It is with an equal helping of bittersweet melancholy and bright-eyed excitement that I am announcing the closure of A Dribble of Ink today.
A Dribble of Ink first opened in 2007, when I was a freshly graduated web development student, and in the intervening years has turned into the most passionate and rewarding professional and personal project of my life so far. The energy and enthusiasm I poured into A Dribble of Ink was rewarded in 2014 when I won a Hugo Award for “Best Fanzine,” an accolade that’s still sinking in, and in the many, many people who have read and commented on the news bits, reviews, interviews, essays, and more that have been posted here.
However, in the past year, since the birth of my daughter and the release of my first book, Tide of Shadows and Other Stories, my personal and professional goals have begun to find themselves at odds with the time and attention it takes to run an SFF publication to the standard I expect of myself and A Dribble of Ink. I want to focus more on writing fiction and, even more so, on spending time with my growing family.
I can’t tell you how many people I spoke to at LonCon 3 who said something along the lines of: “Hey! I love A Dribble of Ink, but, dude, you need to write more yourself!” So, I’m taking those words to heart.
Fun Stats
- Since 2007, over 1.6 million people have read A Dribble of Ink, generating 3.7 million pageviews.
- The most popular posts are:
- Other notable posts include:
- My review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug;
- A spotlight on the art of Veronique Meignaud;
- Women fighters in reasonable armour;
- My review of Avatar: The Last Airbender;
- “It’s Amazing the Things We Know, That Are Actually Wrong” by Kate Elliott;
- “Concerning Historical Authenticity in Fantasy, or Truth Forgives You Nothing” by Daniel Abraham;
- “They Are Not Ghosts: On the Representation of the Indigenous Peoples of North America in Science Fiction & Fantasy” by Maureen Kincaid Speller;
- “Gene Wolfe: The Reliably Unreliable Author” by Chris Gerwel;
- and many, many more.
- And, of course, the height of the site’s journalism:
- Aside from myself, 73 different writers have published at least one article or review on A Dribble of Ink. Each and every one of them have been integral in keeping this blog interesting, relevant, and diverse.
Thanks
I would like to thank, of course, all of my lovely readers—those who have been with me since the start, and those who have just discovered A Dribble of Ink—and all of the incredible people who have collaborated with me over the years to make A Dribble of Ink one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy watering holes. The success of this venture far exceeds even the wildest dreams I had when I published my first post.
I would also like to pay special thanks to a few people in particular: Foz Meadows, for her inspiring and incisive reviews, which have made A Dribble of Ink a much richer publication; Justin Landon, for his endless advice and friendship; Kameron Hurley, for her hand in bringing tens of thousands of new readers to A Dribble of Ink thanks to her Hugo-winning essay; Anne Perry, Jared Shurin, Thea James, and Ana Grilo for pushing me to be bigger, better, and smarter; and The G., founder and Editor of Nerds of a Feather, for instilling me with confidence that the SFF blogosphere is in good hands.
What’s Next?
Just because A Dribble of Ink is closing doesn’t mean I won’t be around—in fact, I’m writing more than ever. Which is, like, the point, right? I’m a regular contributor to the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, I’ve got an ongoing series on Tor.com, publish regularly on Medium, and I plan to keep both my Twitter and Facebook feeds alive and vibrant. I also have several unannounced things that should come to light over the next several months. One door is closing, but many more await, open and inviting.
So, adios, and thanks again for all the wonderful years and opportunities. I won’t forget them.
End of an era, dude. We started almost at the same time and we have been talking ever since. Sad to see A Dribble go but hope to see your career flourish even more. And of course, you will always have a standing invitation to Smugglivus. Huge hugs,
Ana
Thank you so much for all you’ve done with A Dribble of Ink (including one post by me!). I am sad and dismayed that A Dribble of Ink is at the end of an era, but you have other frontiers to conquer, so to speak.
Ad Astra per Aspera, good sir.
Sad to hear this, Aidan. Best of luck for the future.
I personally hate seeing online communities die. It seems as though SFF Chronicles is one of the last long-standing ones to remain for sf/f genre fans. :(
Sorry to see you go, Aidan, but very excited for you. Enjoy the increased family time. Can’t wait to see what your next fiction project!
We’ve had our disagreements (which you need in life, right?), but I’ve always been a big fan of yours and I’m very sorry to see this place close its doors. Your Blog and Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist were the two blogs I was visiting before I started Fantasy-Faction and the ones that led the way for many of us. I’m glad you will be sticking around writing more, it just sucks I’ll have to Google you and visit multiple sites to find your content rather than be visit a single site – I’m incredibly lazy you see ;)
Completely understandable. Your voice will be missed here, but it’s good to know you won’t be silent. Definitely looking forward to whatever you do as a follow-up to Tide of Shadows.
