04-11-2010, 06:58 PM | #1 |
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America's Best-Selling Short Story Magazine - 75 cents
Dell publishes four digest (modern day pulp) fiction magazines - two mystery (Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock) and two sci-fi (Analog and Asimov).
I was surprised to read their claim that Alfred Hitchcock is "America's best selling short story magazine". Dell is offering back issues of Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen, three for $2.25. Technically, it is $1.00 for the three mags, and $1.25 for the shipping. You can order as many packs of three as you like, but if you order multiple packs they won't guarantee that every issue is different. Dell chooses the issues. The offer is called the Dell Mystery Magazine Sampler Pack. http://www.themysteryplace.com/order/order_ahmm.aspx Last edited by GA Russell; 04-13-2010 at 03:35 PM. Reason: typos |
04-13-2010, 03:36 PM | #2 |
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I went ahead and ordered three packs of three Saturday night. We'll see how long they take to arrive.
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04-13-2010, 03:58 PM | #3 | |
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Sometimes fictionwise have had sales that included the annual subscriptions, which makes them very good value. But at the moment, only individual copies have a 30% micropay rebate (credit card only). |
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04-13-2010, 05:53 PM | #4 |
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pd, actually it was fictionwise that got me started on this hunt for cheap mags.
First I looked at what they had to offer in the multi-format section, and saw that they have the four digests mentioned in the OP. Without doing too much research, it appeared that the current issue and the previous five issues of EQMM and AHMM are available for $2.99 each. That didn't sound so bad, but then I saw that a year's subscription to either is $29.97. That seemed high to me, so I went to google, and found the website I mentioned in this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78877 That website showed that there are many mags whose annual subscription for hardcopy is only double or triple $2.99. So that $2.99 price didn't seem so reasonable anymore. So as I mentioned in the other thread, I spent $17.05 for a year's subscription to the hardcopy EQMM. That's $1.71 each. I'm not someone who insists that any eBook I buy be less expensive than the pBook edition, but I felt that the difference between $2.99 and $1.71 was too great to pass up. Now I see that Dell is unloading back issues for $0.75 each (more for foreign destinations). So assuming that I don't get too many duplicates with this most recent order, that 75 cents price makes $1.71 seem high. And of course, for something like short stories, a back issue is just as enjoyable as the current issue. So when I get my order, I'll report back and let you know how many duplicates I received. The point of these two threads is 1) everybody loves a bargain, and 2) the digital version of mags seem to be overpriced. Quite a number of folks here prefer eBooks to pBooks now, but for mags they will be paying a premium for that preference. Last edited by GA Russell; 04-14-2010 at 12:54 PM. Reason: typo |
04-14-2010, 06:12 AM | #5 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Looking at the site you mentioned, and at Fictionwise, it seems that the RRP for a paper or an ebook subscription is $32.97. I agree that this doesn't seem right. But since I'm not in the US, a paper subscription would cost me a LOT more than $32.97... Looking back at my records, I see I usually just got a two-year subscription with club discount, taking the annual cost down to $25.49. Recently I've bough some with additional discounts. I think the thing to do is to be on the lookout for the discounts. I've bought the equivalent of ten annual subscriptions to Analog SF at fictionwise, at an average price of $22.13. Not too bad. |
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04-14-2010, 10:23 AM | #6 |
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pd, I think that you provide an excellent example of why digital is in some cases preferable to hardcopy - NO SHIPPING!
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04-17-2010, 12:56 PM | #7 |
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I was delighted to find my package from Dell in the mailbox today. I ordered very late Saturday night, and it arrived the following Saturday morning. That's very quick for Media Mail.
However, I am somewhat disappointed in what they sent. Remember, the mags come in packs of three, and I ordered three packs. Well two of the packs they sent were identical. And the third pack had one issue that was included in both of the other packs. So for my $6.75 I received five different issues. That comes to #1.35 each, which isn't bad, and I have four issues I can give away to friends and family. By the way, one of the issues is an Ellery Queen Christmas issue, which I am very happy to receive. |
04-18-2010, 01:27 PM | #8 |
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All three of my packs contained one Ellery Queen and two Alfred Hitchcocks.
I ordered two more packs last night to see if I would get any different mags. |
04-20-2010, 05:14 PM | #9 |
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If you want a deal from Fictionwise, buy a couple of individual issues of one of the magazines and then wait a couple of months. I bet they'll send you a discount for a subscription. This has happened to me twice, first with Ellery Queen and then with Alfred Hitchcock. The Alfred Hitchcock deal was just a few weeks ago and they offered a 20% rebate on a 1 or 2 year subscription, that was good even if paying with Micropay.
This came out to $37.38 for 2 years -- $1.56/issue. This technically isn't exact, since there are 2 double issues in the year which makes only 10 issues with 2 being more expensive, but you get the idea. I got the same deal for Ellery Queen back in January I think. I just bought a couple of issues of Asimov's magazine during last weeks 25% off to see if this will repeat again. -Marcy |
04-21-2010, 11:42 AM | #10 |
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Thanks, Marcy! That's good to know. Your Alfred Hitchcock deal is in line with what a US hardcopy subscription costs on the internet, so it ought to be a big money saver for guys like pdurrant who live overseas.
This week I've been reading one of the Hitchcocks I received Saturday, and I've enjoyed the reading of the physical/tangible pulp digest. I had done a lot of reading on my jetBook Lite since Christmas, and this was a good change of pace. So I guess it shows that in this case I was buying not only the content but also the medium. |
04-25-2010, 02:14 AM | #11 | |
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So to sum up, I purchased five packs total, at $2.25 each (incl. shipping), for a total of $11.25. I received five different issues - 2 Ellery Queens and 3 Alfred Hitchcocks. Here is what I received (with the number of copies): Ellery Queen Jan 07 (3) Feb 07 (2) Alfred Hitchcock Mar 07 (5) Apr 07 (2) May 07 (3) |
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05-07-2010, 06:06 PM | #12 |
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Never heard of it, maybe I am behind on the times
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detective, hardboiled, mystery |
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