How does it look online? Try the link below to see a Family History Magazine story by genealogy writer Lisa Alzo - who happens to be a GenClass.com colleague. Not only will you see each page in the story, but also thumbnail images for the entire magazine. The site also offers a "my stuff" page, where you can place "clipped articles" and add notes about the piece.
Lisa's story, Make No Mistake, highlights 10 common pitfalls to avoid when researching family histories. View Bruce's blog posting with the link here.
My immediate impression was very good, and I liked the idea that those of us who live around the globe could easily access favorite publications (more are signing up), read them online as they become available and wouldn't have to wait for the issues to come through the mail - usually very late - or pay exorbitant newsstand prices for "foreign" publications or have to load up on magazines at airports when we travel abroad.
In the case of Family Tree Magazine, the US rate is $24, while the international rate is $31 - a $7 difference. Multiply a similar savings for many magazines, and anyone can easily see this would be an advantage.
For those of us who can give up hardcopy, combined with the advantages of article clipping and note taking, it sounds good. And, if you can tear yourself away from traditional paper copies, there will be fewer piles of magazines on your coffee table, desk and other horizontal surfaces in your home, not to mention a happier mailman who won't have to schlep the magazines each month to your mailbox.
I remembered that Everton's Genealogical Helper had also gone digital, and asked Bruce about digital-only subscriptions - after all, none of us want to pay international rates for solely digital access.
Great minds think alike, I guess. Here's Bruce's response:
Regarding digital subscription prices and offering digital subscriptions separately from print subscriptions, we are actually in the process of working on trying to set these up exactly as you suggest. It's a publisher decision obviously, and some of the publishers that are part of the Coverleaf service have already agreed to sell digital-only subscriptions (and for even less than the domestic sub price) and we're working on convincing all of the publishers that this is a good idea.
So, the future looks good and I have a whole list of mags (family history and many others) that I'd like to see sign up to offer digital editions.
For the press release on the launch of Coverleaf.com, click here.
How do Tracing the Tribe readers feel about this new development? Would you be interested in subscribing digitally to publications?
Posts
Hi Schelly,
ReplyDeleteGood catch here. Finally! It looks like Family Tree Mag has bought into this.
I subscribe to digital versions of Internet genealogy and Everton's Genealogical Helper. I also read Ancestry Magazine articles online because I am an Ancestry subscriber.
My bookcases are groaning with piles of magazines, and I still have plenty of hard drive space, so I prefer digital copies. I find that I don't go back and read the old magazines but just can't throw them out.
Cheers -- Randy