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Scientifictionist, v. 1, issue 1, September 1945
Page 11
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Astounding. Planet has risen steadily in sales as judging by the disappearance of the magazine from the stands. Thrilling Wonder and Startling have just held their own and may have decreased slightly in the past five years. Famous Fantastic has had a peculiar career. Under the Munsey management it was not circulated well and the sales were evidently poor; under the new management I have noticed a slight decline in copies sold or rather increase of copies remaining on the stands after the first two or three issues under the new management. Now here is where I stick my neck way out and any one who has any factual figures can chop it off for I am guessing completely on my estimation of copies sold. But here is my guess or estimate for better or for worse. I guess that Astounding and Amazing run 75-100,000 copies; Planet, 50-60,000, Thrilling Wonder about 50,000, and Startling about the same;Famous Fantastic Mysteries about 50,000 and Fantastic Adventures about 70,000. Who rites the magazines? I would estimate that 90% of all stories published in scientifiction are by authors who write fairly regularly. Astounding gets stories by technical men and better trained writers, although Thrilling Wonder, Startling and Planet often have stories by the top men in the scientifiction pro field. Exempting Astounding, the stories in Planet, Thrilling Wonder, Startling and some of the shorts in Famous Fantastic are by the same group of fairly good professional writers who have developed during the last ten years. The majority of Astounding writers write only for Astounding, in my opinioin, although when Super Science and Astonishing were extant they featured many of the Astounding rejects. Amazing and Fantastic Adventures have built up a new group of writers peculiarly suited to their needs. Sometimes stories by the professional groups from the other magazines get in, but as a rule they do not. A very large percentage of the Ziff-Davis stories are by the same small group of writers under different nom de plumes. That is one reason for the sameness in many of the stories. A new group of fans also support the Ziff-Davis magazines, while Planet, Thrilling Wonder and Startling have a group in common who merge with the Astounding and Famous Fantastic group. Three years after the war should see double the number of scientifiction titles on the market than at the present (July 1945). Provided nothing happens to turn public opinion away from it, scientifiction should have a very promising future. The End. SCIENTIFICTION COMMENTARY Thoughts On War. In "Nomad" it is said that war was necessary for progress. Contrary, probably to popular opinion, I am inclined to agree. You must admit from what you see around you that people like to push each other around. Well, it is beyond a doubt that one will strain his inventive facilities in order to defend himself. Note progress made in all fields in the present conflict. Outside of the destruction wrought, have we not progressed? there will be other wars even greater than the one at present. But people will be looking to the future and accepting the things to come with willing eagerness. The weapons of war will become the tools of peace. They destroyed da Vinci's works of culture but preserved his weapons of war. Even these were not uncovered again until a time of war, and later, developed to fir peacetime needs. It just illustrates the truthfullness of that statement in "Nomad". Joe E. Kennedy --(page 11)--
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Astounding. Planet has risen steadily in sales as judging by the disappearance of the magazine from the stands. Thrilling Wonder and Startling have just held their own and may have decreased slightly in the past five years. Famous Fantastic has had a peculiar career. Under the Munsey management it was not circulated well and the sales were evidently poor; under the new management I have noticed a slight decline in copies sold or rather increase of copies remaining on the stands after the first two or three issues under the new management. Now here is where I stick my neck way out and any one who has any factual figures can chop it off for I am guessing completely on my estimation of copies sold. But here is my guess or estimate for better or for worse. I guess that Astounding and Amazing run 75-100,000 copies; Planet, 50-60,000, Thrilling Wonder about 50,000, and Startling about the same;Famous Fantastic Mysteries about 50,000 and Fantastic Adventures about 70,000. Who rites the magazines? I would estimate that 90% of all stories published in scientifiction are by authors who write fairly regularly. Astounding gets stories by technical men and better trained writers, although Thrilling Wonder, Startling and Planet often have stories by the top men in the scientifiction pro field. Exempting Astounding, the stories in Planet, Thrilling Wonder, Startling and some of the shorts in Famous Fantastic are by the same group of fairly good professional writers who have developed during the last ten years. The majority of Astounding writers write only for Astounding, in my opinioin, although when Super Science and Astonishing were extant they featured many of the Astounding rejects. Amazing and Fantastic Adventures have built up a new group of writers peculiarly suited to their needs. Sometimes stories by the professional groups from the other magazines get in, but as a rule they do not. A very large percentage of the Ziff-Davis stories are by the same small group of writers under different nom de plumes. That is one reason for the sameness in many of the stories. A new group of fans also support the Ziff-Davis magazines, while Planet, Thrilling Wonder and Startling have a group in common who merge with the Astounding and Famous Fantastic group. Three years after the war should see double the number of scientifiction titles on the market than at the present (July 1945). Provided nothing happens to turn public opinion away from it, scientifiction should have a very promising future. The End. SCIENTIFICTION COMMENTARY Thoughts On War. In "Nomad" it is said that war was necessary for progress. Contrary, probably to popular opinion, I am inclined to agree. You must admit from what you see around you that people like to push each other around. Well, it is beyond a doubt that one will strain his inventive facilities in order to defend himself. Note progress made in all fields in the present conflict. Outside of the destruction wrought, have we not progressed? there will be other wars even greater than the one at present. But people will be looking to the future and accepting the things to come with willing eagerness. The weapons of war will become the tools of peace. They destroyed da Vinci's works of culture but preserved his weapons of war. Even these were not uncovered again until a time of war, and later, developed to fir peacetime needs. It just illustrates the truthfullness of that statement in "Nomad". Joe E. Kennedy --(page 11)--
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