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Fanfare, v. 1, issue 4, October 1940
Page 7
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FANFARE 7 THIS ONE'S ON THE HOUSE able, and looks for more. That's what he's supposed to do--according to the psychology of pulp editors. But if the editors hope to find a man who leaps ib uncontrollable ecstasy at the sight of Kummer on the cover, he's going to search a lot longer than that crazy Greek who spent all his time nosing around for an honest man. Each house conscientiously attempst to build up several names that will make the circulation jump every time they appear on the cover, and if possible, reserve those "names" for their company alone--put them under contract, if need be. In most cases that isn't necessary. A hack knows when he's well off and won't stray far. It would be silly to deny the value of byilding up a "house" name--providing you can get a good one. AMAZING STORIES, plagued by an acute shortage of decent material to choose from, has had to develop more "house" names in short order than any other magazine. And because Chicaho is not in the center of hack artists, they had to take what local talent they could procure, and make the best of it. From the first, AMAZING has attempted to build up Kummer, who was discovered and made into a big name by Standard, incidentally. Despite the fact that he rated consistently low on the monthly fan polls, they featured more and more of him, hoping the fans would overcome their dislike of his stuff, and place him on a pedestal with Weinbaum, Keller, et al. Secondly, Kummer could be depended on to produce regularly. At least they could get a barely passable yarn from him every time--which was more than they could expect of the freelancers. Their most prominent build-up campaign at present is centered around David Wright O'Brien. Frankly, the boy isn't so hot. Out of all the yarns he's had printed so far, THE STRANGE VOYAGE OF HECTOR SQUINCH, in the August 1940 FANTASTIC ADVENTURES was the only one that showed any possibilities whatsoever. The others were just bearable. They've taken Robert Moore Williams--artistically one of the better writers--but so far he's flopped on them. Nelson S. Bond is probably the best steady man they have. A man that any house would be glad to own. He isn't exclusively theirs, but is nevertheless one of their regular staff. Binder is another man on the Ziff-Davis staff that comes through almost every time. Binder and Bond are their biggest circulation boosters, and they know it. They've been working hard with Don Wilcox--but can't seem to get him recognized as anything exceptional. Ghey're also devoting a lot of space to Henry Gade and Miles Shelton, and lately to Donald Bern. Palmer has been trying to build himself up as A.R. Steber, after flunking twice on Quitman and Steele. It's obvious to see that Ziff-Davis would like to have a first-class set of authors right there in Chicago that they could depend on. Williams, Wilcon, Bern, Gade, Sheltob, Bloch, O'Brien, Peter Horn, Steber, Jack West, and Richard O. Lewis, are the greater number of the Chicago fellows that they are trying to build up into something. Kummer and Repp, after being given all the opportunity in the world to make good, have flopped on Z-D--as has "flash in the pan" Thornton Ayre, who started off with a bang, lived on his reputation for a year, and now, as a well-liked author, is flatter than the traditional two-dimensional being. Repp has potentialities for producing good yarns, because he's done it on occasion. But when he's rushed...
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FANFARE 7 THIS ONE'S ON THE HOUSE able, and looks for more. That's what he's supposed to do--according to the psychology of pulp editors. But if the editors hope to find a man who leaps ib uncontrollable ecstasy at the sight of Kummer on the cover, he's going to search a lot longer than that crazy Greek who spent all his time nosing around for an honest man. Each house conscientiously attempst to build up several names that will make the circulation jump every time they appear on the cover, and if possible, reserve those "names" for their company alone--put them under contract, if need be. In most cases that isn't necessary. A hack knows when he's well off and won't stray far. It would be silly to deny the value of byilding up a "house" name--providing you can get a good one. AMAZING STORIES, plagued by an acute shortage of decent material to choose from, has had to develop more "house" names in short order than any other magazine. And because Chicaho is not in the center of hack artists, they had to take what local talent they could procure, and make the best of it. From the first, AMAZING has attempted to build up Kummer, who was discovered and made into a big name by Standard, incidentally. Despite the fact that he rated consistently low on the monthly fan polls, they featured more and more of him, hoping the fans would overcome their dislike of his stuff, and place him on a pedestal with Weinbaum, Keller, et al. Secondly, Kummer could be depended on to produce regularly. At least they could get a barely passable yarn from him every time--which was more than they could expect of the freelancers. Their most prominent build-up campaign at present is centered around David Wright O'Brien. Frankly, the boy isn't so hot. Out of all the yarns he's had printed so far, THE STRANGE VOYAGE OF HECTOR SQUINCH, in the August 1940 FANTASTIC ADVENTURES was the only one that showed any possibilities whatsoever. The others were just bearable. They've taken Robert Moore Williams--artistically one of the better writers--but so far he's flopped on them. Nelson S. Bond is probably the best steady man they have. A man that any house would be glad to own. He isn't exclusively theirs, but is nevertheless one of their regular staff. Binder is another man on the Ziff-Davis staff that comes through almost every time. Binder and Bond are their biggest circulation boosters, and they know it. They've been working hard with Don Wilcox--but can't seem to get him recognized as anything exceptional. Ghey're also devoting a lot of space to Henry Gade and Miles Shelton, and lately to Donald Bern. Palmer has been trying to build himself up as A.R. Steber, after flunking twice on Quitman and Steele. It's obvious to see that Ziff-Davis would like to have a first-class set of authors right there in Chicago that they could depend on. Williams, Wilcon, Bern, Gade, Sheltob, Bloch, O'Brien, Peter Horn, Steber, Jack West, and Richard O. Lewis, are the greater number of the Chicago fellows that they are trying to build up into something. Kummer and Repp, after being given all the opportunity in the world to make good, have flopped on Z-D--as has "flash in the pan" Thornton Ayre, who started off with a bang, lived on his reputation for a year, and now, as a well-liked author, is flatter than the traditional two-dimensional being. Repp has potentialities for producing good yarns, because he's done it on occasion. But when he's rushed...
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