Fictionwise Cancels F&SF Subscriptions

[Hatgirl]

Ooh, the Jan 2002 issue of F&SF has stories by Harlan Ellison and Gene Wolfe! Here's the Table of Contents. And it seems you can read the book reviews etc. for free.

So, is it work my while starting a Reading Recommendations thread for it?

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Hatgirl

So, is it work my while starting a Reading Recommendations thread for it?

Personally, I'd say yes to a general RR thread for F&SF back issues. People could point out especially good stories in certain issues that might then go onto others' wishlists, which might not otherwise be noticed.

After all, if they really do have nearly 10 years' worth of stuff @ FW, then it'd be nice to have some of it pre-filtered to prioritize the spending.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Hatgirl

Ooh, the Jan 2002 issue of F&SF has stories by Harlan Ellison and Gene Wolfe! Here's the Table of Contents. And it seems you can read the book reviews etc. for free.

So, is it work my while starting a Reading Recommendations thread for it?

Yes, go for it! And post a link in this thread so I (and others) can find it.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Stop it.

Kindle formatted writings can be read on almost any electronic device. You don't need Kindle hardware.

Could you please explain to me how to read Kindle books on my Sony PRS-505, then? Because I'm just not following you.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Could you please explain to me how to read Kindle books on my Sony PRS-505

Thus the word almost in my post.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Thus the word almost in my post.

Go ahead and explain to Worldwalker how to strip the DRM from Kindle eBooks in case F&SF has DRM and then please explain how to convert to ePub.

I'd like to read this.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

You're being a little childish and mean spirited. There is NO reason to ill wish someone simply because you aren't getting your way.

There are PEOPLE behind this company. PEOPLE with lives and families. You do NOT need this magazine in order to live. No one has denied you anything and you have no rights that were violated. Why on earth would you wish financial ruin on someone over a tantrum?

When the people in charge make a really bad business decision that could hurt the company, then people not in charge may very well be affected. This is going to be a really bad business decision that I feel will lose the company money. There surely has to be a way to get the magazine out in multiple formats with a subscription as to not lose customers and they can still go with Amazon.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When the people in charge make a really bad business decision that could hurt the company, then people not in charge may very well be affected. This is going to be a really bad business decision that I feel will lose the company money. There surely has to be a way to get the magazine out in multiple formats with a subscription as to not lose customers and they can still go with Amazon.

There is a huge difference between saying "I think this is a bad decision that will affect the company adversely" and "I hope they fail & go bankrupt because I don't like/agree with what they did."

I can understand your frustration with the exclusive deal but please don't forget that there are people’s lives that are affected.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

There is a huge difference between saying "I think this is a bad decision that will affect the company adversely" and "I hope they fail & go bankrupt because I don't like/agree with what they did."

....

[jasonkchapman]

According to Gordon Van Gelder, he's trying to do what he can within the budgetary realities of publishing. He's stated that, while he'd prefer to make F&SF available in as many formats as possible, the marketing and promotional opportunities available with the exclusive Amazon deal are too good to pass up.

http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=833

I'm seriously considering making F&SF my only paper fiction sub, just because I like the mag so much and hate to give it up.

[RockdaMan]

His statement:

Since I got back from Seattle, I've been swamped, so I haven't had a chance to post my thoughts here. But I have been following this thread and I'm sorry that we'll be losing some of you subscribers because of my decision to go with Amazon.com exclusively.

My basic approach has always been to make F&SF available in a wide variety of formats, so the decision to go only with Amazon.com wasn't one I made quickly or lightly. But after looking at the exceptional marketing and promotional opportunities that this arrangement offers us, it made sense to me for us to hitch our wagon to Amazon's.

I hope some of you who are saying goodbye now will find that you miss us and you'll come back to F&SF, either in electronic or in print format. (I should add here that I got a lot of reading done on the trip to Seattle and the submissions I read included a lot of exciting stories, including a big and diverse helping of science fiction [as opposed to fantasy].)

But for those of you who are saying goodbye now, I'd like to say thanks for your support. I'm sorry we'll be losing you.

---Gordon V.G.

[Hatgirl]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

According to Gordon Van Gelder, he's trying to do what he can within the budgetary realities of publishing. He's stated that, while he'd prefer to make F&SF available in as many formats as possible, the marketing and promotional opportunities available with the exclusive Amazon deal are too good to pass up.

http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=833

I'm seriously considering making F&SF my only paper fiction sub, just because I like the mag so much and hate to give it up.

I just read that message from GvG, and this really irritated me:

hope some of you who are saying goodbye now will find that you miss us and you'll come back to F&SF, either in electronic or in print format.

I'm not saying goodbye, you're leaving me!

Anyway... I'm reading the Jan 2002 issue at the moment. I'll pop up a review thread when I've finished it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hatgirl

I just read that message from GvG, and this really irritated me:



I'm not saying goodbye, you're leaving me!

Anyway... I'm reading the Jan 2002 issue at the moment. I'll pop up a review thread when I've finished it.

I posted this as part of my message...

You say you hope we miss you enough to go back to you. Explain to me how to do that for people who do not have anything to do with AZW and do not format convert.

I really hope I get an answer to that. The way he said we'll come back was really snotty. It was like "we are so good you won't be able to keep away". As you said, we aren't leaving, they are. And while I don't want them to really fold. I do want them to lose enough money to stop doing this with Amazon and go back to doing what's best for customers overall.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Thus the word almost in my post.

Okay, if you can't explain how to read them on a Sony 505, how about a B&N Nook?

How about a Kobo?

How about a BeBook? A PocketBook? A Cybook?

How about ... well, any ebook reader that isn't a Kindle?

No, reading a subscription on the computer isn't an answer; if I'd wanted to read things on my computer, I wouldn't have bought an ebook reader in the first place. And that's a particularly ridiculous idea for a magazine, which you generally read while you're going somewhere, waiting for something, etc. (the format is great for that) and if I was going to do that with my computer, I'd need a small cart and a reaaaally long extension cord.

F&SF basically said "If you're not a Kindle owner, we don't want your business." Telling customers to go away seems like a really, really bad idea for a magazine, especially a struggling one.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Okay, if you can't explain how to read them on a Sony 505, how about a B&N Nook?

How about a Kobo?

How about a BeBook? A PocketBook? A Cybook?

How about ... well, any ebook reader that isn't a Kindle?

No, reading a subscription on the computer isn't an answer; if I'd wanted to read things on my computer, I wouldn't have bought an ebook reader in the first place. And that's a particularly ridiculous idea for a magazine, which you generally read while you're going somewhere, waiting for something, etc. (the format is great for that) and if I was going to do that with my computer, I'd need a small cart and a reaaaally long extension cord.

F&SF basically said "If you're not a Kindle owner, we don't want your business." Telling customers to go away seems like a really, really bad idea for a magazine, especially a struggling one.

They have the arrogance to say that we will miss them so much that we will be back. But since they abandoned us for Amazon, we won't be back.