It seems one of our sister publications is passing on. Realms of Fantasy's last issue will be the April issue, this after almost going 100 issues strong. The magazine was chock-filled with art, articles, and fiction that gave many writers and artists their first chance at paid publication.
Apparently, according to the article at SFScope, the same reasons both Pyrates Way and Faire Magazine are struggling, lead to the closing of Realms of Fantasy:
"The reasons she was given for the closure were plummeting newsstand sales. "Subscriptions are good, and advertising, until very recently, was fine." She blamed the economic downturn and newsstand distribution for the closure."
The original story with links is at: http://sfscope.com/2009/01/realms-of-fantasy-closing.html
Well that stinks. When times are tough you keep advertising so people know you are around. A talk radio host was read an article on how much MsDonalds profits were up. Article claimed it was due to value menu, Host said they don't make profit off those but it gets people in the door. Profits are up because they Increased adverts.
http://sfscope.com/2009/03/realms-of-fantasy-is-not-closi.html
Tir Na Nog Press just purchased Realms of Fantasy from Sovereign Media, and already has a brief web site available at realmsoffantasymag.com (they're planning to have a much more elaborate web site soon). Publisher Warren Lapine feels it's much more important to get things running quickly—since the deal just happened—rather than spend more time behind the scenes.
Lapine said, "This is a win-win for everyone. I think Sovereign Media is really happy to be able to leave the magazine to the field, and I'm really happy to keep such an important magazine publishing."
'tis good to see! huzzahhh
The new version of realms of fantasy is out now. The cover made of heavier stock and the print is larger.
four short fiction, plus game reviews and HBP article.