Realms of Fantasy Magazine closing

Dear lord. No, why? Sheesh.

Sad day...

Snitchcat said:

Sad day...

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Very sad day...

Considering that it's been on again, off again for several years, I'm not amazed that Damnation pulled the plug. Still, it's sad news -- another high-class pro market gone.

Really makes me wonder about their business model if so many people care and yet they can't stay afloat.

Still, that's a shame. Not unexpected, but a shame.

Alessandra Kelley said:

What was the problem with the business model?

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I too would like to hear the answer to this

Yes, it's sad. I wondered how long they would be able to keep it going after they bought it, and I'm not really that surprised.

My best fiction sale to date was published in ROF.

*sigh*

If I had a bunch of money and a bunch of time, I would totally love to take it over. Wouldn't you?

But I wouldn't be able to make it work either. I just want to spend all day hunting for amazing fantasy stories; I don't actually know how to run a magazine.

RIP, RoF. You will be missed.

Among the people bemoaning the demise of this magazine in this thread, and its "business model", whateverthehell that was, who supported it via subscription?

caw

I supported it via subscription. I even renewed it in an attempt to help keep it from going dead a second and third time. I still have a few issues left on my subscription.

As much as I love the magazine, I'd rather it stayed dead this time so we don't have to continue the cycle of "It's Alive-It's Dead-It's Alive Again-It's Dead Again." A magazine that has gone through that cycle a few times would discourage people from renewing their subscriptions for fear that they might not receive all their issues before the magazine folded... again.

I had a sub for a couple of years, until my budget couldn't support it anymore. Lovely magazine, but I could see where production values sank it.

blacbird said:

Among the people bemoaning the demise of this magazine in this thread, and its "business model", whateverthehell that was, who supported it via subscription?

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I didn't, and you know what? There are quite a few successful magazines that work without subscriptions. Maybe RoF solely relied on subscriptions, and maybe that was the problem.

If a magazine can't get enough subscriptions in round one to keep alive, and round two goes exactly the same, well, isn't insanity doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results?

blacbird said:

Among the people bemoaning the demise of this magazine in this thread, and its "business model", whateverthehell that was, who supported it via subscription?

caw

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Me. Not only was I a charter subscriber, I discovered about a year ago that I still have Issue #1.

dempsey said:

Maybe RoF solely relied on subscriptions, and maybe that was the problem.

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The reason RoF closed in the first place was that despite its subscriber base it was losing newsstand sales. So no, in its original incarnation at least, it didn't rely on subscribers.

Of whom I was not one. Given I've had to cancel three magazine subscriptions this year, that's not so surprising.

FWIW, Beneath Ceaseless Skies is just as lovely as RoF, and seems to be doing fine with its business model. And though I haven't sold to either one, I've come a lot closer at BCS -- so of course, I'm likely to support it more as a reader.

Rest in peace, Realms of Fantasy. The mere notion of the magazine will be missed, let alone its service as a venue for a heck of a lot of quality fiction.

dempsey said:

I didn't, and you know what? There are quite a few successful magazines that work without subscriptions. Maybe RoF solely relied on subscriptions, and maybe that was the problem.

If a magazine can't get enough subscriptions in round one to keep alive, and round two goes exactly the same, well, isn't insanity doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results?

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"Maybe"? Criticizing the hypothetical behaviors of management seems like an acute waste of time.

REALMS OF FANTASY was a beautiful magazine.

No, I didn't subscribe ... and I understand that I don't understand the "business model" aspect of magazine publishing.

That said ... each magazine or movie or book should be good enough or interesting enough to make us want to buy the next one ... We shouldn't have to buy into the next six or ten magazines or movies or books just to see any one copy.

And that is a lesson in marketing I'd think that most cancelled TV series know (or series of anything that cannot get off to a decent start): You are responsible for TAKING your audience's interest, don't expect it to be GIVEN a year in advance.

ROF had years of opportunity to grow an audience that could support it. I'm sorry they didn't. Again, it was a beautiful magazine.

But as creative folks ourselves there may be a lesson for us (that's the only reason it's not distasteful to speak ill of ROF, imo, though I'm not even speaking ill, I'm just lamenting the situation while suggesting that non-subscribers aren't necessarily magazine-murderers. )

Beautiful magazines and beautiful ideas still need to survive in the nitty gritty real world, if we want them to survive.