End of an Era - RT Book Reviews Is Closing

I heard a couple of rumors floating around the interwebs, but yesterday morning, those rumors were confirmed by some of the publishing trades. RT Book Reviews, both the online magazine and its annual readers conference, were shuttering their doors effective immediately. RT's founder Kathryn Falk made the announcement during the 2018 Annual RT Booklovers convention this week.

Falk's fairwell letter was posted on the magazine's website.

Falk and her magazine (originally published under the title Romantic Times) was a mainstay in the romance genre for nearly forty years. It started out as a newsprint newsletter before it was eventually transformed into a full-color glossy with the latest industry news and interviews with authors. In the 21st century, Falk changed the magazine's name and expanded the reviews into other popular genres such as sci-fi, fantasy and mysteries.

Additionly, Falk was an romance author herself. Her How to Write a Romance and Get It Published (Paperback, 1984) was my first guide into the mysterious world of publishing.

In July of 2016, RT Book Reviews management closed the published magazine, a move all too familiar to the publishing industry as all glossies struggled for reader attention. However, the magazine continued in its online form until this week.

I find it ironic the magazine is closing at a time when the trad publishing companies are essentially ceding the romance genre to indies. It'll be interesting to see what emerges out of all this.