Musings on Carnage House Year 1.
Josh Darling
Here's a concept for a magazine: Operate at a loss while publishing in a freak subgenre. Make the site fiction only. Come for the weird stuff, stay for the sex and carnography.
There will be no reviews of the new Disney Batman movie.
No interviews with Ryan Jackman.
No ugly ads.
Nothing to save the reader from the stories that weep guts.
Add to that a mathematical sense of equality. This is done with a randomized homepage. The stories we publish are great, and there is no way to order greatness.
Magically, it paid off. By "magically," I mean a ton of hard work and luck.
The experience of working with writers, making new friends, and learning so much about writing and the craft has been one of my best experiences.
I know I post soupy messages about how "I'm shocked at how well things are going." For a guy with so many failed projects, having a site with 49,000+ hits since January 1st leaves me dumbfounded. It's easy to say, "Hits are just a number," but it makes me happy knowing our stories are getting read.
A year ago, I struggled with putting Carnage House together. Then Jacque Day Pallone and a mysterious illustrator came on board and helped this along. Carnage House would not have been possible without them.
At the end of issue #3, Jacque and I asked a few writers to help us with Issue #4. Tim Tolbert, Holly Luanne Nicholls, and Michael Errol Swaim, I'm super appreciative of what you bring to the table.
For me, the most important part of our editorial meetings is the chance to thank all of you.
Issue #4 is special because we've made it a year. It's also special because we're publishing an issue with a handful of stories by award-winning name authors. It's shocking to me. I have never felt so lucky, and I am grateful.
Thank you, the editors, the writers, and the readers.
I can't say it enough: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
As one year ends, the next one begins. Issue #5 is open for submissions.
Get at it.
Thank you