[mermaidgirl13]

I've considered submitting to One-Handed-Read too but so far don't have anything that I like enough to send in.

Beheretoloveme, I have a subscription, so I got it in the mail. Borders chains usually carry it though. Are you saying you can't find the new issue, or you can't find it ever at all?

Unlike Bitch, Bust subscribers get their new issues before it hits the stands.

[miz_lynnbomb]

Gee Bee, I have considered the one-handed-read section but haven't gotten anything together to send. Matilda is now having daycare twice a week so her momma can get her write on and I hope that will help.

(also, a snotty part of me doesn't want to bother with venues that don't pay. i don't know that BUST pays yet. though i suppose the clip would be pretty fab to have in my portfolio. mebbe doing unfamous shit-work writing that pays isn't the best tactic? i dunno. way too much interior monologue here.)

[anna_k]

I would see that almost every contributing writer at Bust is a professional with lots of credits or an upcoming book or something like that, and I liked the anonymous writers more writing under nom de plumes and having an air of mystery. Someone who would describe herself as a smokin' hot babe could be ordinary-looking in real life, and I'd never know.

I do have old articles by writers who went under fake names, and I'd like to contact them, but I know that I can't. So the more known names and email possibilities does make it more freer to tell someone how much I liked their writing. I like that kind of community and interacting with the writers.

Basically, I liked a lot of the readers' contributions as well as the professional writers. I would like it if they announced upcoming themed issues as ads, I don't know why they discontinued that.

[beheretoloveme]

i cant find the new BUST anywhere. . . did y'all buy it, or get it in the mail?

[amilita]

girlbomb, I just bought your book! I was trying to get it off eBay, but the deals weren't that good, so I decided to contribute to your sales numbers and just buy it from the bookstore. It may jump ahead in line of the stack I have waiting...

[girlbomb_redux]

Oh, none taken, Miz Lynnbomb. I think I know what you (and anna_k, another gal I like a lot) mean about having more reader-type people contributing to the mag, and less glossy-magazine-writer-type writers. Yes?

Also, I would love to see you get that book deal. I would pre-order that shit from Amazon sight unseen.

You're long overdue to be published in BUST.

[miz_lynnbomb]

Girlbomb, no disrespect meant with my comment! I still heart you! Book deals = Good! I'd like one myself!

!!!

[mermaidgirl13]

Oh! And the article about the female protesters int eh 60's and 70's looks great. I read the wedding one and the prison one last night, so that's next on my Bust hit list.

[ginger_kitty]

I was psyched to discover a copy in the mail today. I skimmed a little but haven't had a chance to really dive in yet.

I agree w/ being over the YYY's, but I did notice Joan Jett is touring this summer. I heart her!

[mermaidgirl13]

Anyone have their new issue yet? I was thrilled and surprised to get mine yesterday. I had lost track of time, I guess and so I didn't realize it was time again. I like the design of this cover much more than last month's. Something about the Bettie Page colors or the photo of Ms. Mol or something didn't seem right to me. This cover is gorgeous looking, although I am personally over the Yeah Yeah Yeahs by now.

Anyway, I haven't read it all yet, but I love the topic of women in jail and also DIY wedding. Can't wait to get home tonight and read those two articles.

[lot49]

righton girlbomb! Though "cutesy" and your memoir don't exactly belong in the same sentence...

And I actually really like reading about people who have accomplished something that I dream about doing. I'd much rather read about a writer than a celebrity that we've all seen on 20 other magazine covers.

Honestly, any criticism I have about Bust is because I do love the good stuff in it so much. I really want it to cover every thing that I'm interested in because, when it does cover something I'm interested in I love,love,love it.

[girlbomb_redux]

Yeah, I used to be way jealous of people who'd written books, too. Finally it just lit a fire under my ass to go write my own cutesy memoir.

Personally, I'm proud to be in the fine company of BUST columnists like Ayun Halliday, Wendy McClure, Lynn Peril, and the rest of the fantastic women -- authors and writers and regular ol' moms -- who make up the magazine.

