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Tuesday, May 03, 2005
An Open Letter to the Editors of Legal Affairs Magazine
I don't know if the Legal Affairs editors and managers read our blawg, but if any of our regular readers know the powers that be over there, please direct their attention to this post.
I love Legal Affairs Magazine. I have been a subscriber for around two years running. Interestingly, my wife--who is not a legal professional and who generally has no use for, or interest in, legal commentary or scholarship (unless it is written by me, in which case she is enthralled. Honest.)--also loves the mag. Indeed, it is one of the few periodicals that we fight over. It is provocative, entertaining, and easy to read.
We are therefore sad to report that we are now allowing our subscription to lapse. $49.99 is just too much to pay for six volumes a year. (I seem to recall that the price was lower until recently; did it change as a result of the mag becoming independent from Yale Law School?)
I assume that you charge such an exorbitant fee as a result of market conditions, rather than a simple desire to gouge me. Still, I can't afford to pay over $8 an issue for a periodical. When the price comes down to something affordable and even remotely competitive (say, $29.99 per year), I will immediately resubscribe. Until then, I will continue to read your online content, which I have extolled before.
Regretfully,
A Former Subscriber
Posted by Hillel Levin on May 3, 2005 at 11:58 AM in Odd World | Permalink
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» Legal Affairs, Blawgs, and Populism from Crime
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Tracked on Jun 13, 2005 2:20:23 AM
Comments
FYI: The subscription price is now $39.99/year.
Posted by: Joelle | May 13, 2005 2:09:50 PM
I wholeheartedly agree. They should give a price break to lawyers. I have a vague recollection that do to law school students.
Posted by: Craig | May 4, 2005 2:20:35 PM
I'm not arguing that they can't charge the money. They are free to, and if this is what it takes to run a profitable magazine of this nature, so be it. I'm not mad at them. Rather, I'm simply disappointed that I can no longer subscribe at that price. Perhaps what they should do is lower the subscription price on the mag and require registration for the website and boost ad content on the website. But I don't think I owe Legal Affairs money to keep it afloat; we are talking a serious collective action problem here, and I'm not going to be the one footing the bill.
So, serious journalism, good; serious journalism that is too expensive for me, not so good.
Posted by: amosanon1 | May 3, 2005 3:03:31 PM
Be nice to Legal Affairs. It is almost impossible to run a profitable but "serious" magazine these days, and Yale has now cut them loose. We're lawyers and legal academics and can afford 50 bucks a year, can't we? If we want serious, lively, and interesting legal journalism, this is the only place we're going to get it. Think of it as your voluntary contribution.
Posted by: aa2bt | May 3, 2005 2:55:25 PM
My rule of thumb: If a magazine is costing me more per year compared to a year of a comic book from Marvel or DC (Who will stretch every iota of pricing into the books retail), the magazine is gone. Then again with comic prices up to $3.00 or $3.50/month for certain titles ...
Posted by: Joel | May 3, 2005 2:32:13 PM
I agree. Yesterday I picked up a copy of LA and a few other mags at the newstand without checking any prices. (They're magazines, so how much could they cost?) I argued with the store clerk when he gave me the total. When he showed me the price of LA, I almost fell over.
LA is a good magazine, but 50-dollars is a lot of money to me.
Posted by: Mike | May 3, 2005 1:48:59 PM
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