What luck switching print subscriptions to digital?

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-16-2011, 10:12 AM

Now that I have my Nook Color, I'm eager to switch my print subscriptions to digital subscriptions and put that bag boy to work. (I'm mostly reading ebooks on it so far.)

However, I'm detecting an amount of... let's say reluctance... on the part of some of my magazine providers to do the transition. I have contacted two magazines and asked them to transfer my print subscription to a digital subscription, and neither has responded in the last 3 weeks (not even to say "we can't/don't know how to do that); another magazine is in the process of rebuilding a digital presence, and will not say when they will be ready; and another, as far as I can tell, has no digital version at all, and is not publicly planning one.

So I'm wondering how the rest of you have fared in switching from print to digital magazine subscriptions? Have any of you simply canceled your print, waited for confirmation, then activated a digital subscription? How many of you have gone through B&N, and how many have gone through the publisher directly? Are any of your magazine publishers stonewalling you?

Report your progress here.

coolbreeze · 01-16-2011, 12:28 PM

Magazines are behind where books were a year or so ago. Most book publishers have waived the white flag and realized eBooks are the future, piracy concerns be damned.

I'm guessing magazines are stuck in the "we're going to be pirated out of jobs if we go digital" mindframe.

I sure hope this changes because they will be out of jobs if they don't adopt new technology and move forward. Piracy will always exist (i.e. you can and have been able to find digital scanned copies of any magazine for years now)...

Anyhow, off my soapbox.

As for contacting individual publishers, I'd say it will take millions of requests and a major shift in management at said magazines before the up and decide to go digital...and that's a shame.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-16-2011, 01:02 PM

The thing is, I know a lot of these publishers have digital versions of their magazines right now (including at least 3 of the 5 subscriptions I have). But the ease of converting customers from one to the other is the question: Have you tried to convert, and found resistance from the publisher?

The Joker · 01-16-2011, 01:56 PM

My bet is that your gonna have to wait till your print subscription ends, and renew the digital version.....or just eat the cost and pay for the digital version now, even though you have the print version......

I haven't actually tried a magazine digital subscription yet.......I wonder if I still get 14 day's free....

slayda · 01-16-2011, 05:49 PM

I actually cancelled my paper subscription (& got a refund - prorated) then e-subscribed.

coolbreeze · 01-16-2011, 07:17 PM

Sorry, OP, I didn't read your post closely enough (I just launched into a rant...haha).

I'd love to convert my paper WSJ sub, especially since they pile up during the week (I travel all the time). Somehow, I don't think it's even worth calling the WSJ, as I'm certain they will laugh if I ask if they will end the paper delivery and transfer my sub to an e-version.

Oh well. Trees will continue to die due to idiotic policies.

RAH · 01-17-2011, 08:22 AM

I agree with what others have said - you will probably have to discontinue your print subscription and resubscribe as a digital. Or just have both till the print expires.

Of course, when you think about it, it would save the magazine money if they switched your subscription to digital (no more printing and mailing the magazine), but I don't think that they are there yet, in most cases.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-17-2011, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAH

Of course, when you think about it, it would save the magazine money if they switched your subscription to digital (no more printing and mailing the magazine), but I don't think that they are there yet, in most cases.

Oh, it would clearly make them more money, as the NC is only set up to charge magazines one at a time... meaning I don't get a yearly subscription discount, I pay full issue price every month. You think they'd beg me to switch to digital.

jasonkchapman · 01-17-2011, 04:15 PM

Looking at it from the magazine's side, it's usually not even possible to convert a subscription. Most magazine distribution and subscription functions, including customer service, is handled by distributors. It doesn't matter what the publishers want to do if the distributors aren't set up for it. At Poets & Writers Magazine, we had to get our print distributor to coordinate with Texterity to handle combined print/digital subscriptions.

Adding device-based subscriptions into the mix now, it gets even more complicated. Amazon handles Kindle Periodical subscriptions as a distributor/retailer combination and doesn't seem inclined to cooperate with anyone, often including the publisher.

Barnes & Noble makes nookMagazine publishing at least as opaque as Amazon does. We still haven't managed to get on there, even though we've been trying for a long time, but I don't see anything on the nookMagazine pages that leads me to believe it will work any differently.

slayda · 01-17-2011, 09:01 PM

Steven, you might check out Zinio magazines (www.zinio.com). You'd have to read them on a computer but they are cheaper than B&N's & may have a larger selection. Zinio for Android is coming soon (as per their web site). We'll have to wait & see whether it'll run on a rooted NC.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-18-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slayda

Steven, you might check out Zinio magazines (www.zinio.com). You'd have to read them on a computer but they are cheaper than B&N's & may have a larger selection. Zinio for Android is coming soon (as per their web site). We'll have to wait & see whether it'll run on a rooted NC.

I know about Zinio... tried them a few years ago. Unfortunately, they don't carry subscriptions for the magazines I'm interested in.

tubemonkey · 01-18-2011, 01:09 PM

B&N overcharges for the magazines I'm interested in. Until prices drop, my NC will remain a magazine virgin.

coolbreeze · 01-19-2011, 12:52 AM

The New Yorker is really the only magazine I will pay for, IMO. Oh, and it doesn't work on the NC.

Genius, B&N. Pure Genius.

geertm · 01-19-2011, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

B&N overcharges for the magazines I'm interested in. Until prices drop, my NC will remain a magazine virgin.

