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Wavelength, v. 1, issue 3, Fall 1941

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[first line printed small and squished] some of our contemporaries were fans before they were editors. But they stopped being being fans for the most part either some time before or soon after they became editors. )

It was in this general line of attack that I wrote to a new com-pany, Atlas Publications, giving the usual spiel. I didn't hear a thing from them, but I did get a letter from Louis H. Silberkleit, pub-lisher of "Science Fiction" and "Future Fiction" and "Science Fiction Quarterly." You see, I'd given little paragraphs on the existing stf. magazines, as I saw them, and what I had to say about Hornig's publi-cations was not complimentary. Mr. Silberkleit wanted to now how come and all that. 
So we had that conference on a Monday afternoon. And the upshot, after the smoke cleared away, of it all was that Mr. Silberkleit was determined to see if I had anything behind the first bombardment. Hor-nig, apparently, waas not bubbling over with enthusiasm on "Future" any more, and the sales, while adequate, were not so terrific that improv-ments might not send them up. He gave me "Martian Guns" which had al-ready been arranged for the April issue, threw out "The Fantasy TImes" ( though he said it was all right if I wanted to do something along that general line myself ) and were were off.
About three weeks later, I had the book all made up. Stories, de-partments, and all. I'd sent out hurry calls to Ackerman and Tucker, the famous letter writers, as well as to a few other fans not so well known. Just for the hell of it, I'll give you that original line up. ( 1 ) "Kingdom Out of Time" by S. D. Gottesman; ( 2 ) Editorial: "The Weird and the Fantastic" by myself; ( 3 ) "Martian Guns" by S. D.Bell; ( 4 ) Article: "Science Fiction Classics" by Wilfred Owen Morley; ( 5 ) "The Improbable" by Charles R. Tanner; ( 6 ) Fan Mag Digest; ( 7 ) "The Colossus of Maia" by Donald Wollheim; ( 8 ) "A Prince of Pluto" by Paul Dennis Lavond; ( 9 ) Futurian Times; ( 10 ) "No Place To Go" by Edward J. Bellin; ( 11 ) "Within the Bowl" by Basil Wells, and ( 12 ) Station X. Mr. Silberkleit read this batch of stuff. Then the fight started. To put it briefly, he didn't care for it. Mr. Sundell thought that, while the fans might like the stories picked, the big mass of readers would not go for it. So, we chucked the lot ( except for "A Prince of Pluto" which the publisher okayed ) and started over again. 
So, Julie Schwartz sent in "30th Century Duel ( he'd told me the plot over the phone and I said it sounded okay; it was obviously what I wanted ) and "The Genius Bureau" which I did not see until after it was accepted. I picked "Status Quo" and "The Radiant Avenger" out of stories at the office, submitted directly, and we already had the oft-mentioned "Maritan Guns" and "A Prince of Pluto".
"Martian Guns" I re-typed, finding out later that it hand't been necessary. Well, it was good practice, and quite interesting to ob-serve how different a story seems in print from the way it looks when typed out. ( If you are doing the typing. ) Fan Magazine Digest I de-cided to drop for the time being, as I wanted to get in as much fic-tion as possible. So, I brought the works around day before Christmas and waited.
Around the 3rd of January, I dropped in the office, and Mr. Silber-kleit said he was going to send the works off to the printer. Then he looked more closely and noticed the way I'd done the layouts. They weren't right; I'd have to do them over on the spot.
That's when Mr. Sundell, patiently showing me just what had to be done and how, made the remark which sums up editing far better than most fans realize. And it's true, so far as pulps go. Any reasonably intelligent person can pick good stories; any ( Continued on Page 9 )

[footnote] SHANGRI-LA IN 1942: FOURTH WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION TO BE HELD IN LOS ANGELES. WRITE TO WALT DAUGHERTY, 6224 LELAND WAY, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, FOR DETAILS. JOIN THE 4TH NATIONAL STF. CONVENTIONSOCIETY.