[anna_k]

Whenever I read in magazines articles by women who have book deals or new books coming out, it makes me jealous. Especially if the book is some cutesy memoir or pop-culture riff or some "hip" topic. I probably get jealous of seeing people with book deals who write crappy books or get published in the best places.

I liked how so many anonymous women wrote under fake names and fun names like Margo Red or Boobalicious. Or looking up old contributers to Bust and seeing them as regular ol' moms or working with organizations and writing occasionally.

[pinkpoodle]

The themed issues have been pretty cool in the past.

Heh...I liked the pooping story in the most recent issue of BUST. I like to read BUST for fun, but I also wouldn't mind if there was a tad more political stuff. I don't want to see it overrun with serious stuff though. The things that bug me about BUST have to do more with my own tastes. A lot of the stuff is so cliche. Bettie Page? C'mon! I'm sick of Bettie Page, knitting (anything involving thread or yarn, really), shaggy hipster boys, and indie rock. Part of being a Bustie is doin' your own thing instead of going along with the whole hipster chic thing. It seems to me like the creativity is dwindling and marketing is taking over.

BUST still rocks though! m/ m/ m/

[raisingirl]

I like the knitting stuff because I don't always like to read knitting magazines. And I reallllllllly miss the themed issues. Those were superduper awesome. I still have the annual sex issues from a few years ago.

Laughing @ the "greezy/flaccid" comment!

[miz_lynnbomb]

Lynn's Thoughts

1) Bettie Page interesting. Ugga! Want more!

2) Gretchen Mol boring. Boo Hiss.

3) More features from wild chicks who are regular and not having book deals or designer/stylist gigs or whatever. REGULAR REAL CHICKS.

4) Reproductive Issue -- hell yes!

5) I never read Boy Du Jour. Featured boy is always way too greezy/flaccid for me to care.

6) I expect more crochet now that the Happy Hooker book is out. Dammit!

7) Sure, there are issues with BUST. But compared to every other women's mag -- BUST isn't just out of Glamour's League, it's a whole different sport.

[lot49]

I like that Bust has something crafty, but I wish they would mix it up with other stuff. Something new each month.

My ideal Bust would always include:
Political article
Feminist article
Artist profile (note, this does not mean Rose McGowen to me)
Craft feature
Home feature
Career feature
Heath feature
Recipe
Good columnists
Music/movie/book reviews

eta: if Bust followed the lounge's outline for content, I'd be more than happy (Media Whores, the F-Word, etc.) Hee.

[zillahgirl]

small voice

I like the knitting. I like getting a magazine where it's featured, but isn't a knitting mag, per se.

/small voice

[turbojenn]

I'm with you, zora, I now buy the mag just to read Ayun and Girlbomb, everything else these days seems superficial, though maybe I am aging out of their key demographic as well....turboman has always read the magazine too, and we both felt that after the last two issues, well, we're just not that interested anymore. Which makes me really sad, for I've always loved BUSt, through good times and bad, but my love is fading a bit these days.

And yeah, I knit, but I really don't need to see knitting in the pages of BUST - there's a ton of lovely knitting blogs, websites, and books for that...seems like they could drop the knitting and get back to studying women's issues a bit more.

[mornington]

I have to jump in on the whole less-of-the-knitting bandwagon. I do make clothes and jewlery, but I don't knit... I do like the whole crafty-bit, but it's a bit knit-heavy.

I agree with snafooey when she said "It seems like there's a worry of making the magazine too heavy or too wordy ... it feels like they might be underestimating their audience". I got sick of the other magazines (glamour, vogue, cosmo etc) because I was tired of being treated like an idiot - I think it wouldn't hurt BUST to go into a bit more depth. I'm still going to buy it and read it, but I think there's room for improvement

oh, and actually think about the fashion pages. There is no way on earth I'm going to even consider wearing something like what was in the last issue. It's just too fashion-mag glossy for me.