there for inspiration, unless I print them out first, which costs money. I subscribe to Paper Crafts because it's fairly inexpensive and I still prefer to have a magazine to look through.
__________________ ~Nina (product designer for Penny Black, Spellbinders and Want2Scrap)
"O taste and see that the LORD is good..." ~Psalm 34:8 Etsy * Facebook * My Blog
While typos really bug me, content is the main thing for me! I completely agree that more and more cards printed in the mags are looking like scrap pages - dsp everywhere, a couple of rub ons and a ton of 'crystals' does not make an amazing card (at least to me). The last magazine I bought was ridiculous, some of the stamping was crooked and it looked like the stamp hadn't even been fully inked! I've never been published, but even I can ink a stamp! Sheesh.
I think one of my biggest pet peeves is S&SA magazine. Have you ever noticed that the have practically the *same* article about inking/making your own dsp in every issue? Flip through - you'll see that they use ink and that wand (what was it called? it was black & used with cat's eyes mostly) to make the same project in different colors over and over. I almost want to send them an email - but I'd rather spend the time doing other things!
__________________ All inked up... and somewhere to go. My gallery, small but mighty... or maybe just mighty small! Come see my almost new blog... M'ija Stamps!
I totally agree with the typos issue!! Arg! You should read my city paper sometime. Or on second thought, it may be best that you don't. ;)
I agree with you, too, Patti on the "5 step" card. I love it when it's like:
1) Cut a cardstock base.
2) Cut a mat somewhat smaller than the card base.
3) Stamp image, emboss, double stamp second image, mask the second and first image, unemboss, do the hokey pokey, turn yourself around, dry emboss, die cut with maybe a cricut or maybe a cuttlebug die but we can only tell you Provocraft, distress edges, fold into an origami flower*, adhere to card
4) Tie bow.
5) Apply rub on.
*To learn how to fold an origami flower, visit us online! Because see all that blank white space below here and to the right? There's no way we could actually fill up that space with useful instructions, unless you want the Blank Space Police to get us and then we wouldn't be able to print any magazine at all, and don't get smart with us, missy, going online and following those instructions still counts as one step. Why? Because we said so, that's why.
And if I see one more wonky bow on a published card, I think I'll lose it!!
I teach GED classes part time and let me tell you about typos. One of my students told me that he was going to get his real high school diploma from an on-line "mill". I checked it out and wasn't impressed. Do you really think that a diploma from a place that has spelling and grammar errors on its home page would be worthwhile? I don't think so......
Speaking of typos, how many of you are greeted with the banner "one trick of a tiny belly" above some of the posts that you are looking at. Arghhhh! I'm curious. What trick does the tiny belly do, exactly? Who writes these things?
1.) cost
2.) not my style of papercrafting
3.) directions too vague when the concept isn't obvious
4.) mag delivered long after it has been on newsstand
I would add to this list
5. Same people with the exact same style issue after issue. I know the magazines receive hundreds of submissions for each issue and a variety would be nice.
6. no variety in skill levels
Speaking of typos, how many of you are greeted with the banner "one trick of a tiny belly" above some of the posts that you are looking at. Arghhhh! I'm curious. What trick does the tiny belly do, exactly? Who writes these things?
Jutta
Yes; and not to get too off topic, how about the guy who wants to be a social woker? What is that exactly?
To the OP: typos, poor grammar, unclear directions, the same-old-same-old designers, horrendous color combinations/designs, and many of the other reasons posted already.
I teach GED classes part time and let me tell you about typos. One of my students told me that he was going to get his real high school diploma from an on-line "mill". I checked it out and wasn't impressed. Do you really think that a diploma from a place that has spelling and grammar errors on its home page would be worthwhile? I don't think so......
Jutta
OMG that is too funny. Sad, but funny. I guess you don't know what you don't know.
What keeps you from subscribing to some magazines?
