22 Reasons Why I Love Zinio

I've been a zinio subscriber since mid-2010, the moment I got my ipad. Before that I blew money on tons of magazines. In my teens, I started reading Tiger Beat and the like, then when I started working it was Philippine titles like Preview and Cosmopolitan. From time to time, I would also buy InStyle, Harper's Bazaar and Mademoiselle (which evolved into Glamour). But magazines were expensive then and now. Local titles cost Php100 and US titles cost Php300 or thereabouts. When I moved to Singapore I then got hooked on Singapore titles as well - Her World, Female, Cleo and Singapore Women's Weekly. I would try to save money by reading magazines at the salon since they usually carried the latest issues or I would go to Borders in Wheelock to read new issues (before they started covering the magazines in plastic and of course before Borders closed down) or to the local library to borrow back issues. But it was tedious to do that. So I was beyond ecstatic when I discovered zinio and discovered so many, many more titles. And the price, oh gosh, I can't believe that the equivalent of what I used to pay for one magazine in the '90s is now equivalent to a one-year subscription in zinio.

This is why currently I have about 23 active subscriptions. What used to be a habit of reading 4-5 magazines monthly (including Philippine, Singapore titles) has now morphed into a nightly ritual of reading and keeping up with all of my subscriptions. I've proven there is a magazine out there for any possible interest or topic, but so far here's what I've subscribed to:

Business: Entrepreneur (Philippines), Harvard Business Review (US)
Fashion: Cosmopolitan (US), Cosmopolitan (Philippines), Elle (US), Harper's Bazaar (US), Marie Claire (US), Preview (Philippines)
Family & Parenting: babytalk (US), smart parenting (US), smart parenting (Philippines), working mother (US), young parents (Singapore), Good Housekeeping (US), Good Housekeeping (Philippines)
Food & Cooking: EveryDay with Rachael Ray (US), Yummy (Philippines)
Home Decor: Metro Home (Philippines), real living (Philippines)
Lifestyle: More (US), Oprah (US), Redbook (US)

And no, I am not spending obscene amounts of money. To be honest, zinio has so many ongoing promotions it practically gives away these digital magazines for a pittance.

Late last year, they were giving away USD25 worth of credits if you signed up for a zinio account. That would have gotten you a year's subscription for at least one or two titles. That was good news for new sign ups.

Around the same time, they were also massively discounting their titles, so I was able to buy annual subscriptions to Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Redbook etc. for around USD8 each. Now it's back to regular pricing at USD19.99

Still, from time to time, you can wait for good promotions before buying subscriptions. For example, a week ago, there was actually a promotion where you get a 2-year subscription for the price of one. And then on top of that there was another promotion which would gives you back a USD5 credit for every annual subscription you bought.

So since I renewed my Elle subscription for 2 years for the price of USD18.99, each year effectively costs only USD9.50 and on top of that, I still get an additional USD10 as credit for the 2-year subscription which helps me save some more on other titles I need to renew or top up.

Sometimes, they even give away titles for free, so you can try it out. Or offer them at ridiculous prices. Like offering the latest Esquire magazine (with Jeremy Renner on the cover) for USD1.

This is why for me, zinio is the gift that keeps on giving. So if you have an ipad, I recommend you seriously consider signing up for zinio, it will literally open up a world of information for you.