Comments on The Renegade Writer Blog: Moneysaving tips you'll never read about in magazi...

If dead trees aren't your thing, try Zinio (http:/...

2006-09-07T13:40:00.000-04:00

If dead trees aren't your thing, try Zinio (http://zinio.com), which offers low-cost digital magazine subscriptions. Quite a few pubs offer sample issues. I found out about this through freebizmag.com, which someone already mentioned, and not only scored free subscriptions to House Beautiful, Spin, Radar and US News and World Report, but also a digital subscription to Saveur. It takes a little getting used to to read mags digitally (clicking to 'flip' pages and zooming in/out to read), but if you just need to get the gist of the pub's tone for a pitch, digital subscriptions just might be perfect.

Tradepub is pretty rough when it comes to subscrip...

2006-08-08T12:07:00.000-04:00

Tradepub is pretty rough when it comes to subscriptions. Those guys at freetrademagazinesource are pretty good. The sites easy to use and the magazine selection is nice and broad.

I've got over 15 subscriptions coming to my house from magazines on freetrademagazinesource.

Believe it or not the church I go to runs a small ...

2006-08-05T00:19:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not the church I go to runs a small bookstore with books and magazines that come from member donations. The magazines are a few weeks to a month or so old but they sell for $.35 each, 3 for a $1, which is pretty cheap.

I noticed recently that the Costco near my house h...

2006-08-04T20:20:00.000-04:00

I noticed recently that the Costco near my house has magazines. I'm pretty sure they are cheaper than the cover price but can't remember how much. Not as gigantic a selection as B&N but still cool. Has all the popular ones.

You can score free subscriptions to trade magazine...

2006-08-04T18:15:00.000-04:00

You can score free subscriptions to trade magazines with minimal effort via Tradepub:

http://i.nl03.net/ltr0/?_m=01.009i.po.mfm.po

I'm found they don't check much when it comes to background questions. Such as my sub to Food Arts:

http://i.nl03.net/ltr0/?_m=01.009i.po.mfm.po&qf=fda

Speaking of stealing magazines from doctors' waiti...

2006-08-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

Speaking of stealing magazines from doctors' waiting rooms (which you should of course never do -- notice that Diana said she asks to borrow them)...ask your doctor, hairdresser, nail technician, etc., if you can come in and periodically cart away the stacks of old magazines that pile up. Many of these places get free subscriptions, so they're happy to have someone clean them up occasionally. When we lived in MA, my husband's hairdresser would actually call us whenever the magazines started threatening to take over her shop! And we got magazines we wouldn't normally think to read, which is great for idea generating and finding new markets.

And libraries -- yes! In Massachusetts, where we lived in a small town with a dinky library, the librarian told Eric and me that the two of us accounted for a quarter of their entire magazine circulation!

Steal them from doctor's offices? I pay money for ...

2006-08-04T14:55:00.000-04:00

Steal them from doctor's offices? I pay money for subscriptions to the magazines I put out in my waiting room. When magazines start disappearing, the people who suffer are not only me (since I often wait to read the magazines until the current month is over) but also other patients, who suddenly have nothing to read and wonder why doctors only have 2-yr old magazines in their waiting rooms. Stealing is stealing, no matter from whom it's done.

I always put my mags away (and my husband's, bc he...

2006-08-04T14:34:00.000-04:00

I always put my mags away (and my husband's, bc he's not always so courteous) and I always make a purchase (even if it's just tea). We have corporate accounts at both Barnes and Noble and also at Border's. We spend a couple of thousand per year between the two, so I don't feel bad about dropping in to read.

Was packing up my laptop to go to Barnes just about a half hour ago, then remembered my laptop overheats (even after just paying $150 for repair), so I'm staying home today...grrr!

Anonymous, I'm with you! In fact, you'll often see...

2006-08-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

Anonymous, I'm with you! In fact, you'll often see me putting away other people's magazines. It drives me crazy when people leave crap all over the tables not only because it inconveniences the people who work there -- but also because cafe patrons can't tell if the table is free.

Linda (Who is right now sitting in Borders with an iced coffee)

Anonymous, I couldn't agree more. (And you'll noti...

2006-08-04T13:53:00.000-04:00

Anonymous, I couldn't agree more. (And you'll notice I didn't suggest reading for free at your local bookstore.) As a consumer, it drives me NUTS to watch people read piles of mags and then just leave them. What are these people? Five? Do they think their mom works there?

