Impact
Released as a pulp fiction novel solely because of its content, Spring Fire was sold in train and bus station kiosks and drug stores with other sensationalist books about crime, drugs, gangsters, and cowboys. Although it was not reviewed by any renowned literary critiques, Spring Fire sold more copies in 1952 than The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, also released the same year. When the paper in pulp novels was not designed to last more than a year, Spring Fire went through three printings, eventually selling nearly 1.5 million copies. Its success earned Meaker an invitation to meet Roger Fawcett, the owner of Gold Medal Books' parent company, who wanted to, "shake the hand of the writer who outsold God's Little Acre (Erskine Caldwell)."
Spring Fire inspired other serious writers in the lesbian pulp fiction genre such as Ann Bannon and Valerie Taylor, and indeed, proved so profitable that the genre attracted (usually male) writers whose books exploited the topic of lesbianism. In short, it launched an entire genre of fiction.
In 1989, Meaker spoke about realizing the impact the book had while she was working at Gold Medal Books: "Spring Fire was not aimed at any lesbian market, because there wasn’t any that we knew about. I was just out of college. We were amazed, floored, by the mail that poured in. That was the first time anyone was aware of the gay audience out there."
In 2004 upon the re-release of the Cleis Press edition, a reviewer noted, "Spring Fire not only plays a vital pioneering role in lesbian writing, it’s also as a warning of how difficult things could be. It’s ironic that Spring Fire was released now, when we need it the most, to remind us of the incredible courage of those who came before, the enormity of what has been accomplished, and why we must remain vigil, and treasure and protect every step forward we’ve managed to take."
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