Realms of Fantasy — It’s Alive!

Here’s why fantasy is more fun than reality. Realists would have believed we’d seen the last of Realms of Fantasy once Warren Lapine announced he was closing it because of the prohibitive investment required to continue. Throughout history print magazines have fallen faster than autumn leaves, and in real life autumn leaves do not climb back on the tree.

It was easy to overlook that Lapine’s announcement included a wishful offer to “sell Realms to a responsible party for $1.00 and give them the finished files for the December issue.” But guess what? Wishes can come true: SF Scope reports Realms has been bought by Damnation Books:

Warren Lapine, publisher of Realms of Fantasy, and Kim Richards Gilchrist, CEO and co-owner of Damnation Books LLC announce the sale of Realms to Damnation Books LLC Damnation Books.

The just-concluded deal will see the December 2010 issue produced in print (as opposed to the previous announcement, which expected it to be an electronic-only final issue). The new owners will begin their tenure with the February 2011 issue, meaning there will be no gap in the bi-monthly magazine’s publication schedule. All subscriptions already paid for will be honored.

The new proprietors say:

Future plans include continuing to produce the same quality fiction magazine in print and to expand digital editions for ebook and desktop readers. The April 2011 issue will be themed ‘dark fantasy’ to coincide with World Horror Convention 2011 where Damnation Books will be hosting a party, and a booth in the dealer’s area.

[Via Don Glover.]

8 thoughts on “Realms of Fantasy — It’s Alive!

  1. I’m glad the magazine has been rescued from Mr. Lapine’s list of publication successes.

    And I wish Andrew Porter were still editing S. F. Chronicle — I really enjoyed reading it when he was publishing it, but never saw an issue after he sold it. I can understand the difficulty of niche marketing financially a news publication with the web as it is today, so I don’t blame him for not trying to get it back, but he certainly does have remarkable editorial skills which I remember going all the way back to the issues of Algol I read in the ’70s.

  2. I’m momentarily reminded that there was a month in 1986, prior to my being hired full time by Avon Books, when I was Andy’s employee, on the masthead as “editorial assistant” or somesuch, when he was doing SFC.

    Of course, trufen will remember more major publications of Andy’s than SFC or ALGOL, such as DEGLER! 🙂

    Say, maybe Warren Lapine, or Damnation, would like to buy the rights to some old APA-F titles 🙂

  3. I maintain a list of news blogs to which I send articles and links, a service which Mike Glyer has used often. If David wants to contact me, I could add his e-mail to the list.

    A mere 50 years since my first SF news column, in Jimmy Taurasi’s Science Fiction Times. Ack!

  4. Not only am I a David, Mr. Walsh, I am a Michael! The initial M. is my long-ago Roman Catholic confirmation name. Robert A. W. Lowndes had the same reason for two middle initials except he was Episcopalian instead of Catholic.

    I once considered running for a LASFS office under the slogan
    “A David by Birth, A Michael by Choice!”

    Duplicity indeed! I am truthful in all things, as I consider myself an amateur journalist, but a journalist nonetheless. Considered yourself duel-challenged with Heinlein swords! (If either of us could ever afford to buy them.)

    Mr. Porter, I do the same thing, have a small list of news sites to which I send things, most s.f. stuff to Mike here and David Langford, Wendy McElroy for libertarian/feminist material, less often others who are just friends or might be interested in a particular item. I don’t have your current e-mail address to send it directly but Mike certainly has my permission to pass mine on to you.

    We have met, by the way, at the ’76 Midwestcon. I don’t expect you to remember me, as you had no reason to, but it was a pleasure meeting you.

  5. “I maintain a list of news blogs to which I send articles and links, a service which Mike Glyer has used often. If David wants to contact me, I could add his e-mail to the list.”

    You can actually start a blog of your own, for free, Andy, at any of many services set up literally for any child to start. I’m most familiar with Blogger.com. I’d be happy to help you out to some degree, particularly with questions you’d have starting.

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