Journal Jitters

[Carlotta King]

I expect I'm going to rock the boat here when I admit to being one of those people who can't even afford the £10 fee.
£10 probably does seem like nothing to most people, as has been said, it's two boxes of hair dye, a couple of pints, a couple of packets of cigarettes etc, and it's probably just loose change in the pockets of most.
However, when you're on an extremely tight budget, even putting away a few pence a week is impossible.
Due to being poorly and having to cut my workload a lot, I have had to live off my savings for quite a while now and have had to survive on about £50 a week, and that is for food, water and electric bills, council tax and any other necessities, and absolutely no luxuries, and larger chunks of my savings have to cover my rent.
It is almost impossible to live on £50 a week and most people probably couldn't even imagine doing it. But my point is that however cheap £10 sounds to most people, and that putting aside a few pence a week should be no problem even on a tight budget, even those few pence are a massive problem when you don't have them.

I'm not saying that the journal isn't good value - I think it is fantastic value and if I was in a financial position to be able to afford to put money aside for luxuries, I would subscribe at once, and even after a price increase it would still be great value. I'm not saying all this because I think the journal is too expensive - far from it.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I wouldn't mind the Journal subscrition being increased. Also maybe the overseas postage should now be increased too

That might well be true, but if people aren't resubscribing now in large numbers, a price hike will certainly put them off. I would pay £20 for a year's worth, but if you and I paid the extra, Julie, but a further 20 didn't, it would still probably make a loss.

Yes, I do see this point, Nigel, and Tony is probably thinking along the same lines too. I just don't know what the solution could be. I do know that the society my hubby subcribes to has a journal a quarter of the size of our Blyton Journal, and his subscription is £20 a year.

[Moonraker]

I expect I'm going to rock the boat here when I admit to being one of those people who can't even afford the £10 fee.

All Together Now...

[Moonraker]

my hubby subcribes to has a journal a quarter of the size of our Blyton Journal, and his subscription is £20 a year.

Oh, girly magazines will never go out of fashion...

[Carlotta King]

Hahaha thanks Nigel - I'm so glad that was something lively - I was expecting it to be something to do with getting the violins out

[Courtenay]

I'm another who would very, very gladly pay more than £10 p.a. - even £20 - to support the Society and get our wonderful Journal. But Nigel has a good point, that any significant price hike might put off too many potential members.

The Journal has so much in it every time that it makes for quite a lot of time needed to read it, at least for me; I think the number of pages could be reduced a little (not TOO much!) without seriously diminishing the quality of the magazine. That said, I like it the length it is and love the fact that we get so much in the one publication - just saying that it might be an option.

Tony, thanks for alerting us to the current situation - I'm sure I'm speaking for everyone here when I say this is something we all care deeply about and will be keeping our thought open for any possible solutions.

[pete9012S]

If no JPH is planned (Journal Price Hike) is there a way of allowing those who wanted to pay more than £10 by paypal or whatever when they renew their subscription to do so voluntarily if they wanted too?

If this was this was just a private voluntary personal arrangement between each subscriber and Tony it may just tip the balance a bit in Tony's favour on the postal front.

If nothing else it might ease some of the financial postal strains etc etc....

Just a thought..

[Courtenay]

That is a good thought, Pete. Perhaps the subscription renewal form could have a line added to it underneath where we tick the required subscription fee: "I would like to make a voluntary donation to the Enid Blyton Society of £....."

I'm assuming there would be a way to similarly alter the online renewal facility to allow a voluntary donation to be added. It's just that if there is a line there specifically encouraging that, perhaps more people who can afford it will take the initiative. I know I'd be happy to.

[Tony Summerfield]

Pete, that is a generous suggestion, but I don't see why people should pay more, it is my job to keep it afloat using whatever means might be necessary in the future, and increasing the UK subscription is not on the agenda unless Royal Mail double the postal rates! In the last two years UK postage has gone up by 21p (for 3 Journals), whilst Europe has gone up by £1.71 and Australia by £3.45. Ironically now there is a huge weight band, so that for all three destinations I can send two Journals for the same price as one (or one 168 page Journal! ). One or two people have sent a bit more than £10 and I just put them down for the next four Journals in my records instead of three! Regarding a comment you made in an earlier post Pete, I have been approached by one or two firms offering cheaper carriage, but they all seem to expect that we have about a thousand members!!

You are not rocking any boats, Cathy, I'm sure we all appreciate your circumstances and one person is neither here or there, it is actually 183 people who have not resubscribed over the past year. There have always been a fair number who have mistakenly subscribed thinking that with the name Blyton that it must be meant for young children and filled with Noddy etc., but new subscribers have always more than compensated for that in the past. Now however, new subscribers aren't even getting to the halfway point in making up for the losses.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I think Pete's idea is a good one, as extra contributions would be entirely voluntary.

Katharine, I didn't think you came across as mean about the subsidising. It's useful to hear everyone's honest opinions. But I was just thinking that if the UK subscribers subsidise the overseas subscribers a little, it's of benefit to all readers because it helps keep the Journal viable.

[John Pickup]

I'm just coming up to my first anniversary of membership to these forums and the society and I believe the journal is excellent value for money. I also belong to the Malcolm Saville Society and for £15 a year I receive three copies of their magazine which, without being disparaging to that society, is nowhere near as good a publication as Tony's.
I am quite prepared to pay more per annum to ensure the journal survives. I wonder if any of our overseas members who follow the forums would be happy to increase their subscriptions to cover the high costs of postage abroad.
Would it improve finances if Tony produced two journals a year with more pages to compensate? Even with a slight weight increase, the cost of postage should fall enough to relieve the situation. Maybe that won't be a very popular option but it's better than no journal at all.

[Poppy]

The £10 Subscription fee includes three Journals, postage charges, and access to other Society-stuff. That is an excellent deal. I mean - surely the overall annual postage fees would take up almost half this? I would definitely suggest that Tony adds on an extra charge for postage expenses and see how this goes?

[Katharine]

I was going to suggest would it be more economical to send all 3 Journals in one packet to places like Australia? However I'm not sure if the members would be happy to wait a whole year, especially if they see the latest Journal being discussed on the forums, and they've still got 6 months to wait.

I've nearly finished reading No. 34, better get a wriggle on if I want to be able to read the next one when it arrives.

[Spitfire]

I'm another one who would happily pay a voluntary donation over and above the basic subscription rate. I think Pete's idea is a really good one and deserves serious thought. It would give people the opportunity of making a voluntary donation without any pressure, so nobody would be obliged to pay more if they can't or don't wish to.

Pete, that is a generous suggestion, but I don't see why people should pay more, it is my job to keep it afloat using whatever means might be necessary in the future

Yes, but surely you wouldn't object to voluntary donations if they help towards costs?

I expect I'm going to rock the boat here...

It's a shame you can't afford the Journal at present but it can't be helped. Fingers crossed that you are able to take on more work soon Cathy.

[Rob Houghton]

I must admit I havent resubscribed as yet but plan to do this ASAP - like tomorrow. I've added small donations in the past, and would definitely be happy to pay more - £15 or £20 seems okay. The voluntary donation is a good idea too, and of course, can be done by anyone at any time.