From yesterday's Metropolitan Diary (New York Times)

[mabfan]

Sign taped to lamppost outside Pamela Feiring's apartment building: "LOST: 18-karat gold wedding band of great sentimental value."

Penciled underneath: "Answers to 'My precious.'"

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I'll email them, but I'm pretty sure they'll get back to you first...

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I kind of doubt that, it's been almost two weeks since I wrote...

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Two weeks? Have you tried emailing again?

I did email them about this yesterday, but I honestly don't expect them to get back to me, at least not on this issue.

There's a basic difference between when I email them or when you email them. From their perspective, although I do subscribe to the magazine, I'm a "vendor," meaning that they know I depend on them buying my stories. If I email them on why the webpage hasn't had the AnLab ballot put up yet, to them it's less a subscriber concern and more of a self-serving question.

However, when you and other subscribers email them with the same question, then it becomes a real issue. The magazine's health and welfare depends on keeping a subscriber base; if they ignore too many reasonable subscriber requests, they risk the chance of losing those subscribers. And the more they lose, the greater the possibility the magazine will go out of business.

In short, believe it or not, the magazine is much more interested in making sure that someone like you stays happy with them than someone like me. They can always fill the issue with stories, even if I never send them another submission; but they can't always fill their subscriber rolls with readers.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Makes sense... but I wrote to analog@dellmagazines.com on 11/27 and to analog@dellmagazines.net on 12/5 and haven't heard back. I wouldn't care about that if they'd just update the web site, though!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Checked the Analog site again, and they've updated it! Odd that it finally covers Jan./Feb. when I just received March, but - I can vote! Yay! Thought you'd like to know...