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[first line printed small and squished] some of our contemporaries were fans before they were editors. But they stopped being being fans for the most part either some time before or soon after they became editors. ) It was in this general line of attack that I wrote to a new com-pany, Atlas Publications, giving the usual spiel. I didn't hear a thing from them, but I did get a letter from Louis H. Silberkleit, pub-lisher of "Science Fiction" and "Future Fiction" and "Science Fiction Quarterly." You see, I'd given little paragraphs on the existing stf. magazines, as I saw them, and what I had to say about Hornig's publi-cations was not complimentary. Mr. Silberkleit wanted to now how come and all that. So we had that conference on a Monday afternoon. And the upshot, after the smoke cleared away, of it all was that Mr. Silberkleit was determined to see if I had anything behind the first bombardment. Hor-nig, apparently, waas not bubbling over with enthusiasm on "Future" any more, and the sales, while adequate, were not so terrific that improv-ments might not send them up. He gave me "Martian Guns" which had al-ready been arranged for the April issue, threw out "The Fantasy TImes" ( though he said it was all right if I wanted to do something along that general line myself ) and were were off. About three weeks later, I had the book all made up. Stories, de-partments, and all. I'd sent out hurry calls to Ackerman and Tucker, the famous letter writers, as well as to a few other fans not so well known. Just for the hell of it, I'll give you that original line up. ( 1 ) "Kingdom Out of Time" by S. D. Gottesman; ( 2 ) Editorial: "The Weird and the Fantastic" by myself; ( 3 ) "Martian Guns" by S. D.Bell; ( 4 ) Article: "Science Fiction Classics" by Wilfred Owen Morley; ( 5 ) "The Improbable" by Charles R. Tanner; ( 6 ) Fan Mag Digest; ( 7 ) "The Colossus of Maia" by Donald Wollheim; ( 8 ) "A Prince of Pluto" by Paul Dennis Lavond; ( 9 ) Futurian Times; ( 10 ) "No Place To Go" by Edward J. Bellin; ( 11 ) "Within the Bowl" by Basil Wells, and ( 12 ) Station X. Mr. Silberkleit read this batch of stuff. Then the fight started. To put it briefly, he didn't care for it. Mr. Sundell thought that, while the fans might like the stories picked, the big mass of readers would not go for it. So, we chucked the lot ( except for "A Prince of Pluto" which the publisher okayed ) and started over again. So, Julie Schwartz sent in "30th Century Duel ( he'd told me the plot over the phone and I said it sounded okay; it was obviously what I wanted ) and "The Genius Bureau" which I did not see until after it was accepted. I picked "Status Quo" and "The Radiant Avenger" out of stories at the office, submitted directly, and we already had the oft-mentioned "Maritan Guns" and "A Prince of Pluto". "Martian Guns" I re-typed, finding out later that it hand't been necessary. Well, it was good practice, and quite interesting to ob-serve how different a story seems in print from the way it looks when typed out. ( If you are doing the typing. ) Fan Magazine Digest I de-cided to drop for the time being, as I wanted to get in as much fic-tion as possible. So, I brought the works around day before Christmas and waited. Around the 3rd of January, I dropped in the office, and Mr. Silber-kleit said he was going to send the works off to the printer. Then he looked more closely and noticed the way I'd done the layouts. They weren't right; I'd have to do them over on the spot. That's when Mr. Sundell, patiently showing me just what had to be done and how, made the remark which sums up editing far better than most fans realize. And it's true, so far as pulps go. Any reasonably intelligent person can pick good stories; any ( Continued on Page 9 ) [footnote] SHANGRI-LA IN 1942: FOURTH WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION TO BE HELD IN LOS ANGELES. WRITE TO WALT DAUGHERTY, 6224 LELAND WAY, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, FOR DETAILS. JOIN THE 4TH NATIONAL STF. CONVENTIONSOCIETY.