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Jinx, v. 2, issue 1, whole no. 5, June 1943
Page 7
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FUTURIAN FAN PUBLISHING by Donald A. Wollheim The Futurians, as fans, go back virtually to the beginnings of modern fandom; certainly to the very origins of the amateur fan magazine in its modern meaning. Individuals identified with the Futurians today would be found at the mimeograph of the I.S.C. in 1934 industriously bringing out the first issues of The International Observer. Futurian Walter Kubilius fought over a hektograph tray in 1932 to bring out the Radiogram and still stands around oddly smiling as Lowndes or Michel turns the handle today in 1943 for Agenbite of Inwit, X, and others. Indeed we have seen and experienced all kinds of amateur fan publishing. Perhaps we are not well known today as publishers of any outstanding fan magazines -- the primary cause is perhaps that we have been caught by our professional work too deeply to afford the time that we would dearly like to give to fan work. Certain it is that each of us leading Futurians does have in mind some pet fan project that we each intend some day to devote time to. Lowndes has always conjured up, laid plans for, even dummied out magnificent and wondrous literary creations to awe the palate of the literary fantasist. Strange, Le Volbiteur Literaire, etc. I have had my moments of planning some monstrous magazine, boldly critical, exhaustingly analytical and fantastically experimental. It will be many a year before any such thing ever does come from me, but I have thought of it. Our attitude on fan publishing is clear. I recall at Denver when Walt Daugherty was recording various fan comments on fan magazine publishing. He asked me to say a few words and as editor of The Phantagraph I proceeded to say that putting out a fan magazine for subscription was a sucker's game. What a deadly look the editor of Shangri-La gave me! But I had spoken the truth as most of the fan publishers who had tried to meet financial ends admitted. So what? If you plan to make money by fan publishing you are going to be taken. But if you plan to publish a fanzine for fun, go to it! What money you get back from subscriptions will just be cream. The ideal condition as we Furturians see it would be for a complete cessation of all subscription fanzines and for all to exchange equally with others. We admit this is a dream, and impractical. That it has some substance is shown by the success of the FAPA. The only true fan publisher is he who does it for joy alone and considers it a hobby which is not to be connected with the practice of earning money. To publish a really large and fine magazine requires money and that which can be returned from subscriptions is not to be sneered at. Such projects as The Southern Star, Nova, Spaceways, etc. are worth their support. Yet their publishers do not make money, their regular losses are simply reduced sufficiently to enable them to make their hobby no drain on their living. At present Futurians publish only at those intervals when the mood moves the. That is, strictly Futurian titles. I issue the Phantagraph with some regularlity but its size is strictly limited to my time and moods. Mostly it's only four pages. Always it's for the FAPA. It averages five to six issues a year, usually in batches. X was issued in the last mailing. The Futurian advice to publishers is this: if you really enjoy bringing out your own magazine, if you know how to write and to spell and enjoy doing so, if you understand and love fantasy, if you don't care if you lose money on each issue (just so long as you make friends among fans), and if you have something worth saying, then go ahead and publish. If you have ulterior motives outside of what was mentioned, go away, nobody wants you. ***********************
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FUTURIAN FAN PUBLISHING by Donald A. Wollheim The Futurians, as fans, go back virtually to the beginnings of modern fandom; certainly to the very origins of the amateur fan magazine in its modern meaning. Individuals identified with the Futurians today would be found at the mimeograph of the I.S.C. in 1934 industriously bringing out the first issues of The International Observer. Futurian Walter Kubilius fought over a hektograph tray in 1932 to bring out the Radiogram and still stands around oddly smiling as Lowndes or Michel turns the handle today in 1943 for Agenbite of Inwit, X, and others. Indeed we have seen and experienced all kinds of amateur fan publishing. Perhaps we are not well known today as publishers of any outstanding fan magazines -- the primary cause is perhaps that we have been caught by our professional work too deeply to afford the time that we would dearly like to give to fan work. Certain it is that each of us leading Futurians does have in mind some pet fan project that we each intend some day to devote time to. Lowndes has always conjured up, laid plans for, even dummied out magnificent and wondrous literary creations to awe the palate of the literary fantasist. Strange, Le Volbiteur Literaire, etc. I have had my moments of planning some monstrous magazine, boldly critical, exhaustingly analytical and fantastically experimental. It will be many a year before any such thing ever does come from me, but I have thought of it. Our attitude on fan publishing is clear. I recall at Denver when Walt Daugherty was recording various fan comments on fan magazine publishing. He asked me to say a few words and as editor of The Phantagraph I proceeded to say that putting out a fan magazine for subscription was a sucker's game. What a deadly look the editor of Shangri-La gave me! But I had spoken the truth as most of the fan publishers who had tried to meet financial ends admitted. So what? If you plan to make money by fan publishing you are going to be taken. But if you plan to publish a fanzine for fun, go to it! What money you get back from subscriptions will just be cream. The ideal condition as we Furturians see it would be for a complete cessation of all subscription fanzines and for all to exchange equally with others. We admit this is a dream, and impractical. That it has some substance is shown by the success of the FAPA. The only true fan publisher is he who does it for joy alone and considers it a hobby which is not to be connected with the practice of earning money. To publish a really large and fine magazine requires money and that which can be returned from subscriptions is not to be sneered at. Such projects as The Southern Star, Nova, Spaceways, etc. are worth their support. Yet their publishers do not make money, their regular losses are simply reduced sufficiently to enable them to make their hobby no drain on their living. At present Futurians publish only at those intervals when the mood moves the. That is, strictly Futurian titles. I issue the Phantagraph with some regularlity but its size is strictly limited to my time and moods. Mostly it's only four pages. Always it's for the FAPA. It averages five to six issues a year, usually in batches. X was issued in the last mailing. The Futurian advice to publishers is this: if you really enjoy bringing out your own magazine, if you know how to write and to spell and enjoy doing so, if you understand and love fantasy, if you don't care if you lose money on each issue (just so long as you make friends among fans), and if you have something worth saying, then go ahead and publish. If you have ulterior motives outside of what was mentioned, go away, nobody wants you. ***********************
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