I can understand the frustration you are feeling.

I myself subscribe to The Writer and as this is the forum set up by The Writer, I fully see their point and agree to the way they have it set up. I like the idea that as a subscriber I have bonuses, so to speak. It is also a great way for security on the site.

However....

I used to purchase The Writer off the rack, occasionally in the past, when I couldn't afford the subscription. (way back when I was raising three little ones on my own) Perhaps the solution for those readers who do purchase The Writer off the rack, would be to have something like this set up:

Have a phone number in The Writer, where the purchaser could call in and get a code to use for the month that they purchased the magazine. By calling in, The Writer could have a set-up where that code would only work for that email address so that it couldn't be passed around to others. The problem is, there would have to be a way that The Writer could know that they actually purchased the magazine that month and just wasn't calling in to get a new code every month.

Any ideas, anyone? This is, the forum suggestion box, afterall. The main question I think would be if the suggestion was actually feasible, cost effective and follows the security issues of the site.

But then, I did notice a 'trial' registration for this site.

As for foreign countries, you get mail, don't you. Then subscribe if you want to have full access to the site. True, it may take a while for the magazine to reach you, date wise, but you would have access to the site.

Those of us who subscribe to The Writer, do in fact pay for our subscription. So, those who don't want to have a subscription to The Writer, then paying to have a registration to the full (forum) site seems fair to me. And, it keeps the site more secure.

 This isn't any different than memberships elsewhere. There are limits for those who aren't full-time members. If you are not a subscriber to the magazine, it excludes you from part of the site, unless you pay for a (membership), but that's life.

"For security, I would also suggest a private area for critiques"

Glynis,

That's one thing I didn't realize - that anyone could read the entire forum, including the work posted in the critiques.  I automatically sign onto the site when I am on it and didn't realize everything could be read by those just visiting the site.

As for the exchange of ideas from subscribers and non-subscribers, the point I was making is that the site is set up by the magazine. i.e. Using the forum as a whole, is part of what the magazine has to offer its subscribers. Thus, being a subscriber of the magazine or paid member of the site isn't too much to ask.

As a suggestion, I think that would be a good idea to have areas that can't be read by those not subscribers or members to the site - for security reasons.

Original motion supported.

I have to disagree with Johnnysannie above, however, on a few of his points...

Of course this is a financial decision, and of course they can do what they will with the forum. This is self-explanatory.

The disagreement enters when it comes to the concept that subscribers are somehow more serious writers or have better quality opinions. Subscribers simply have more money to spend on magazines. Some of us do not have that luxury, however it does not indicate that we don't have useful opinions, or that we are somehow less serious about writing. By way of illustration; for me, writing is a hobby at this stage in my life, although I've had the good fortune to have various things published without holding any subscriptions to magazines. I know plenty of subscribers to literary groups and magazines who have been attempting to publish, without success, for years and years, some spending a ludicrous quantity of money in the pursuit.

This isn't to say I'm a great writer or anything remotely close to it, I consider myself a novice and a total amateur who has had good fortune in finding a couple of supportive publishers (they are out there!!)... but perhaps it serves to illustrate that holding a subscription doesn't mean that a person knows the secrets to success any more than a non-subscriber does.

B

One: The reasons I speculated as to why the new forum are not my own opionions but what I gather as reasons for the new changes.

Two: It's not "his" opinion but "her"....johnnysannie - johnny's annie....get it?

Three: The question of professional writers vs. wannabee is not my question but one I see inherent in much of what appears on The Writer forum.  Posts run the gamut from rank beginners to would-be writers and never will be groupies to professionals.

I see that the hostility often prevelent in the original forum has made the transfer along with the changes!!

1. Boost subscriptions to the mag which translates into MONEY"

Or not.  The magazine is only occassionally useful to me.  I buy about 1 out of 4 issues when there is a useful article not aimed at people still learning how to write in complete sentences.  If I start feeling negative about the people who put the magazine I will stop buying it at all.  If this magazine didn't make a big whack of its money from occassional buyers like me it wouldn't be on news stands.  Way to go, next time I see the cover I won't think 'could be interesting', I'll think, 'yeah, right [expletive deleted]'.

2. Divide the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats (the REAL writers from the wannabees)

Frankly real writers don't have much to gain from subscribing to the magazine (versus getting it occassionally), and paying money and reading magazines doesn't make you a real writer -- if anything earning money does and being published in magazines does.  'Real' smart people will just spend more time at places which give similar or better forum services for free.  I will show great restraint and not say where.

3. Get rid of posters who piddle rather than post serious facts and info about writing

I posted plenty of serious facts and info but why should I pay to do so?

4. Because they can (same way the oil companies are gouging consumers on gas prices just because they can and we will)

They can, and have.  I suspect it will prove a mistake.  

I do not have a lot to say . . . I am simply disappointed. 

Yes, the new look is nice, so credit there to the magazine. 

But I today I came here to edit a post I made before the changes and found that I could not.  I also came here to finally post a second poem on this site, to get some feedback.  That will not happen now.  I will sorely miss being able to post in the poetry and fiction sections.  Guess I got spoiled, being able to come here and learn from amateurs and professionals alike, without having to put out any money to do so at a time in my life when money is not so easy to come by (for a subscription).  Sigh. 

And to think I had just recommended this site to two new writers I met on other sites--writers who may have subscribed.   

Thanks for letting me 'talk' in the non-premium forum here.

Veinglory thankfully said most of what was burning on my tongue. 

My view is this: they had ads all over the place on the old forums.  Haven't really paid much attention to how many ads I'm seeing on the new one, because I've been too busy sussing out where I'm welcome and where I'm not.  I worked for a bookseller and learned an interesting fact early on: magazines make far more money from adverts than subscriptions.  Subscription lists only give advertisers an idea of how many people regularly will look at their ads.

So, look at the numbers posted at the bottom of the forum screen.  Lots of members.  Lots of people potentially looking at ads.  That should be something to offer an advertiser without having to extort subscriptions out of people who are occasional buyers of the magazine.  Ads bring in revenue, and therefore, pay for the forums.  Many websites work on that principle, with a few extras for loyal subscribers.

As for the idea that subscribers are somehow more "expert" than non-subscribers - that's frankly ridiculous.  I stopped subscribing when I grew out of the magazine.  The Writer and Writer's Digest are geared primarily toward beginners.  They offer very little for the intermediate and advanced writer.  Therefore, no subscription on my part.  Why should I pay for something that's going to repeat what I've heard a thousand thousand times before?  I would have done - I hadn't subscribed yet because I was about to move and didn't have my new address, but I was impressed enough by the forums that I was planning to subscribe to the magazine to support them.  I refuse to be blackmailed into doing so, however, and so I'll content myself with those few areas that are still free.

I stick around for the people I've met here who have helped me and who I like to talk to.  I'm not elitest.  Rank amateurs, "groupies", wanna-bes, and hobbyists have helped me just as much as the professionals.  That's what I loved about this forum: so many different people at all kinds of skill levels holding freewheeling discussions about writing.  It's just sad that it's been made that much harder to hold such discussions.

I don't know what the financial state of the magazine is, but I know corporations, and this magazine is owned by one.  "Penny wise, pound foolish" holds true here.