So it’s three a.m. and Sunday, the deadline for this editorial, has come and gone. Denial is a powerful drug. And much as I would like to put off writing this for another 16 years, I’m afraid the time has come for me to say farewell.
Back in 1993 (I think—it was so long ago), I wrote a letter to Carl Gnam, publisher of Science Fiction Age. I pointed out to him that fantasy outsold SF by a factor of three to one, and that he should really consider starting a sister fantasy magazine for SFA. I, of course, volunteered to helm it for him. I’d been missing my days at Asimov’s pretty much since the day I left, and I was eager to edit short fiction again. After several meetings, and dummy issues and draft direct mail letters, we finally launched Realms of Fantasy. Not the most inventive title, but as I’ve always said, I’m not great with titles, and I figured the more straightforward, the better. (The workers at my local Post Office were certain that it was an entirely different kind of fantasy magazine, but never mind that….)
Over the next 16 years, with the able help of Rebecca McCabe, Carina Gonzalez, Laura Cleveland, and the incomparable Doug Cohen, I’ve been proud to present what I think is some of the finest short fantasy in the world. I’ve always said Realms was a labor of love, and it was. I never got paid very much for editing it, and the boxes of mss. were always sitting around my house in inconvenient places sending out guilt rays, and the post office got heartily sick of me, and I loved every minute of it. I will miss Realms more than I can say, and I want to thank each and every one of you, from the readers, to the writers, to art directors, the designers, the proofreaders, the copyeditors, the ad sales people, Doug, Carina and Rebecca, and my publishers Carl, Mark and Warren, THANK YOU!!!
It’s been a great run, and I hope I’ll get to sit on this side of the desk again one day.
Bye for now.
Shawna
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Shawna, as I just wrote to Doug: it was a damned good run. So sorry to see it end.
I wish you all there the very, very best. And thank you for what a wonderful thing you have done for the genre.
And me.
Bill
Thank you for all that you’ve done for us over the years, and best of luck landing someplace else quickly and smoothly.
Thank you for giving my career a second chance. See what happens when you publish The Bright Spot? Wish I could give you a big hug and several drinks.
Thank you for making ROF a truly fantastic magazine.
Thanks for all your hard work, Shawna. I vividly remember receiving the first issue of Realms of Fantasy (when I was in high school) and seeing the magic words “Roger Zelazny: New Amber Adventure.” And it was a tremendous honor for me to appear in that same magazine almost ten years later, when you pulled my story “Seven Brothers, Cruel” out of the slush pile. I also vividly remember the thrill of sitting at my kitchen table and opening the envelope with my page proofs, and just gazing in wonder at the amazing illustration for my story. And then it happened four more times! And one of those stories even got picked for a Year’s Best anthology. Realms of Fantasy played a huge role in getting me into print these past few years, and my twenties would have been a much less magical time if not for your vote of confidence. Wherever my writing career takes me from here (somewhere good, I hope!), I’ll always remember you and be grateful. I owe you more than I can say.
Take care. You did a great job, in both incarnations of the magazine, and you certainly won’t hear me complain.
Realms has been good to me for a lot of years and I really hate to see it go. Thanks for giving me a platform for so long. I know how lucky I was that RoF and you as editor came along when you did.
Thanks so much, all of you who’ve commented so far. However much Realms has enriched your lives, please know it’s enriched mine more. Everyone wants to think they’ve left the world a better place for their having been there, and all I need to do is think of the wonderful writers I’ve introduced to it.
I’m a new subscriber and I shall be sorry to see the publication go. Question- What happens to current subscription customers now?
It was an honor working on Realms with you, Shawna. It was a fun four years. :>
Really sad about this. ROF was one of my favorite magazines.
“I miss you already…” with many copies of ROF, laying about, as tears well up … again.
I bid you, Shawna, a fond Farewell, for I also deeply miss You and ROF Magazine, before the December Issue.
I was just sending in a “copy” of something, but “the curtain has closed” {just when a new cycle was beginning} – and now all that is left are tears… Tears Of Thanks Also, For A Wonder Filled Magazine.
So sorry to hear the news, Shawna. Thanks for everything and all the very best for the future.
All the best to you, Shawna. With any luck someone else will step in here. It’s a huge loss to the Fantasy world.
Just wanted to say thank you. ROF was the beginning of everything professional for me. I’ll never forget the start you gave me.