A Faint Hint of Autumn

In Southern Nevada it takes a little longer to feel the cooler weather. Though we’re into September and school started more than a month ago, the temperature is still well above the 90 degrees Fahrenheit mark, certainly cooler than the 100 plus degrees Fahrenheit we experience in July and August, but not quite cool enough to make it feel as though the season is changing.

Still, I’ve noticed that the trees along my street are starting to show the barest hints of the autumnal colors I love so much. I haven’t decorated my home for autumn yet, though I have a feeling the pumpkins, scarecrows, and apples for Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, will be appearing on my shelves soon enough.

Accepting When It’s Time To Make Changes

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we know when it’s time to let go. I’ve been letting go of a lot these days, whether it’s old hopes or dreams that no longer serve me, or whether it’s a project that has been part of my life for more than 20 years.

For 23 years, I was the executive editor of an award-winning literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction, The Copperfield Review. In July, I made the difficult decision to close Copperfield down. It was not an easy decision, I can assure you.

The Little Journal That Could

Copperfield never had the world’s largest audience. The journal published only short historical fiction and history-based poetry, and while there are many devotees to historical fiction, my steadfastness to my chosen genre meant that Copperfield had a more limited audience than journals that showcase more genres or appeal to wider audiences.

Although Copperfield never had the largest audience, for more than two decades Copperfield could boast of a devoted audience. I have always believed that quality is more important than quantity.

But everything evolves. Since COVID, people have found different ways to spend their time and money, and that’s okay. Times move on and so should we. Over the past three years, many of Copperfield‘s revenue streams disappeared. Former reliable sources of funding all but vanished. CR’s monthly readership went down, like other magazines and literary journals. In April 2020, I created quarterly print and digital editions of the journal, but the time and expense of producing such editions didn’t work out in my favor.

We Have To Admit When We Need A Change

I have to acknowledge my own part in all of this. For the past 23 years, I’ve been juggling running Copperfield, writing my own fiction and nonfiction, and finishing a Ph.D. in four years, along with all the other life stuff everyone has to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

I’m not sure people realize how much time goes into running a literary journal. I was thrilled that Copperfield was a popular, respected journal that writers wanted to be published in. In fact, it’s one of the things I’m most proud of when it comes to CR. But that meant countless hours of reading submissions, choosing which stories to publish, corresponding with contributors, answering emails, formatting the journal, proofreading the stories, and publicizing it, among many other tasks. I can’t begin to estimate how many hours I spent working on CR since 2000.

That is not a complaint. Until early this year, I loved every minute of it.

But I have other goals now. I have other books I want to write that I didn’t have time for while spending so many hours working on CR. I’ve written a lot about how I’m a slow writer. I am a slow writer; that’s just the reality of my process. But part of that slowness can be attributed to the fact that most of my free time was taken up with Copperfield.

I have so many books I want to write I can hardly keep track of my ideas. I want to write more nonfiction, and I want to write more scholarly works that have been on my mind since finishing my Ph.D. Scholarly works require research, like historical fiction, and I haven’t had time to devote to such projects.

A Gentle Reminder For Those Of You Who Love Literary Journals

If you have a favorite little independent literary journal, be sure to show your support. Email the editor if there’s a story or a poem you love and let them know. Tell your friends about the journal. If a journal has a Patreon page, a Kickstarter, or a tip jar, support them. Buy a copy of their print or digital editions. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to show a journal that you appreciate what they do, and even the smallest donation goes a long way in helping journals stay afloat. There is no wand-waving fairy who supports independent literary journals.

I’m not saying that literary journals are dying, never to be seen or heard from again. I heard that literary journals were dying when I began Copperfield in 2000. But I do think the literary landscape has changed in the past 23 years, and I think it’s harder to keep journals afloat these days. Never fear, though, since new literary journals spring up every day. When you find one you love, support it. Journals rely on the support of their fans.

If You Were A Reader Or Contributor To Copperfield…

I cannot say thank you enough to those of you who read or wrote for Copperfield. When I began CR in 2000, I had no idea that a literary journal of historical fiction would catch on quite the way it did. The fact that CR became a respected journal that developed a reputation for literary excellence, the fact that CR became a journal that writers wanted to be published in, was far beyond my imaginings. I didn’t expect CR to survive even five years. The fact that it lasted for 23 years is something extraordinary in the short-lived lives of literary journals. It was a great thrill for me that CR was one of the first published credits for many new writers.

Where Do I Go From Here?

I’m still coming to terms with what all of this means for me. Mainly, I intend to use this fresh-new time to write more of those stories I’ve been waiting years to share.

And Shadows Will Fall has turned the corner. The story on the page finally matches the story I see in my head. I’m in the preliminary stages of a new novel about three generations of women. I’m even sketching out a crazy tale that is science fiction of all things!

This will be the first autumn in 23 years that I don’t have an edition of CR to edit. Instead of feeling sad or nostalgic, I’m thankful. I’m thankful for everything CR gave me over more than two decades. I’m thankful for the thousands of writers who allowed me the privilege of reading their historical stories and poems whether I published their work or not. I’m thankful that CR helped me find my identity as an editor and a writer. I’m thankful for the wonderful writing and editing friends I’ve met, and I’m thankful for everything I’ve learned.

Sometimes, in order to see the future clearly, we need to let go of things that no longer serve us, no matter how important those things were to us in the past.