Cynthia Ward writes that “As of 2 March 2008, Speculations is no longer in the business of publishing market information for writers.” It was originally a print, and then an on-line, resource for writers, with market reports, rumors about markets, and marketing suggestions.
For worried subscribers, she says “Fear Not! You’ll continue to receive exactly what you ordered from Speculations directly from Cynthia Ward, the Market Maven herself. All paid subscriptions have already been transferred and will be honored. If you have ever been an e-mail suscriber to Speculations and the address we have on file from you is still good, The Market Maven—containing the January and February market news, plus the very last Ego Shelf and a goodbye message from us—should be in your e-mail now.”
She also sends word for contributors, who received “lifetime” subscriptions in exchange for their work: “Over the years, we gave out many ‘lifetime’ subscriptions to Speculations contributors, in exchange for the right to publish their articles online in perpetuity. Since those articles have all been removed from the site, these agreements are no longer in force. All contributor subscriptions have been reset to one-year gift subscriptions to The Market Maven, and will expire in March of 2009.”
The Rumor Mill, one of the most popular features of the publication, was just what it says: a place for writers to post comments, questions, and rumors. “Shutting down The Rumor Mill was not done lightly. The main contributing factor was the advanced age and questionable provenance of many of the postings. Although anonymous action was a cherished and important difference about The Rumor Mill, it was very difficult to maintain. We had a ton of spam, much trolling and flaming, and many instances where material was posted anonymously, clearly identified with a byline, and caused trouble for its author (or someone else with the same name) years later. In the end, we couldn’t maintain The Rumor Mill without breaking the promise we made in 1996: not to ever retroactively change the moderation policy.”
The team behind Speculations hints that it’s not permanently dead, but only on a long hiatus with an expected “format change” (like a radio station). More news, we’re sure, will be forthcoming.