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Sci-Fic Variety, issue 4 and issue 5, December 1941 and March 1942
Page 3
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(3) So far, Damon Knight hasn't come out too well, but we'll see how his drawings in the February and April Futures are liked. And I'm eager to see how Streeter will compare with Forte. Now we come to Cummings. Perhaps I had better give some personal data on him first. Personal data, that is, in regard to what I think of his tales. Well, back in 1940 I was asking Fred Pohl why he took Cummings stories -- or more precisely, why he took those particular tales. I didn't like them. I did like Cumming's long novels. I'd read a number of them-- "Exile of Time", "Wandl [[Wand1??]], the Invader", and so on. And these admittedly were not as good as his earlier ones. Then, early in 41, I managed to get hold of "Beyond the Stars" and "Brand New World". The former I enjoyed, but I really raved over the latter. Around May, my publisher told me that arrangements had been made to reprint a number of Cumming's older classics, and gave me a batch of em to read. Frankly, I wasn't very happy about it, but realizing that the deal was a financial necessity, inasmuch as Future had not been doing well (we hadn't received the reports on the August book at that time.) I couldn't kick. I kept an eager eye out on the reports. "Tarrano" was a big hit, no doubt about it. It's one of those few which got either 1's or v's from everyone who wrote in. "Man on the Meteor", which I personally liked much better than either "Around the Universe" or "Into the 4th Dimension" got C ratings, with "Universe" leading. The general tone of comments on the Cummings reprints has distinctly been one of approval ---- there's no getting away from it. The general result is: I'm pleased but by no means satisfied. Future and the Quarterly have improved, but they aren't first class books yet by a long shot. So far as most of the fans go, I may be ahead of a few titles, but I know that the well-established stf books, run by men with a lot more experience (and larger budgets) than I, are still way ahead. I'm keeping in close thouch with all the competition and learning from them daily. Now comes crow. I've blown off quite a bit during the year and have got to eat some words. First of all, i'll have to take back the fine - phrases about "hopeful" futures and the types of stories you'd never see in my magazines. That's still largely my own individual opinion, but I'v used a number of war stories, there have been dictators and unpleasant (to me) future setups in a number of the tales, stories which, nonetheless I considered good and some better than good. And I think I mentioned at Denver that I would not cut stories. Not ever again. I had to cut "Beyond the Stars" heavily and may have to cut other novels, too. I don't approve of the practice. But it is necessary at times. AT least I have the illusion that I have not damaged any yarn so far, but that is purely personal opinion. Just what kind of a future Future has, I don't know. A fortnight ago (date of this writing: Dec. 15, 1941) I'd have made something in the nature of a confident statement. It's hard to say what the war will do to circulation. Right now, I'm making plans for the next issue as if nothing disasterous were going to happen. The fortunes of war and the fortunes of business are hard to differentiate at times -- however, when you try to add them both together -- ! At any rate, I owe the reads and fans a good deal; they've helped me no end. And if humanly possible, you'll see constantly improving issues of Future and the Quarterly right up to The End
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(3) So far, Damon Knight hasn't come out too well, but we'll see how his drawings in the February and April Futures are liked. And I'm eager to see how Streeter will compare with Forte. Now we come to Cummings. Perhaps I had better give some personal data on him first. Personal data, that is, in regard to what I think of his tales. Well, back in 1940 I was asking Fred Pohl why he took Cummings stories -- or more precisely, why he took those particular tales. I didn't like them. I did like Cumming's long novels. I'd read a number of them-- "Exile of Time", "Wandl [[Wand1??]], the Invader", and so on. And these admittedly were not as good as his earlier ones. Then, early in 41, I managed to get hold of "Beyond the Stars" and "Brand New World". The former I enjoyed, but I really raved over the latter. Around May, my publisher told me that arrangements had been made to reprint a number of Cumming's older classics, and gave me a batch of em to read. Frankly, I wasn't very happy about it, but realizing that the deal was a financial necessity, inasmuch as Future had not been doing well (we hadn't received the reports on the August book at that time.) I couldn't kick. I kept an eager eye out on the reports. "Tarrano" was a big hit, no doubt about it. It's one of those few which got either 1's or v's from everyone who wrote in. "Man on the Meteor", which I personally liked much better than either "Around the Universe" or "Into the 4th Dimension" got C ratings, with "Universe" leading. The general tone of comments on the Cummings reprints has distinctly been one of approval ---- there's no getting away from it. The general result is: I'm pleased but by no means satisfied. Future and the Quarterly have improved, but they aren't first class books yet by a long shot. So far as most of the fans go, I may be ahead of a few titles, but I know that the well-established stf books, run by men with a lot more experience (and larger budgets) than I, are still way ahead. I'm keeping in close thouch with all the competition and learning from them daily. Now comes crow. I've blown off quite a bit during the year and have got to eat some words. First of all, i'll have to take back the fine - phrases about "hopeful" futures and the types of stories you'd never see in my magazines. That's still largely my own individual opinion, but I'v used a number of war stories, there have been dictators and unpleasant (to me) future setups in a number of the tales, stories which, nonetheless I considered good and some better than good. And I think I mentioned at Denver that I would not cut stories. Not ever again. I had to cut "Beyond the Stars" heavily and may have to cut other novels, too. I don't approve of the practice. But it is necessary at times. AT least I have the illusion that I have not damaged any yarn so far, but that is purely personal opinion. Just what kind of a future Future has, I don't know. A fortnight ago (date of this writing: Dec. 15, 1941) I'd have made something in the nature of a confident statement. It's hard to say what the war will do to circulation. Right now, I'm making plans for the next issue as if nothing disasterous were going to happen. The fortunes of war and the fortunes of business are hard to differentiate at times -- however, when you try to add them both together -- ! At any rate, I owe the reads and fans a good deal; they've helped me no end. And if humanly possible, you'll see constantly improving issues of Future and the Quarterly right up to The End
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