It's not just late...

I got the August issue of Digital Artist Magazine, because it had a freebie kit included that I wanted to get. There were coupons for places that I don't shop at, freebie downloads that I didn't want other than that one mini kit, a badly done tutorial and many (far too many!) CT and reader layouts. I wasn't impressed. The articles were all slightly different versions of 'Go Buy This,' or rehash of this or that layout or template. More reader or CT layouts. Yawn.

According to the magazine, there were supposed to be blog events starting on August 21 on the website that I've been checking. But there hasn't been a blog post since July 10. The July issue had never been released. Subscribers were told via that blog post on July 10th that their subscriptions would be extended and the pause in publishing was due to the website and servers being upgraded.

The September issue sort of showed up today. Customers are having problems finding links to the magazine and the links are failing as soon as they are made even partially public. I attempted to follow the link and got an error message that the server could not be found. I changed the .net/store ending to .com/store and got a link to a web store that had not yet been configured. There have been no new posts on the blog for the magazine since the July 10th post.

The editorial assistant, the second name on the staff list, is posting 'I'm just the messenger' posts after the posts that she makes promising that the magazine will be available at such and such a date fail to be correct, or the link with the 'new' sorta secret location fails to work consistently. If she were working for me, I'd pull her off the job for a while. 72 hours at her computer and she is not thinking clearly, nor is she communicating well. Nobody would be.

I checked the website. Again. There is a page (clearly marked "copyright 2007-2008") with a list of six web stores that are supposed to carry this magazine. One closed several months ago. Two shops don't have anything at all by that manufacturer. One shop has only issues from 2008, with the most recent being September 2008. Two places carry the August issue. I can't find the September issue anywhere. It isn't even listed on their own website!

This magazine promises a lot and does not deliver anything. Not even itself.

Wallaby Darned! I tried the failing link again and now I've seen the cover for the September issue. I've even been able to see detailed views of the freebies. I won't be buying it.