SF Scope reports that Realms of Fantasy, which was previously purchased from Warren Lapine by the people behind Damnation Books (Lapine had purchased it from the original owners), is once more closing its doors. Citing financial problems, the current owners said
During our time with the magazine we picked up without missing a single issue and were lucky enough to produce the 100th issue. We were able to introduce poetry and bring back the table top gaming column. We have been truly amazed at the positive feedback on the issues we have produced from all of the fans. This is what makes this decision so painful for us.
As we were considering closing the magazine we thought it was important for the October 2011 issue to be released in print for the fans. We did this knowing there would not be a return on the investment, but did it simply because we felt it was right. This does mean the October 2011 issue will be the last issue. The issue did go to newsstands and we have copies for those who are not active subscribers.
Realms of Fantasy will be available for sale from the current owners, who can be reached here: support [at] rofmag [dot] com. Other inquiries can be sent to the same address. Editors Shawna McCarthy and Douglas Cohen have posted their fairwells here and here.
Needless to say, I’m quite sad about this. I was excited when they announced they would open to electronic submissions in the near future, since it would make RoF top on my list for my fantasy work. But now we’re one major market short in the short story world, which makes writing short stories with reckless abandon. Something tells me that the future of the short story isn’t looking very good. There’ll be plenty of places to submit to, of course, but the value of the short story in the SF/F field may fall to the wayside. Then again, I may be a little pessimistic.
What do you all make of the announcement?
0 Responses
I have some secondhand copies of RoF and it’s always sad to see a market die, but I think I got all the mourning for RoF out of my system around the time Lapine originally bought it. I’m reading / listening to mostly short fiction at the moment and there’s still more than any one person can consume published each year. I suspect short fiction (particularly since it can now be sold à la carte eBook form) has plenty of life left in it.
I agree that there’s plenty to read, but I always come at short fiction from a writer’s perspective. For me, there aren’t enough pro markets out there. So writing short stories becomes somewhat meaningless to the category of “professional writer.”