"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings."
"The Walrus and The Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll
This will be the last issue of flashquake as you know it. The editors and I have come to the unanimous decision that as the walrus said, the time has come.
Over the past nine years, we've had the unmitigated pleasure of identifying the best of the work submitted to us, encouraging its creators with small payments, and presenting it to you in the most artful and accessible way we know how. flashquake has truly been a labor of love by all involved — permanent and guest editors, our art director, and me, the publisher. But we're all fatigued by our efforts, and frankly, it's time for us to stop. I won't go through a list of individual tributes, since Dave Shapiro did that eloquently in his farewell. We — flashquake's people — are all writers and have tried to treat writers as we would like to be treated.
For my part, I'd hoped to make it through ten years before hanging up my blue pencil, but it just isn't going to happen. Still, I'm loathe to see flashquake vanish. We've worked very hard to bring flash literature to the mainstream, and I think we've succeeded. Our visit count is typically between 20,000 and 30,000 per month, and simply doing a Google search for the title "flashquake" will give you some idea of our reach.
We've provided a home for contests, writing classes, and some of the best flash writing you'll find anywhere. I routinely receive queries from high school and college teachers asking for permission to use this work or that as a teaching aid in their classes, and I consider those among the highest compliments.
Would we like to see flashquake continue? Absolutely, and we're prepared to accept proposals by any of you who feel the same way about flash literature that we do. But if you're tempted to take up the mantle, acknowledge three things: You will never get rich, your time will no longer be your own, and few things in life will make you more proud.