From 1998 to 2009, I was the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Harrow, a horror and fantasy fiction webzine. I really loved the work — with the help especially of Jason Nolan and Kfir Luzzatto, we set the zine up like a journal, rounding up a pool of reviewers who blind-reviewed and critiqued each submission so that everyone who submitted work to us received anonymous but fair and constructive criticism on their work … no form “thanks but no thanks” letters. We didn’t really pay anything, but I was always delighted when an author told us that The Harrow was their first publication.
Along the way, and particularly with Kfir Luzzatto’s help, we published four fiction anthologies under the imprint The Harrow Press. The three that are still in print are listed above: Midnight Lullabies, Day Terrors, and Mortis Operandi. Our first, Fear of the Unknown (left), is currently out of print. The cover art was created by my mother, Skydancer, whose art I’ve since repurposed as a series of tarot and oracle cards to keep it in circulation.
The Harrow was a labor of love, and in the end that labor became too much alongside a full-time career. As I look toward retirement, though, I miss the days of encouraging new writers and being involved, even at a very low level, with the fiction publishing industry. Maybe I’ll find an opportunity to get involved again sometime. If anyone needs a fiction reviewer or co-editor … hey. Drop me a line.
