Please, No!
By Annette Rey
F&W Media, the publisher of Writer’s Digest and more than fifty other magazines, announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to plummeting subscriptions and advertising revenue.
I invoke the little boy’s words as he looked up into the face of his hero, a beloved baseball player accused of throwing the 1919 World Series in the infamous Black Sox Scandal, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”
For many years, I have revered every issue of the Writer’s Digest, eagerly waiting for its arrival like a kid looking forward to her first personalized mail sent through the post. A mental time clock has been set in my brain and as I go through my life and all of its responsibilities, I hear myself periodically asking, “Isn’t it about time my Writer’s Digest arrive?” I check my mailbox with great intent and expectation the next few days, and sure enough, I am relieved to find it. That is proof of how much I have come to enjoy and rely on this information-packed magazine.
If this magazine goes into extinction, I will lose a great deal of pleasure and convenience in my search for writing excellence. Look at any one issue of Writer’s Digest and you will see the variety of writing-related subjects to satisfy any aspiring writer. The magazine includes links to further elucidation on their website. The website has archival material dating years back. A popular VIP membership could be purchased which connected the buyer to unlimited Writer’s Market listings as well as all past material from Writer’s Digest. Of course, I have availed myself of that marvelous opportunity. Will all of this end if a prosperous buyer does not keep this magazine from dying?
F&W Media hopes to sell its assets within three to four months!
Is that all the time we writers have left to enjoy a favorite staple of our writing life? Again, I plead, “Say it ain’t so!”
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Writer's Block No More 
I subscribe to The Writer but each magazine has a slightly different focus and niche. I too am sorry that Writers Digest is going under–
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If only a competent company will purchase it and continue to supply it. I’m glad you won’t be faced with the loss of the magazine you like. 🙂
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Oh, what a shame! I suppose that would mean the website is going too?
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Anne, It’s hard to say. Whatever is put on the internet is supposed to be there forever. Through the years I have downloaded from their site hundreds of articles that teach writing technique. I advise anyone to download everything that appeals to them from their site before it goes down, in the event it will no longer be accessible.
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