Best. Fantasy. Blog. Ever. ADOI will be sorely missed!
This is certainly the most beautiful of the fantasy blogs. It’s sad to see you close up shop, but good that you’re moving on to more exciting ventures. Good luck!
I’m going to miss reading new posts from you, but thanks for the many years of hard work creating and maintaining the blog!
This was always a site I enjoyed visiting, Aidan. Best of luck with all the new adventures, especially the growing family!
And another one bites the dust. The upside – I’m one step closer to the Quickening. There can be only one!
In all seriousness, best of luck on the next step, and make sure you do keep those other areas vibrant!
I’m sorry to see you go, this website was main and favorite one. But it’s good too see that it is for more exciting things. I wish all the best to you on your future projects and will be looking forward to them. Thank you for your service to the community :)
Aw, man… I am fairly new to your site and absolutely loved the care and thought you put into your reviews, Aidan. I completely understand your reasoning, and support you fully, but I will be sad to see this place go quiet. Thank you for all you have given the science fiction and fantasy community.
As Ana said, end of an era! I’ll miss the awesomeness of A Dribble, but we’ll still talk books on Twitter, right?
Sad to see this, but best of luck with your future endeavors!
Best wishes Aidan! Glad to hear you’ll still be in the community!
Sorry to see you go Aidan. Long time reader, very occasional commenter. Best of luck in your future endeavours.
I only found this blog early this year – but I have read a hell of a lot of your archived posts. I am one of the new readers brought in by Kameron Hurley’s “We Have Always Fought”, and I’ve been leaping up and down teling people to visit your blog ever since. I shall miss the excellent reviews of art and writing – as someone who inhales books rather than simply reading and an avid lover of spec fiction art. I’ll see you over on facebook, and I’ll frantically look through your recommended list for other places to find excellent reviews. Oh, so long and here’s some fish …. http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/78517409
I’ll miss this site. I’ve always lurked, rarely ever comment, but, I visited daily. It’s gonna be hard to break the routine.
Thanks again for all your hard work!
Mike
(Keyoke @ sffworld)
IT IS TOTALLY THE END OF AN ERA!!!! Oh Aidan, we will miss you. But we fully support your decision and obviously we’ll still hang out on twitter, email, and the interwebs…right?
Best of luck with everything that you do–not that you’ll need it, because you are an amazing writer and one of the coolest people in SFF. Period.
TEAM AWESOME #neverforget #loncon3forevarrrr
I put down the Drink Tank in January, and though I’ve had so much life, the birth of twins, rough work world, ghostwriting eBooks to make ends meet, and then having TWINS LIVING AT HOME!!! And still, every day, at least once, I think to myself “I should bring back The Drink Tank.”
Soon, you will understand EXACTLY what I mean…
Chris
I’ve had the pleasure of watching A Dribble of Ink become what it is from the other side of the computer screen. Seeing how much work you’ve dedicated to the blog over its many years, it’s no surprise it’s become so important to so many people. This may be the end of one project but it’s the start of many more. I can’t wait see what else you accomplish.
xo
Best wishes, Aidan!
I look forward to reading your next project.
I enjoyed A Dribble of Ink and will miss it– thanks for all the posts over the years.
[…] Have Always Fought’: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative for the recently retired Dribble of Ink blog. I’m on record as questioning the fantasy genre’s marriage to […]
This was one of the first SFF blogs I started reading regularly. I’ve saved local copies of countless brilliant posts first published here (which I will continue to enjoy after the internet has crashed and all the clouds have failed us; hopefully there will still be electricity, though). This place is a treasure.
So, thank you, sir, for all the hard work. It was greatly appreciated. Be reading you.
I’m completely blaming maternity leave for only seeing this now, but I have to thank you, Aidan, for all you did to help promote Angry Robot and our authors. I always enjoyed working with you and will certainly miss having ADOI not only for promo but also as a reader! Wishing you the very best.
Oh, one of my favorite blogs. ..
Thank you for everything you’ve done and best of luck in your writing career.
ADOI has been one of the first book blogs I discovered when I entered the blogosphere.
Thank you for all the great content.
It is sad to see ADOI go but I understand your reasons very well. As a father of a grown-up daughter I know how fast the time of childhood pass and every minute you miss is gone.
Enjoy the time with your daughter and best of luck with your future endeavours!
Aidan—what an accomplishment this blog is. Thank you for all your time and dedication and godspeed in your new endeavors. :)
You’ve led me to some of my favorite books over the last few years, allowing me to discover incredible places in SF/F that I never would have found. Sad to see you go, but it’s great that it’s for good reasons. Best of luck!