So, given the worries about F&SF, I picked up the latest copy at my local Barnes and Noble, along with the latest Asimov's. Both seem to be
published now by Must Read Magazines. There were two copies of F&SF at
the store and both were pretty ripped up, so I got the better of the two.

I haven't got a copy of any SF magazine since the Covid shutdown and I
was shocked at how poor the physical quality was. The paper on the
covers is much thinner and poorly-made than in previous years, and the
printing was very uneven with some streaks of very light printing and some streaks of very heavy printing, like a badly-worn and poorly-adjusted
web press. Nothing was illegible but some pages took some studying.

The contents? I will give the new editors credit for trying to be inclusive. Almost all the fiction authors were bipoc folks, and there was a very
good article reviewing a survey made of minority authors. None of the
stories were terrible, but every one that I read made me think that it
could have been made into a better story by a good editor. There were
stories that were too long, stories that had some clumsy parts, and
stories with some problems with their technology. Nothing that could not
have been fixed up very quickly by John Campbell, but there was no
John Campbell with his red pencil there to do it.

So... I wish them luck, and I might consider subscribing just to see what happens, but this is a magazine that feels like it has some problems.
Not insurmountable ones, but time is running out.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

I haven't got a copy of any SF magazine since the Covid shutdown and I
was shocked at how poor the physical quality was. The paper on the
covers is much thinner and poorly-made than in previous years, and the >>printing was very uneven with some streaks of very light printing and some >>streaks of very heavy printing, like a badly-worn and poorly-adjusted
web press. Nothing was illegible but some pages took some studying.

See, well-printed & well-bound *is* important :-)

I wasn't expecting National Geographic quality... and these days National Geographic doesn't even come close to National Geographic quality...
but this was just no good.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In <10ljfpj$f60$1@panix2.panix.com> kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

[snip]

I wasn't expecting National Geographic quality... and these days National >Geographic doesn't even come close to National Geographic quality...
but this was just no good.
--scott

If you want good quality there's Arizona Highways!


--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/30/26 15:44, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

I haven't got a copy of any SF magazine since the Covid shutdown and I
was shocked at how poor the physical quality was. The paper on the
covers is much thinner and poorly-made than in previous years, and the
printing was very uneven with some streaks of very light printing and some >>> streaks of very heavy printing, like a badly-worn and poorly-adjusted
web press. Nothing was illegible but some pages took some studying.

See, well-printed & well-bound *is* important :-)

I wasn't expecting National Geographic quality... and these days National Geographic doesn't even come close to National Geographic quality...
but this was just no good.
--scott

During the Covid-19 shutdowns here in San Francisco, one newsstand stayed
open transacting business from behind sheilds at the front door and
since they
carried several SF magazines I spent some money on those while they managed
to stay in business. The owner operator had to close eventually which
lead me
subscribed to Linux Pro magazine in the digital format and I still get
it. That
was why I was a customer at the shop and also because the shop featured
a lot of brands of high quality chocolate. I will bring back another of my ancient taglines . He went to work at Trader Joe's and since then the
quality
of their chocolate has improved. I could not find a way then to
subscribe to
the magazines aside from the Linux magazine. It is very depressing to read
of their present condition.

later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (bliss dash sf4ever at
dslextreme dot com)




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:42:10 -0500 (EST), kludge@panix.com (Scott
Dorsey) wrote:

So, given the worries about F&SF, I picked up the latest copy at my

local

Barnes and Noble, along with the latest Asimov's. Both seem to be
published now by Must Read Magazines. There were two copies of F&SF at
the store and both were pretty ripped up, so I got the better of the

two.

I haven't got a copy of any SF magazine since the Covid shutdown and I
was shocked at how poor the physical quality was. The paper on the
covers is much thinner and poorly-made than in previous years, and the >printing was very uneven with some streaks of very light printing and

some

streaks of very heavy printing, like a badly-worn and poorly-adjusted
web press. Nothing was illegible but some pages took some studying.

The contents? I will give the new editors credit for trying to be

inclusive.

Almost all the fiction authors were bipoc folks, and there was a very
good article reviewing a survey made of minority authors. None of the >stories were terrible, but every one that I read made me think that it
could have been made into a better story by a good editor. There were >stories that were too long, stories that had some clumsy parts, and
stories with some problems with their technology. Nothing that could

not

have been fixed up very quickly by John Campbell, but there was no
John Campbell with his red pencil there to do it.

So... I wish them luck, and I might consider subscribing just to see

what

happens, but this is a magazine that feels like it has some problems.
Not insurmountable ones, but time is running out.

Although I gave up on magazines after the Davis Disaster [1], I am
sorry to hear of their current condition. This is, of course, a sign
of financial stress: either they just aren't bringing in enough money,
or the money they do bring in is being absorbed by overhead, or both.

They deserve better.

[1] In the mid-to-late 80's they really pushed their subs on current subscribers. They also chose to increase the number of issues and
double issues, cutting down subscription length to compensate. The
problem was that I couldn't keep up: I was reading /no/ fiction other
than their magazines. So I stopped the subs (using a local newspaper's
customer helper to "remind" them that I was entitled to a pro-rata
refund on each sub). It took a good five years to get through the
stack of accumulated novels.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Bobbie Sellers <blissInSanFrancisco@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

I could not find a way then to subscribe to
the magazines aside from the Linux magazine. It is very depressing to read
of their present condition.

The asimovs.com and analogsf.com websites should have ways to take your
money for subscriptions. Or send $57.75 for each magazine subscription
you want for Analog, F&SF, and Asimov's, check payable to Must Read
Magazines, 6 Prowett st, Norwalk, CT. 06855-1220.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/31/26 14:01, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Bobbie Sellers <blissInSanFrancisco@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

I could not find a way then to subscribe to
the magazines aside from the Linux magazine. It is very depressing to read >> of their present condition.

The asimovs.com and analogsf.com websites should have ways to take your
money for subscriptions. Or send $57.75 for each magazine subscription
you want for Analog, F&SF, and Asimov's, check payable to Must Read Magazines, 6 Prowett st, Norwalk, CT. 06855-1220.
--scott

#1 I no longer have funds due to being taken in by a confidence man
and #2 the report on the product would discourage me from such
action if I had the money.

I have copied the sites mentioned above in case I should enjoy
a reversal of my bad fortunes. Right now I am not sure of enough money
to survive from month to month.

bliss



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.8
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)