Goodbye to ThugLit

It’s a sad day for us literary thugs. Todd Robinson announced on Facebook that the upcoming issue of ThugLit will be the last.

When I started writing again, I picked up a copy of The Best American Mystery Stories 2010, which included a killer story that had first appeared in ThugLit (“Blood and Dirt” by Ryan Zimmerman.) That was my first introduction to the magazine, which I then found and was filled with sadness because it was on hiatus. When Todd jumpstarted it back up again, I devoured it. It was as great as it ever was. And I’m proud that my story “The Last Detail” appears in issue #19.

If you want to pay tribute to a tireless editor who kept one of the few markets for hardboiled, unflinching crime fiction where people can say cuss words alive for so long, why not grab a copy? Or all of them?

ThugLit was a rare paying market for crime fiction, at $50 a story. It was a sign of respect to the writer, that your work has value, and it was much appreciated. At two bucks for the ebook and $6.99 for the paperback, it was easily the best bargain in crime fiction.

When the last issue appears I’ll share it here, and I hope you all will grab a copy, to help repay Todd for his years of editing a magazine in the red, for the love of the genre, and helping so many writers reach our audience.

And if you want to read a funny, hard-hitting crime series with heart, check out Todd’s The Hard Bounce, and the upcoming sequel, Rough Trade:.

 

Tagged: ThugLit, Todd Robinson