Ruth wrote:

On Friday, October 3, 2014 8:04:56 AM UTC-5, Ruth wrote:
Picked my issue up the other day. There are a few interesting one's that I plan on doing. Anyone else get theirs? What do you think? Which one is your favorite? I have a couple that I would really like to get done this year, one is "If You Don't Believe" by Sue Hillis Designs, and the other is "Make My Heart Your Manger" by DebBee's Designs. Now to work on Morning Song so I can get the ornaments done by Christmas. (I don't like working on more than one project at a time).

Wow Joan. I would think those who get that through the mail would have it before it showed up in the stores. Hope it arrives soon.

It frequently happens that magazines (especially special issues) show
up on newsstands/magazine racks before subscribers get their issues in
the mail.

The mags leave the printer at the same time, some destined for retail
distribution, others for mailing. The ones for retail have two or
three stops before they reach the final distributor, and each stop is
really just to break up the larger shipment into smaller amounts; and
as the retail distributor has no interest in keeping track of a bundle
(or four) of magazines so they don't go out "early", they go out to
the stores as soon as they come in.

The ones for subscribers either have already been diverted at the
printers to have mailing labels attached and then go into the
labyrinthine bulk mailing process directly from the printer; or they
have to go to the shipping distributor who bags them and puts mailing
labels and *then* they go into bulk mailing. One of the things about
bulk mail is that it gets processed when there is time, so sometimes
bundles will sit around for a couple of days before they get split up
and sent on.

The reason for subscribing is *not* to receive issues more quickly,
it's so that you don't have to haunt newsstands looking for it, and it
stabilizes the demand for the magazine. And if you live somewhere
outside of a magazine's distribution area, it means you do get it (I
once lived in an area that got maybe three issues of JCS a year on the
racks, and it was never consistent -- two in a row, then not one for a
year, then three in a row, none for 8 months, etc). (It also adds some
profit -- even a discounted subscription price gets the publisher more
profit than a magazine sold at retail.)

--
Jenn Ridley |