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Quanta, v. 1, issue 3, August 1949
Page 7
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9. Here's another angle to consider. The publishers aren't, by and large, fans. They go by the sales receipts as to whether or not an editor or an artist or a staff writer stays on. And the sex and tripe sell mags to the Johnny Morons, so the editors themselves buy stuff that they don't really want or like personally, because they know that it will sell to the majority. This pleases the publisher, and they get raises instead of getting fired. Here's something else to look at, too. There are only so many working authors in the United States at any one time. Of that percentage only a certain amount have the ability, knowledge and inclination to write S-F. They can only produce so much. The law of averages says that out of that mass produced so much must be tripe. So instead of griping, start writing some of those gems you're always harping about. It might be a chance to break into the field. I have yet to see more than a few fans who didn't want to be authors. Science-fiction literature is like a building, all the time being made stronger, better and prettier. It is not the usual run-of-the-mill stories that I notice, but the real, rare classics that linger in my mind. Remember that even though the fancy decorations on that building may attract your attention and make it stand out in your memory, the plain building stone which held it together was vital for just that purpose. If S-F were published for the gems and classics alone, it would last about two months. It takes the tripe and the crap that you howl about to hold the structure together. Without the lousy stories to fill out the mags and sell them to the general public you could never get the rare, once-in-a-while gems that please and remain in your memory for so long. In parting remember that houses that are too functional become boring as hell. A little decoration makes them livable long after they would otherwise be hated and sold. So, dear editors and writes and artists, remember that although you have to sell to the masses, there are the rest of us, and we appreciate the decoration that you include in the form of fine stories and illustrations. And fans, they can't put the fine classics in their magazines unless someone writes them. The commercial writers turn them out often, I will admit, but what about those fine stories I hear spouted over beers and club tables. How about writing them up and submitting them so the rest of us can read them .. and be inspired. And one last word. If you can't say anything good about a thing, why say anything about it at all? The small kindness will come back a thousand-fold at unexpected times, for instance, when you meet your favorite author in person. That happens at conventions you know. . . . . END
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9. Here's another angle to consider. The publishers aren't, by and large, fans. They go by the sales receipts as to whether or not an editor or an artist or a staff writer stays on. And the sex and tripe sell mags to the Johnny Morons, so the editors themselves buy stuff that they don't really want or like personally, because they know that it will sell to the majority. This pleases the publisher, and they get raises instead of getting fired. Here's something else to look at, too. There are only so many working authors in the United States at any one time. Of that percentage only a certain amount have the ability, knowledge and inclination to write S-F. They can only produce so much. The law of averages says that out of that mass produced so much must be tripe. So instead of griping, start writing some of those gems you're always harping about. It might be a chance to break into the field. I have yet to see more than a few fans who didn't want to be authors. Science-fiction literature is like a building, all the time being made stronger, better and prettier. It is not the usual run-of-the-mill stories that I notice, but the real, rare classics that linger in my mind. Remember that even though the fancy decorations on that building may attract your attention and make it stand out in your memory, the plain building stone which held it together was vital for just that purpose. If S-F were published for the gems and classics alone, it would last about two months. It takes the tripe and the crap that you howl about to hold the structure together. Without the lousy stories to fill out the mags and sell them to the general public you could never get the rare, once-in-a-while gems that please and remain in your memory for so long. In parting remember that houses that are too functional become boring as hell. A little decoration makes them livable long after they would otherwise be hated and sold. So, dear editors and writes and artists, remember that although you have to sell to the masses, there are the rest of us, and we appreciate the decoration that you include in the form of fine stories and illustrations. And fans, they can't put the fine classics in their magazines unless someone writes them. The commercial writers turn them out often, I will admit, but what about those fine stories I hear spouted over beers and club tables. How about writing them up and submitting them so the rest of us can read them .. and be inspired. And one last word. If you can't say anything good about a thing, why say anything about it at all? The small kindness will come back a thousand-fold at unexpected times, for instance, when you meet your favorite author in person. That happens at conventions you know. . . . . END
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