Ten years is a good run for sure. It wasn’t the run I had hoped, but it still had lots of high points. And for LampLight, June 2022, which is its ten year mark, will be its last issue. This was not a decision made in haste, but one planned for nearly two years at this point.
LampLight never found the audience I was aiming for. Subscription numbers never grew above 100, much less to sustaining levels.
And I have reached a level of burnout that will only hurt future issues.
Getting help is never as easy as it sounds, and I will admit I am in envy of the magazines with staff and volunteers.
I am grateful for everyone who helped. To Cat, Paul and Elise who stepped in to edit, to Paula who helped with the masthead and first sets of covers. To Fiona who wrote amazing academic work on dark fiction. To Kevin whose answer “…yeah, I think I can write a novella…” started off the first volume of the magazine. To Ben, who helped me learn as much as I taught. To Jesus who believed in my unformed ideas and gave advice and guidance. And to Katie, especially, without whom the magazine would have never made it past a few issues.
I am proud of what was accomplished these past ten years. Just look at this list of authors.
The pages of this magazine hold some of the best fiction I’ve ever read. And yes, as the editor I am supposed to think that, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
LampLight has had an amazing run, but it is time for other projects, other adventures.
I have no doubt LampLight will return one day. But for now, for a long while, it will sit, an archive of 40 issues of amazing dark fiction.
Apokrupha Books isn’t going anywhere. We will have classics and anthologies and more things coming in the months and years ahead.
My final advice to everyone is this: promote new releases from the magazines you want to see stick around with the same level of energy you promote their submission guidelines. A submission is not support, it is a business transaction. Support is promotion, purchase and reading.
