The Enid Blyton Society

I have posted elsewhere that subscription numbers have dropped drastically, and it is no surprise that in these forums the Journal which is only published every four months (and costs money!) has rapidly become the poor relation of a thread that gets updated four times a week. I'm due to start work next month on Journal 51 and in the words of Fagin (from the musical Oliver) 'I'm reviewing the situation'.

I currently have masses of back issues in stock of the last five Journals - over 50 copies of two of them! In the past six months just three new members have bought back issues, and it seems to be a poor use of Society money to have so many back issues lying around that will never be bought. Although I have reduced the print run for each issue, I think a more drastic approach is needed for Journal 51. Some people still resubscribe well after a Journal has been published (sometimes a year later) and in the hope that just one or two of these may be reading this, I just wanted to give due warning that if you do resubscribe in this manner there may well be no copies left. So if you intend to resubscribe please don't end up being disappointed. Only this morning I had a resubscription for Journals 48-50 and these are normally on the form that was tucked in to Journal 47!

Hi Tony

I think my mum has lost the note!

No, she hasn't lost the form, Abi, as I received your resubscription a few days ago!

Oh......She didn't tell me......

*walks away, embarrassed*

Perhaps she has arranged for you to come to Beckenham but hasn't told you yet!

The last Journal I have is 45, I think 46 might be waiting for me in Hong Kong. Since I am able to get the Journals so infrequently my parents did not let me resubscribe after my subscription ran out. I originally planned to get Journals 47-50 as back issues once I got into college, with my own money, but that seems unlikely now since I might be taking a gap year. If I do, I already have a job lined up at a school and they will be making me a bank account, so I will certainly resubscribe once I get a card. Oxford's letter arrived in Bangladesh safe and sound earlier this year, so I'll risk one Journal being sent here.

I'm sorry I wasn't a member for a year, Tony - it made little difference to me because I didn't have the Journals anyway, and that, and costs (the Journals aren't expensive, but at that time we had to cut back on various expenses, and all magazines were one of them), were the reasons my parents didn't allow me to do so again.

If you do have back issues of 47-50, I'd love to buy them as soon as I have my own account.