Inspired by the foolishness and mayhem we see on Clean House, my husband and I spent much of the past weekend cleaning house. We cleaned out the kids’ closets and dressers — removing outgrown clothes, those they don’t want anymore and shoes without a partner (yep, my daughter had several of these). Then, I tackled the game room (oh, man… especially when you have hundreds of Hot Wheels, Pokemon cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards and Bakugan between two boys).

Dumping Stored Magazines

I remembered I kept every issue of every magazine my writing work appeared in. I also found Writer’s Digest Magazine as far back as from 2000.

I threw away all of the old Writer’s Digest (I still read the magazine, just no reason to keep old ones in storage) and kept only a few of the magazines where I had a feature — not just a column. I probably dumped two-thirds of the magazines in my storage box.

Reading Magazines

I love to read magazines. They take 10 to 30 minutes per issue (except for Reader’s Digest). Rather than keeping the issues with inspiring articles, I trash them as soon as I finish. HOWEVER… I cut out…

1. Anything I want to look up… an author, a book, a web site.
2. Anything I want to do later such as “Word Power” from Reader’s Digest, which sharpens my vocabulary.
3. Anything I want to try later… a tip, a recipe, etc.

Instead of having thick piles of entire issues, I have thin piles of ripped pages. Those that take little time, I put on my office desk so I can handle them when I am back in the office. I review the rest of the pile on a monthly basis, or around there.

Like handling the mail, read your magazine and toss while holding on to anything you want to look up or follow up on. If you keep it, count on never seeing it again until you decide to clean house as those over five-year-old issues showed.

Writing for a Magazine

I have a couple of issues of magazines I’d like to query. I study the magazine before I pitch the editor. But rather than having a dozen issues, I hold on to the last couple of issues. When a new one comes in, the oldest one goes out. I think five issues is more than enough.

Set a limit on the number of issues you’ll keep, and then just throw out the oldest one when the new one arrives.

Managing Subscriptions

I don’t subscribe to as many magazine as I have in the past especially with the books I need to read. I have a couple subscriptions I pay for and a couple I receive free. But mind you, I don’t subscribe to every magazine I can get free. The topic still matters and I don’t want to receive something for the sake of free-ness.

Aside from TV Guide Magazine, no more weekly magazines for me. That’s too much.

How do you manage your magazines? Or have you given them up?

• Memory Improvement Tips
• Top 10 PR Tips for Small Businesses
• Write with Authority and Inspire Trust
• The best time to submit news
• 8 violent truths about freelancing part one and part two
  
• 178 ways to improve your internet writing tips
• 2008 Webby Award Winners
• 50 greatest entrepreneurs of all time: Every person I could think of is already on the list. Anyone missing?

And for fun ‘cuz you’re allowed:

• Twitter cartoon and other funny Geek and Poke cartoon [Link: Buzz Bishop]
• Twitter Club
• Internet Pinball Database: My hubby’s favorite: High Speed.
• 32 places to find free shipping. Gotta love it especially when Amazon may be forced to charge tax to Texans.

“Digital Web Magazine seeks a volunteer with mighty fortitude, a fearless heart and a sense of humor to take on the role of Managing Editor. Developing and executing a content strategy for DWM is central to the role. If you’ve got a love for the Web, a visionary mind and a facility for language, we want to hear from you. Please be sure to list all your relevant experience.”

This is a wonderful opportunity for someone who is interested in getting experience in this capacity while bringing something to the table. I’ve been editor with the magazine and it’s a high quality resource to have on any designer’s resume.

Make: Technology on Your Own Time is not a book… exactly. It’s between a magazine and a book. Mook? Magook? Boozine? Actually, it’s a mook, which is a hybrid of a magazine and a book. When I received it and quickly looked through it to see what it was about, I wasn’t too impressed. Still, I’m a reviewer and as such give everything a chance. It’s a magazine from O’Reilly, but not a typical one.

In my initial perusal, I think I wasn’t keen on it because I’m not into home projects partly due to the usual time constraints. When I was a kid, I enjoyed making things like model cars (yes, I am a girl) and a magnet out of a battery. I liked those science books where you do a project to make something happen. But the projects in the mook were not the simple projects I did as a kid.

Then, I sat down and carefully read it like I do when reading a book I review. Shortly, I became engaged and enjoyed reading the articles. Though I don’t plan to make anything (like I’m going to put a monorail in my backyard—yes, this is a real project), the stories and the writing drew me in.

I like geeky things, but I’m not a geek in terms of building computers from scratch and hacking gadgets. These are the kinds of projects covered in the mook. The premiere issue includes the following projects:

* magnetic stripe card reader

* kite aerial photography (camera on a kite—cooool!)

* $14 video camera stabilizer or buy one

* 5-in-1 network cable

The quarterly mook has a Web site with things not covered in the print edition as well as a blog. Its design is clever with color codes on the cover and side for the major projects. The initial issue has 192 pages of quality paper and color printing to justify $8.74 an issue.

The mook has a homemade yet professional feel and has “home improvement” style fonts to add to its DIY (do-it-yourself) theme. The photos give the impression they’re taken by average people and not photographers. They’re good quality and complement the articles.

People who don’t have time to build (like me) and like technology will find it an engrossing read thanks to the personable writing and instructions that don’t make eyes glaze.

Few new magazines make it past the first year or so. Make should thrive for years to come.

Title: Make: Technology on Your Time
Author: Various
Publisher: O’Reilly Media
ISBN: B0007RNI5K
Publishing frequency: Four issues a year
Format: Paperback
Cover Price: USD: $34.95 for one year’s subscription