Maga-Books

[ChapterTwo]

On another thread, Bungalove had mentioned magazines such as "Autumn Cottage" that are a little like books, and I coined the term "Maga-Book", which seems to describe them perfectly.

For me, what came to mind were publications by Stampington, and I'll show you what I mean...http://www.stampington.com/magazines/

I have only purchased two of these over quite a few years, because, well...they are PRICEY! How does $14.99 sound to ya? They also have digital issues available for $7.99 and $9.99.

They have a similar cover texture to what Bungalove mentioned...not shiny, as we're accustomed to, but matte. They have a lot of interesting ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

But really...$14.99?? I guess that's what it takes to keep things published nowadays (although C & B seems to be managing nicely, thank goodness!) We've lost so many lovely magazines in the past few years...:(

[vintage girl]

The one thing that I have been noticing lately, that is the regular magazines are getting smaller and smaller and filled with more and more ads! I do love the speciality books, but I am with you, $10-$15 is just too much. And the regular magazines are running $7.99:eek:

[ChapterTwo]

Whew...tnx for your response, vintage girl. I was wondering if I did a bad thing by showing all those magazines - lots of people looked at my post, but no one replied...:eek:

I notice that too, about the size of the mags and the number of advertisements. The plus, I guess, is that many magazines can be purchased, through offers, for $5. An article I recently read explained that publishers need to show the advertisers that they have a good sized reader base and that's the way they try to get more people to subscribe - through lower prices!

Then again...what about those pricey mags? Somehow, they must manage...

[shabbychick]

One thing I noticed about a lot of the maga-books is that the pictures they show actually come out of other magazines. They seem like a compilation book that pulls together looks featured in whatever other magazines that company publishes, now organized by style, season, or whatever. So in essence you're paying ten to fourteen dollars for pictures you may already have in your back issues of that company's magazines (depending on how many you subscribe to). It's a great way to see what multiple magazines have featured if you never buy them singly, but when you shell out fourteen dollars and then get that deja-vu feeling every time you turn the page, you might could feel a little ripped off. I've seen the same artfully-draped-and-puddled yellow silk robe in multiple maga-books. But I don't really mind; I still like to look at the pretty pictures, and I admit, I'm addicted. :)

[ChapterTwo]

One thing I noticed about a lot of the maga-books is that the pictures they show actually come out of other magazines. :)


YES! I have seen that as well, although they're not all that way. I think they sort of pull the wool over our eyes, unless there's something that particularly draws our interest the first time and then we say, "Hey, wait a minute!", the second time. Again, it's a cost saver for them but I agree with you - it's a little sneaky. :rolleyes:

And I'll raise my hand...I've been addicted to magazines since I was a pre-teen. I've moved on from Teen Beat to Seventeen, to wedding magazines...and here I am at cottage style (granted, there were many others in-between).

[vintage girl]

Oh my gosh Teen Beat. Boy does that bring back memories:D I am addicted to magazines also. I love to find old decorating magazines in thrift shops and will hang on to my magazines for years. I had a melt-down a few months back, when I went to get some of my old magazines and could not find them. Found out hubs decided they were old and needed to be thrown out:mad::mad: Let's just say that he is still making up for that one;)

[Bungalove]

I think the worst offenders about reprinting stuff from older issues and/or other properties that the company owns are recipe and cooking magazines. And of those, Christmas issues are the WORST! If you're careful, you can often see, in teeny tiny print on the cover something like "Previously published as ________ Christmas Cookies" or whatever.

[ChapterTwo]

You should have seen me moving from one house to the other, vintage girl..I keep saying I'm going to go through them and "weed out", but it hasn't happened yet...Well, I DID toss a few that looked like "colonial" style, which is what I had back when I got married in '75...:rolleyes:

HooBoy, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near when hubby confessed to tossing your mags. (Gulp!) And why do men think that they should do stuff like that without asking first?

Bungalove - the publishers of the Christmas issues probably figure we're in such a tizzy at that time of year that we won't notice the duplication. Ha! We do...

[RoseMary]

I love magazines, too, but I don't buy many of them anymore. Mostly for the reason vintagegirl mentioned--smaller and smaller with nothing but ads. I know they make most of the money on the ads, but it makes the magazine much less enjoyable.

I like buying them at thrift stores, too. It doesn't seem to bother me as much to tear out what I like and throw the rest away if I've only paid twenty-five cents for it!