Take a look at the magazine details. Magazines are not sold by B&N, they are sold by the publisher.
Just as with the agency 5 books the publisher sets the price of the magazines (and I assume also decides which devices to support).

geertm · 01-19-2011, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolbreeze

The New Yorker is really the only magazine I will pay for, IMO. Oh, and it doesn't work on the NC.

Genius, B&N. Pure Genius.

See my post #14.
The sad thing about this, is that it is once again the e-book seller that gets blames for publisher decisions/restrictions (just as with the agency 5 book prices and the Lendme restrictions).

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01-16-2011, 10:12 AM	#1
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	What luck switching print subscriptions to digital? Now that I have my Nook Color, I'm eager to switch my print subscriptions to digital subscriptions and put that bag boy to work. (I'm mostly reading ebooks on it so far.) However, I'm detecting an amount of... let's say reluctance... on the part of some of my magazine providers to do the transition. I have contacted two magazines and asked them to transfer my print subscription to a digital subscription, and neither has responded in the last 3 weeks (not even to say "we can't/don't know how to do that); another magazine is in the process of rebuilding a digital presence, and will not say when they will be ready; and another, as far as I can tell, has no digital version at all, and is not publicly planning one. So I'm wondering how the rest of you have fared in switching from print to digital magazine subscriptions? Have any of you simply canceled your print, waited for confirmation, then activated a digital subscription? How many of you have gone through B&N, and how many have gone through the publisher directly? Are any of your magazine publishers stonewalling you? Report your progress here.

01-16-2011, 12:28 PM	#2
coolbreeze Addict Posts: 214 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Nook Color, White 3G K3	Magazines are behind where books were a year or so ago. Most book publishers have waived the white flag and realized eBooks are the future, piracy concerns be damned. I'm guessing magazines are stuck in the "we're going to be pirated out of jobs if we go digital" mindframe. I sure hope this changes because they will be out of jobs if they don't adopt new technology and move forward. Piracy will always exist (i.e. you can and have been able to find digital scanned copies of any magazine for years now)... Anyhow, off my soapbox. As for contacting individual publishers, I'd say it will take millions of requests and a major shift in management at said magazines before the up and decide to go digital...and that's a shame.

01-16-2011, 01:02 PM	#3
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	The thing is, I know a lot of these publishers have digital versions of their magazines right now (including at least 3 of the 5 subscriptions I have). But the ease of converting customers from one to the other is the question: Have you tried to convert, and found resistance from the publisher?

01-16-2011, 01:56 PM	#4
The Joker Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 882 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: NookColor.........rooted	My bet is that your gonna have to wait till your print subscription ends, and renew the digital version.....or just eat the cost and pay for the digital version now, even though you have the print version...... I haven't actually tried a magazine digital subscription yet.......I wonder if I still get 14 day's free....

01-16-2011, 05:49 PM	#5
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	I actually cancelled my paper subscription (& got a refund - prorated) then e-subscribed.

01-16-2011, 07:17 PM	#6
coolbreeze Addict Posts: 214 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Nook Color, White 3G K3	Sorry, OP, I didn't read your post closely enough (I just launched into a rant...haha). I'd love to convert my paper WSJ sub, especially since they pile up during the week (I travel all the time). Somehow, I don't think it's even worth calling the WSJ, as I'm certain they will laugh if I ask if they will end the paper delivery and transfer my sub to an e-version. Oh well. Trees will continue to die due to idiotic policies.

01-17-2011, 08:22 AM	#7
RAH Guru Posts: 615 Karma: 575652 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Hampton, NH Device: Kobo Aura H20; Kobo ClaraBW	I agree with what others have said - you will probably have to discontinue your print subscription and resubscribe as a digital. Or just have both till the print expires. Of course, when you think about it, it would save the magazine money if they switched your subscription to digital (no more printing and mailing the magazine), but I don't think that they are there yet, in most cases.

01-17-2011, 04:15 PM	#9
jasonkchapman Guru Posts: 767 Karma: 2347 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NYC Device: Sony Reader, nook, Droid, nookColor, nookTablet	Looking at it from the magazine's side, it's usually not even possible to convert a subscription. Most magazine distribution and subscription functions, including customer service, is handled by distributors. It doesn't matter what the publishers want to do if the distributors aren't set up for it. At Poets & Writers Magazine, we had to get our print distributor to coordinate with Texterity to handle combined print/digital subscriptions. Adding device-based subscriptions into the mix now, it gets even more complicated. Amazon handles Kindle Periodical subscriptions as a distributor/retailer combination and doesn't seem inclined to cooperate with anyone, often including the publisher. Barnes & Noble makes nookMagazine publishing at least as opaque as Amazon does. We still haven't managed to get on there, even though we've been trying for a long time, but I don't see anything on the nookMagazine pages that leads me to believe it will work any differently.

01-17-2011, 09:01 PM	#10
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	Steven, you might check out Zinio magazines (www.zinio.com). You'd have to read them on a computer but they are cheaper than B&N's & may have a larger selection. Zinio for Android is coming soon (as per their web site). We'll have to wait & see whether it'll run on a rooted NC.

01-18-2011, 01:09 PM	#12
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,746 Karma: 158575914 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	B&N overcharges for the magazines I'm interested in. Until prices drop, my NC will remain a magazine virgin.

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01-19-2011, 12:52 AM	#13
coolbreeze Addict Posts: 214 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Nook Color, White 3G K3	The New Yorker is really the only magazine I will pay for, IMO. Oh, and it doesn't work on the NC. Genius, B&N. Pure Genius.