In May of last year I commented on Playboy magazine's changes and I was not complimentary.
In all fairness I must do a follow-up. Playboy has in some respects changed back. To review, what was seen in the media as the major change was the lack of nudity. They still featured great-looking young women but kept them clothed to a degree.
My objections were not to that. I objected to the disappearance of the Jokes Page, the Playboy Forum, the extreme shrinkage of the Playboy Advisor, the lack of quality cartoons, and the disappearance of the "Men" and "Women" articles and the Dear Playboy letters from the readers.
A month or two after I wrote that, the Dear Playboy feature reappeared.
Then in March of this year Playboy announced on the cover that "Naked is Normal" and explained that they were returning to nudity. And boy, did they. They have, I think, four different features of nude women.
But there's more! The Jokes page has returned, although only one of them was really funny. The Playboy advisor featured several topics although Chip Rowe has not returned. The Playboy interview was good. But the cartoons have not improved and there is still no forum or "Men" and "Women" articles.
The one change that I heartily approved of, they kept. Each article, story, or feature runs straight through instead of being parted out in two or three places.
I'm still waiting to discover if another change has been rendered. For years they have had January and February as a single double issue. But this year March and April are also in a double issue. I cannot help but wonder if they are cutting their product to six double issues per year.
Change topic:
When I started this blog over a year ago I recommended some other blogs for writers. One of those, Anne R. Allen's, is still going strong and very helpful. The current one is advice about blogging, and there are plenty of comments and supplementary information as well. If you are an author, or are planning on being one, and contemplating blogging or already writing a blog, visit Anne's current offering for some great tips.
Short post this time. Next time I'll dive into literary fiction and try to come out smelling like a rose.
Till then, please read.
In all fairness I must do a follow-up. Playboy has in some respects changed back. To review, what was seen in the media as the major change was the lack of nudity. They still featured great-looking young women but kept them clothed to a degree.
My objections were not to that. I objected to the disappearance of the Jokes Page, the Playboy Forum, the extreme shrinkage of the Playboy Advisor, the lack of quality cartoons, and the disappearance of the "Men" and "Women" articles and the Dear Playboy letters from the readers.
A month or two after I wrote that, the Dear Playboy feature reappeared.
Then in March of this year Playboy announced on the cover that "Naked is Normal" and explained that they were returning to nudity. And boy, did they. They have, I think, four different features of nude women.
But there's more! The Jokes page has returned, although only one of them was really funny. The Playboy advisor featured several topics although Chip Rowe has not returned. The Playboy interview was good. But the cartoons have not improved and there is still no forum or "Men" and "Women" articles.
The one change that I heartily approved of, they kept. Each article, story, or feature runs straight through instead of being parted out in two or three places.
I'm still waiting to discover if another change has been rendered. For years they have had January and February as a single double issue. But this year March and April are also in a double issue. I cannot help but wonder if they are cutting their product to six double issues per year.
Change topic:
When I started this blog over a year ago I recommended some other blogs for writers. One of those, Anne R. Allen's, is still going strong and very helpful. The current one is advice about blogging, and there are plenty of comments and supplementary information as well. If you are an author, or are planning on being one, and contemplating blogging or already writing a blog, visit Anne's current offering for some great tips.
Short post this time. Next time I'll dive into literary fiction and try to come out smelling like a rose.
Till then, please read.
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