On my recent flights to and from Brisbane, I finally got around to reading a Cleveland Western novella I've apparently had in my handbag since 2014.
I've replaced handbags since 2014, so this unread novella has sat, neglected, in two bags over the course of 12 years. It was a good one, once I finally got around to it – sometimes those novellas can be a bit hit and miss, but I enjoyed this one. It made me want to buy another one.
Unfortunately, it turns out they stopped making them in 2018 and the company no longer exists so I can't buy back issues. I don't know why they went out of business. I, for one, buy one of their publications at least once every other decade.
But I do wonder why some enterprising business hasn't started buying up the back catalogue of defunct short story and novella magazines to sell as ebooks. There might not be enough of a market around to keep publishing the print copies for sale in news agencies, but there would be enough nutters like me who would happily buy "back issues" every now and then, and keeping an electronic file to sell e-copies on demand would surely be relatively affordable?
Oh, well. Now I have a new hobby – keeping an eye out for second hand novellas at op shops and book exchanges.
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