Mothering to Go Web-Only - Page 3

[georgia]

Thank you, Sandi. And thanks to everyone who understands what a loss this is for all of us in the natural family living community. It's important to be excited about the future, and at the same time, it's also important to acknowledge the myriad of emotions we're all experiencing. Thanks to everyone for being so understanding, even though I don't have all the answers. 

Please do consider contacting [e-mail] to discuss your subscription so she can assist you personally. It's really important to all of us that we do all that is feasible to help our loyal supporters. 

I hope the forums will stay around.

Jessica, yes, Peggy will be focusing her time and energy on the online frontier, so I don't think there's any concern about the forums. We have plans to reach even more families with Mothering's information, and I hope you'll continue to be with us to get and give support! 

[triskelion]

Has Mothering ever looked into reorganizing as a nonprofit? I don't see any evidence that you are a nonprofit already and I'm a reader of several magazines that are nonprofit organizations. They still have advertisement revenue and rely on subscriptions, but they are also able to use their nonprofit status to effectively levy other donations from the readership. I don't really know the technicalities of it and I think they have smaller readerships than Mothering, but they are also very unique magazines that like Mothering offer opinions and features you just don't see from more mainstream publications. Their nonprofit status allows them to work outside of a traditional business model and one is very open with readers when they are having a hard time meeting overhead costs and can rally enough new subs/other donations to keep going. As a reader, I appreciate that they put their nonprofit status up front and although I don't respond to all requests for help, I have given to the magazine above and beyond the subscription costs before to keep it in print. I'm just spitballing here if this would be appropriate for Mothering...

[Aeress]

Originally Posted by georgia 

I'm sure Peggy will be interested in hearing your support! Is this what you're envisioning? 

Yes, like that, but maybe even shorter. (I forgot about those booklets/materials) being available.

[la mamita]

It's definitely sad to see such a progressive voice for parenting leaving the print magazine world...

That said, I think that moving towards an online-only business is actually very forward-thinking as far as a business decision. Reading and purchasing habits are definitely shifting away from the paid-subscription magazines, especially for information on parenting which as the article by Peggy mentioned is often an urgent "oh no, what do I do now? My kid just..." search for info. So many print magazines are so chock full of advertising, it's a wonder people can even find the articles. Switching to online-only seems like a good choice (and even perhaps more environmentally sustainable ).

Here's to the future. Best wishes.

[*bejeweled*]

I will miss seeing Mothering in the checkout lane. I learned so much about being a mother from your beautiful magazine.

[JMJ]

Please e-mail us, and it would be nice to have an announcement at the top of the forums.  I get e-mails from Mothering often, so it shouldn't be too hard to send out a mass e-mail.  Not everyone is on facebook, and a lot of people don't hang around this forum much.  It looks like nobody found this thread for 2 days after it was posted.  I know there is a lot to do when canceling the magazine, but the people who subscribed to Mothering deserve the personal contact.  We love you, Mothering.  Please continue to nurture our relationship with you.

[doubledutch]

i think digital-only is great!  i love flipping through actual magazines, but it's kind of indulgent and wasteful, no?

[HeckedyPeg]

I just want to add- I called and spoke to Sarah about my sub and my gift subs ... there is no refund option, but I liked what she did offer. I'm still just bummed out! Definitely call or email if you just ordered a subscription.

[SuburbanHippie]

Are there still going to be articles or is it going to be just a forum here?  I write a lot of research papers for school on breastfeeding, vaccinations, etc and Mothering has been one of my best sources.  I hope to see current articles still even if the magazine isn't going to be printed.

[georgia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMJ 

Please e-mail us, and it would be nice to have an announcement at the top of the forums.  I get e-mails from Mothering often, so it shouldn't be too hard to send out a mass e-mail.  Not everyone is on facebook, and a lot of people don't hang around this forum much.  It looks like nobody found this thread for 2 days after it was posted.  I know there is a lot to do when canceling the magazine, but the people who subscribed to Mothering deserve the personal contact.  We love you, Mothering.  Please continue to nurture our relationship with you.

We're going to also be putting the news in next week's MDC newsletter. We still have several very cool newsletters to help everyone stay in touch. Please check them out here: http://www.mothering.com/newsletters/

 It looks like nobody found this thread for 2 days after it was posted.

To help explain this a bit better, I wrote this thread when I found out because we needed a link for Peggy to link to in her blog post. It wasn't until today that I moved the thread into the public forum to coincide with Peggy's official announcement. Thank you so much for your support of Mothering. It really does mean a lot. 

[lil_miss_understood]

I think a lot of us are grieving today and that is why we're seeing so much anger. I was angry as well, briefly, but I understand that business is business. I'm sincerely saddened that Peggy didn't feel comfortable in informing the community she built that things were so difficult recently. I would like to think that perhaps we could have stepped up and prevented this tragic situation.

I am one of those who recently paid for a multi-year subscription, partly contributing my earlier anger. I would gladly have paid a higher subscription price if I thought it would have kept the magazine portion of this business "alive". I have come to accept that Peggy did as she believed to be best and, although I am saddened and disappointed that I will not be receiving Mothering any longer, I am glad to think that perhaps my money has contributed to Mothering continuing online. I look forward to watching it's web presence grow and the service for this community to excel with this change.

