SF Signal Goes Dark
When I declined our 2016 Hugo Award nomination last week, I wrote:
A great many publications I deeply respect were completely swept aside by the Rabid Puppy ballot, including John DeNardo’s SF Signal… By giving up our very slim chance at winning, we can give another deserving publication a shot. That seems like a fair exchange to me.
SF Signal has been one of my favorite sites for years. So you can imagine my distress when I read John DeNardo’s last post yesterday, announcing the long-running site was shutting down.
When we started SF Signal in 2003, it was because we loved speculative fiction. Having a blog allowed us to share that love with other fans. We never dreamed it would have grown like it has… It’s been quite a ride.
But all good things come to an end.
It was a very hard decision to make, but we have decided to close down SF Signal. The reason is boringly simple: time. As the blog has grown, so has its demands for our attention. That is time we would rather spend with our families. We considered scaling back posts, but it felt like SF Signal would only be a shadow of its former self. So yes, it feels sudden, but a “cold turkey” exit seems like the right thing to do.
The site has been a fabulous resource for SF and fantasy fans for 13 years, and will be very much missed. John and his staff are looking for a good place to archive the site after the first week of June. If you have any suggestion, let them know.
Is there any news as to whether the long-running podcast will also discontinue? I haven’t listened to it in quite awhile, but for years it was hosted by Patrick Hester, not John DeNardo. Will Hester still be continuing with the podcast?
It sounds like the SF Signal podcast will also be ending. Patrick’s hoping to at least move the existing episodes over to his own site, I believe.
I assume Three Hoarse Men will also be shutting down.
As consolation, Patrick’s other podcast, Functional Nerds, will be continuing.
Thanks for the love, John!
I’ll still b around online from time to time. As always, I’ll be looking forward to whatever crunchy sf goodness Black Gate talks about next. 🙂
John: I know you’ve considered this, although it was some years ago, but I still contend that at some point the fuel you put into this fire is going to go out. The only reason Black Gate is still operating is because of the unreal time you invest in it every week. And oddly enough, the reason you kept it going, Ryan Harvey, let his fire for blogging go out three or four years ago, and yet here you remain.
@Scott—I miss Ryan Harvey. It is a shame that he stopped blogging. I was just tuning into SF Signal. At least they are going out on a roll of being too successful to keep up and not because no one was listening to them. I totally get the family thing. I was deployed and away from home for 11 years. I learned the hard way about the toll it took on a family. SF Signal will not be sorry for it but we will all miss them.
“I assume Three Hoarse Men will also be shutting down.”
We will be taking a hiatus due to Real Life (TM) plus the site shut down. But we will be back. Watch for an announcement on The Tweeters.
Seldom have I been so happy to be mistaken!
I heard from Patrick Hester last night, and here’s what he told me:
“I believe The Three Hoarsemen are trying to startup somewhere else. Obviously, I can’t continue ‘The SF Signal Podcast’, given the name goes with that site, which is shutting down. However, I am exploring other options and the possibility of a new show with a similar format. :)”
Pleased and relieved to hear it! Spread the news.
> I’ll still b around online from time to time. As always, I’ll be looking forward to
> whatever crunchy sf goodness Black Gate talks about next.
Glad to hear it, John! And you’ve done an enormous service to the field over the last 13 years… I can’t speak for the entire industry, but speaking on behalf of Black Gate, it was HUGELY appreciated. You’ve earned a well-deserved retirement.
> John: I know you’ve considered this, although it was some years ago, but I still
> contend that at some point the fuel you put into this fire is going to go out.
Scott,
Well, of course. Nothing lasts forever, and I certainly don’t pretend that Black Gate is immune to the relentless grind of history. We’ll doubtless turn out the lights some day.
But it is not this day. We’re still having FAR too much fun to quit now.
ONeill: “But it is not this day.”
I was expecting you to go into a spirited address calling us to fight, a la The Return of the King!
Only in spirit. 🙂