TIMOTHY McSWEENEY’S ULTIMATE COMBO SUBSCRIPTION

Giving this combo subscription as a gift? Click here to download an official printable PDF gift notice.

This is the combo subscription for McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, McSweeney’s New Release Subscription, and Illustoria magazine. To subscribe to any of these on their own, or for multiple variations thereof, click here.

“There are few examples in publishing that equal the care and inventiveness McSweeney’s offers their readers—the industry at large should take note.”
—Bookends and Beginnings, Evanston, IL

As we look ever onwards—galloping toward the future—we’ve put together our most ambitious combo subscription yet. Our Ultimate Combo Subscription is practically guaranteed to satisfy every reader in your life, young and old. In one fell swoop, you’ll get: four issues of our multi-award-winning McSweeney’s Quarterly, three issues of Illustoria, the beloved magazine for younger readers, AND the next six non-children’s titles published by McSweeney’s Publishing. What more could you ask for? Let us know and maybe we’ll figure out how to include that next time. In the meantime, we’d like to think this ludicrously good deal will tide you over.

Take a look at what you’ll have coming your way:

McSweeney’s Issue 68
Coming this October, the 68th issue of our National Magazine Award-winning McSweeney’s Quarterly features stories of duplicity and deception, double lives and secret histories, waiting for you underneath a cover by Italian artist Daniele Castellano (inspired by the Roman god Janus depicting duality in its many forms). Inside, readers will find an essay by Alejandro Zambra on soccer sadness; an epic, time-bending short story from Carmen Maria Machado; and new work from National Book Award finalist Lisa Ko. Like all editions of McSweeney’s, this issue includes work from established contemporary talents (Catherine Lacey, Andrew Martin, Laura van den Berg) alongside fresh emerging voices (Stephanie Ullmann, Hallie Gayle). Readers will find new translations of Peruvian writer Santiago Roncagliolo and Italian novelist Andrea Bajani, and a little diamond of flash fiction by James Yeh. Compiled by visiting editor Daniel Gumbiner, McSweeney’s Issue 68 offers a host of delights and surprises, from some of the world’s best writers.

The Splendid Ticket by Bill Cotter
Angie Bigelow has won the jackpot: a $324 million lottery ticket. How will she spend the money? Will she share it with the father of her children, dissolute Dean Lee Grandet—even though he’s an inveterate gambler she plans on leaving? Angie, the lost soul at the center of Bill Cotter’s poignant and darkly comic novel, The Splendid Ticket, is facing this dilemma when a new tragedy tears through their household. Is that mere slip of numbered paper in the watch pocket of Angie’s Levi’s their ticket to freedom or the beginning of the end? In a fast-moving plot, shot through with originality and heart, this is the story of the Grandets discovering the alchemy that holds their family together, testing its limits and running headlong into whatever their futures hold.

Set in the verdant and sun-soaked Texas Hill Country, The Splendid Ticket tracks the push and pull, the bitter tension and the potent attraction, between these two impulsive individuals—and everyone caught in the storm that surrounds them.

Illustoria #19: Cats & Dogs
A deluxe double issue for dog AND cat lovers featuring cover art by Jon Klassen.

Are you a fan of felines? Start from the cat side, and read about the cat heroes from your favorite fiction. Check out the factoids section for astonishing news about world-record-breaking kitties. Navigate a cat face maze and make origami cats from sticky notes. Are you devoted to pups? Flip the magazine over to delve into the inner lives of canines, with art curated by Nathaniel Russell. DogChef demonstrates paw-print cookies while also sharing behind-the-scenes tales in an exclusive interview! Try out our story-starter cards for writing exercises, hear what student writers from around the world have to say, and check out recommendations for pet-themed books.

McSweeney’s Issue 69
Just in time for the holidays, the sixty-ninth issue of our National Magazine Award-winning McSweeney’s Quarterly is a gift to adventurous readers. Featuring an irresistible mix of original fiction from daring new voices and beloved favorites, this issue is certain to delight one and all. Often hilarious and always surprising, these are tales of contemporary life flipped and twisted, skewed and skewered.

Inside this supermarket pulp-inspired paperback featuring cover art by Benjamin Marra, readers will find a novelette about a sex co-op by Lydia Conklin; a relato about Veracruz dockworkers by Fernanda Melchor; a story about an eccentric childhood neighbor by Julie Hecht; speculative fiction about mothers and daughters in the apocalypse by Siqi Liu; a shocking tale of baby bath time by Zach Williams; a DeafBlind remix of an ancient Indian fable by John Lee Clark; an encounter with your dimmer, more winsome doppelgänger by Yohanca Delgado; and much more. Not only that, we’ve gathered for you painfully new fiction about feral “glamping” trips (Max Delsohn) and mysterious deep-fakers (Mikkel Rosengaard), ghoulish bachelorette parties (Mel Kassel) and obstreperous crank-yankers (Evan James)—all topped off by an extended post-breakup stay at your nearest fast-food joint (Leila Renee). Prepare to be entertained by letters from Ikechukwu Ufomadu, April Ayers Lawson, Anelise Chen, Bianca Giaever, and Ricardo Frasso Jaramillo; drift away to a trash-strewn island in a full-color psychedelic comic by Connor Willumsen.

Compiled by visiting editor James Yeh, McSweeney’s 69 is a vast topography of literary thrills and spills that you’ll return to again and again.

And then?
We’ll follow these up with issues of Illustoria centered around Mystery, Humor, and more; three more volumes of our award-winning McSweeney’s Quarterly; and more anthologies, novels, and works of nonfiction of the kind of cutting-edge literary content for all ages that readers of McSweeney’s Publishing have come to expect for over two decades.

IMPORTANT LOGISTICAL INFORMATION: All subscriptions placed by December 1 will begin with Illustoria #19: Dogs & Cats, both McSweeney’s 68 and McSweeney’s 69, and The Splendid Ticket. All subscriptions to McSweeney’s Quarterly automatically renew after four issues, at a reduced price of $75, while the McSweeney’s New Release Subscriptions renew after six issues at a price of $95, and Illustoria after three issues at a price of $40. In the event of any future rate changes, we will notify you via email. If you’d like to cancel any of the three subscription at any time prior to its auto-renewal, you can log in to your account and adjust your subscription settings. Or send an email to custservice@mcsweeneys.net with the subject lines “End Quarterly Renew,” “End New Release Renew,” “End Illustoria Renew,” or “End Ultimate Renew” depending on your desires. Refunds will be accepted only up until the first issue of your renewal is shipped. If you’d like to give the Quarterly Concern as a one-time gift, purchase a gift subscription here. Any subscription purchased with the “gift” option marked at checkout will not be enrolled in autorenew.

International shipping costs for the full thirteen-publication combo subscription: $90