I've also purchased magazines, got them home and found cookie crumbs and coffee drips on the pages -- even one time, a page ripped out.

I work at one of the bookstores mentioned, and fol...

2006-08-04T13:42:00.000-04:00

I work at one of the bookstores mentioned, and folks who leave behind big stacks of magazines that they have no intention of buying make us crazy. Want good karma in the bookstore, and happier employees?

- Don't open plastic wrapped magazines. We can't sell them once they're opened.
- Don't spill anything on them. We can't sell them dirty.
- Buy *something*. Get a fancy drink and a cookie from the cafe. We're not a library.
- Above all, PUT THE MAGAZINES AWAY WHEN YOU'RE DONE! I regularly thank customers who I see doing this, and have been known to give them a spare store coupon.

Please, be courteous. Putting some magazines away that we just let you sit and read for free isn't a lot to ask. Thanks.

Where there's a will there's a way to find magazin...

2006-08-03T18:59:00.000-04:00

Where there's a will there's a way to find magazines for free. Ask a local writing group if they can trade off magazines. Find offices where there is a waiting room ex; doctors, dental, or anyplace that orders magazines and keeps them for people to read. Looking for IT magazines call an IT department in a big company. They get dozens of magazines in one year. Find out if they will donate to you. It's either you or the recycling bin. Find women in churches who keep their magazines for decades not wanting to throw them out. Old issues are great for ideas.

Great post. I've listed some tips in an article av...

2006-08-01T09:12:00.000-04:00

Great post. I've listed some tips in an article available here:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/creative_market_research.htm

Since cash is hardly ever in my pockets, I'm a big...

2006-08-01T08:01:00.000-04:00

Since cash is hardly ever in my pockets, I'm a big library fan. Though, I forgot all about Infotrak. Thanks for the reminder--it'll help me out a lot!

Thanks for the great ideas. Borders and Barnes and...

2006-07-31T19:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the great ideas. Borders and Barnes and Noble are my favorite places to read. I can take my laptop, sip a latte, read a book and/or magazine or two and beat the hot summer heat all for free.

I also have a few more ideas for gaining magazine subscriptions if anyone's intersted.

I currently receive approximately 10 magazine subscriptions and every single one of them was free. The amount that I receive now has greatly lessened from what I used to get even a year ago. All of those were free too.

You can try these sites:

http://www.all-freemagazines.com/

http://www.freebizmag.com/welcome.asp?FBMVisitId=3805627946

http://www.freetrademagazinesource.com/

https://www.anadynesystems3.com/servlets/frhclientformdisplay?xr4=&formts=2006-06-01%2006:41:55.109001

I have a couple more listed on my blog (http://babyblogger1.blogspot.com/) as well as a link to where anyone interested can access even more.

Right now I get more than I can keep up with, including Elle, Redbook, Esquire, Golf Digest (I think that's the name...I don't even play golf), several IT magazines and several business magazines all from using these sites and others like it. A good idea for anyone signing up for these is to use an email address specifically for junk mail (and if anyone needs a free gmail account, they can email me at moneymakinmama@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send them an invite).

You can also usually request a media kit directly from publishers if you don't want a full subscription, but would like to view a couple of issues as well as info on their demographics, circulation, etc.

Hope this helps!

Here's a rule to break. I have never made a habit ...

2006-07-30T09:59:00.000-04:00

Here's a rule to break. I have never made a habit of buying copies of a magazine I want to write for. Either the print magazine also has articles on the Web I can read for free, the editor sends me an issue, the editor sends me a sample article from the magazine that I should use as a guide when writing the assigned piece, the question of whether I've read the publication never comes up or I flip through some pages in the magazine racks while at the grocery or drug store. In other words, I deal with the issue without it ever inconveniencing me - monetarily or otherwise.

Borders lets you browse their mags for free. Grab ...

2006-07-30T00:55:00.000-04:00

Borders lets you browse their mags for free. Grab up a stack and get comfy. I sometimes bring a notebook to take notes.

And, most mags will let you subscribe, get first sample issue, then write cancel on first bill if you don't want to continue.

The library idea is so great. I didn't realize un...

2006-07-29T17:06:00.000-04:00

The library idea is so great. I didn't realize until a few months ago that my local library subscribes to SOOO many mags that I would buy anyway. It's a great excuse to get out of the house/office and have some quiet time doing "research!"

http://punditmom1.blogspot.com
http://columnquest.blogspot.com