[georgia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeckedyPeg 

I just want to add- I called and spoke to Sarah about my sub and my gift subs ... there is no refund option, but I liked what she did offer. I'm still just bummed out! Definitely call or email if you just ordered a subscription.

Thank you for saying this, Heckedy! I really do want to make sure that everyone who is upset talks with Sarah so she can help you. 

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie 

Are there still going to be articles or is it going to be just a forum here?  I write a lot of research papers for school on breastfeeding, vaccinations, etc and Mothering has been one of my best sources.  I hope to see current articles still even if the magazine isn't going to be printed.

Mothering is definitely going to continue bringing you the natural family living content and articles that you have come to expect! We're even going to be expanding the already extensive Mothering content by additionally offering even more workshops, videos, podcasts, etc. Not just forums by any means. Thank you for the positive feedback. What are you studying in school? 

[tankgirl73]

 It looks like nobody found this thread for 2 days after it was posted.

To help explain this a bit better, I wrote this thread when I found out because we needed a link for Peggy to link to in her blog post. It wasn't until today that I moved the thread into the public forum to coincide with Peggy's official announcement. Thank you so much for your support of Mothering. It really does mean a lot. 

At what point were subscriptions no longer accepted?  If this was decided a few days ago, then presumably you would not have been accepting payments for new subscriptions... right?

I think one of the big questions that people are upset about, and that I haven't seen satisfactorily answered yet, is the timeline.  Did they, or did they not, continue to take new subscriptions after they had made the decision to cease publication.  If new subscriptions were taken with integrity and the honest intention to fulfill them, and this decision did happen after some sudden catastrophe, then we'd be sad, disappointed, frustrated... but not mad.  Not this mad, anyway.

But if payments were still being taken even after the decision was made... then those folks were lied to, plain and simple.  I'd call it fraud.  Whatever the actual legalities and "industry standards" are in regards to this, that's just low, and not what we'd expect from the folks at Mothering.

Edited to add:

Peggy's blog post also says "In the last few weeks it has become obvious that we must cease publication of the print magazine."  The last few weeks. And she comments in the comment section as well, that time saying "two weeks."  But were print subscriptions still being accepted in that time?  The interpretation I take from this information is that 2-3 weeks ago, they realized they would have to cease the print magazine, but would continue the digital.  The Jan/Feb issue was published digital only.  But print subscribers were not informed of any of this until today.  And presumably, print subscriptions were still being accepted, and advertising as well.  Then a few days ago, they also realized that they couldn't continue the digital format either, which led to this out-of-the-blue announcement.  Is this a correct assessment of the timeline?

[~Boudicca~]

[SuburbanHippie]

Originally Posted by georgia 
Mothering is definitely going to continue bringing you the natural family living content and articles that you have come to expect! We're even going to be expanding the already extensive Mothering content by additionally offering even more workshops, videos, podcasts, etc. Not just forums by any means. Thank you for the positive feedback. What are you studying in school? 

Whew!  Thanks so much for your quick response.  I'm so relieved!  I'm actually studying for sustainable management, but I've been taking a lot of women's studies classes as well.  Many Mothering articles have been cited in my papers.  They're chock full of good info!

[tankgirl73]

I have another question -- an honest interest in the information.  :)

Peggy's blog post mentions that it costs $100,000 to print one issue, and $60,000 to produce a digital edition.  I'm curious what the cost breakdown is for the digital edition.  She says that "in recent years" there were 100,000 subscribers, though I'm not sure if that's from before or after the recent decline.  At any rate, the implication is that approximately $40,000 is for printing and mailing costs to 100,000 people (or nearly that many), with the remaining $60,000 being for the actual production of the content.  I'm certainly not a publishing expert, but those numbers don't make sense to me.  So I'd love some clarification -- because I'm nosy and like to know this kind of thing.  ;)  And because I know I'm not an expert, so I'd love to be educated on the facts about the numbers.  :)

[July09Mama]

This makes me SO SAD! We all love Mothering in my house! My daughter loves to find pictures of other babies nursing and during a baby-wearing strike, it was a picture of a boy on his dad's back that convinced her to give it another go. I'm going to have to start hoarding my old ones, too, now, which sucks 'cause I love sharing the Mothering love with other new mamas. Thanks so much to everyone who helped make Mothering all it was :(

[brennag]

I'm both devestated & sad that the print editon is not longer.  I hated to wait for the new issue to come out, but I Looked forward to reading it from cover to cover.  I also enjoyed the ads & felt the magazine was a great resource.  There is nothing else like it out there & it will be greatly missed.  I hope that in a few years when the economy picks up either you or someone will fill the gap with a print magazine again. :(

[Cynthia Mosher]

To very briefly address the question about timing, this was both - a difficult financial situation that has been affecting us for three years, but a very recent decision to stop print. We deeply appreciate all the care, concern, and questions your posts carry. Thank you so much. 

[amnesiac]

I have enjoyed Mothering as a magazine and even had the privilege of writing an article for publication in the magazine myself. I know that this is a decision that had to weigh heavily on Peggy's heart and I applaude her strength and wisdom in acting on her recognition of the need for change. While I am saddened to see the magazine go, I am thrilled to see how Mothering will evolve as a web entity. Our online community is what brought me to Mothering to begin with so I feel very much at home with all the new site might have to offer. Much love to everyone.