How to Win Fans and Influence Scientific Fiction

Meta
Title:	How to Win Fans and Influence Scientific Fiction
Creator:	Charles A. Beling
Date(s):	October 1941
Medium:	Print
Fandom:	Science Fiction
Topic:	Lending libraries for fans
External Links:	Hosted online by fanac.org. Spaceways #23 pp. 10-11. Oct. 1941.
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

How to Win Fans and Influence Scientific Fiction was a 1941 essay by Charles L. Beling that proposed a national lending library for science fiction fans. (The zine it was published in, Spaceways, had recently instituted a police replacing "science fiction" with "scientific fiction".)

At the time, science fiction was still struggling to break into the mainstream. Many fans despaired over the fact that pro science fiction magazines wouldn't listen to fans about what should be printed in order to improve the field and give them good options for evangelizing to non-fans. Another major problem was the simple fact that old issues could be very difficult to acquire. Beling suggested a form of curated library with a librarian who knew enough about science fiction to send the very best material to potential fans, thus creating more new fans who could write to the pro editors with good suggestions.

Text

It's very easy to win fans and influence scientific fiction. But it's not being done. In fact, we're making it extremely hard to win fans, and our influence on professional scientific fiction is almost nil.

My plan is this: A general lending library for fandom.

It's not exactly a new idea; many other fans and fan groups have tried it on a smaller scale. The Indiana Fantasy Association has a state-wide one. Most local clubs have them for the exclusive use of their members.

And that's just what's wrong with the idea: exclusive use. If a large, varied, fan library were set up, think of the benefits it would have. A great majority of fans, both old and new, would patronize it: from the new fan, with limited finances, and not quite sure of what he wants, to the veteran who has been active for ten years and wants to read that 1936 Wonder that he missed; all would use it.

If pushed a little in the prozines, many potential fans would be gathered to the ranks of active fandom by the chance to read a great many books and magazines that they couldn't get any other place, and for a much lower cost than most books or magazines are now. I'll go out on a limb, and say that if this library is handled in the right way we can add about fifty new fans per year.

And the influence on the pros! It would, in the course of a few years, be terrific. It would take a little longer, perhaps three or four years, but in the long run the results would be worth the wait and the effort. It could be done this way: A new fan, knowing nothing about scientific fiction would write in and ask for a "Good magazine that you think I might like". Do you really think that he'd receive a copy of Amazing? Gad, no! The librarian sends the young hopeful a copy of a good mag, such Astounding, FFM, Cosmic Stories, Super Science, Fantastic Novels, Stirring Science, etc. There are a good many mags such as those that could be sent. After a few such borrowings, we havea fan on our hands who has all the tastes of a veterna, including a violent dislike of the Palmer rags. And RAP receives letters from another fan telling him what and what not to print. In a few years, I believe that a major change could be made in such sheets as Amazing and Thrilling Wonder Stories.

"And now," you ask, "how's this going to work?" Simple. But, and upon that "but" hands the whole plan, its success or failure; everything depends on your willingness to help and support this.

Every fan willing to help would make contributions in the shape of any and all mags and books that he can spare. "Silly," you say, "you won't get enough that way even to start it."

That's what you think. Suppose that every active fan, and some inactive ones too, contributed three or four mags and a second-hand book. You'd have five hundred mags and one hundred books to start with. Not much, I know, but enough to start with. Don't think that that's all you'd have. Many fans will give more than that. I'll be willing to contribute about fifty magazines and maybe one or two books. I don't think that a thousand magazines and a couple of hundred books would be an over-large estimate for the library to start with. Of course, that will be added to as time goes on. In the long run the library would probably have to be split up among several librarians.

How will the postage be paid? How can we be sure that the borrowed stuff will be treated well? Won't some of it be stolen?

Easy. Each fan who borrowed from the library would fall into one of two classifications: a: those known by the librarian to be trustworthy, or if not personally known, a well known or leading fan; and b: those unknown to the librarian. A person in group a would merely, along with his request for the magazine he wants, send a dime (for every piece borrowed) to cover the cost of postage, etc. If someone in group b wanted to borrow material he would enclose the same dime per piece, plus a deposit to cover the value of the piecethat he has borrowed. Either he could leave it on deposit to cover the next withdrawal or it would be returned to him when he returns the borrowed material.

That's one way. The other possible one is to have a card system similar to the type public libraries use. Everyone would pay for a card by the year, and could withdraw all the books he wanted in that year provided that at no one time would he have more than half the value of the card out. This method is easier for the librarian, but much harder for the fan; and not as likely to gather in new fans. The reason is that that to allow a fan to withdraw enough material at a time, the cost of the card would have to be rather high--too high for most fans.

If the library operates on the "dime per piece" system, you'll have much more business. The charge of a dime is considerably cheaper than most magazines' cover prices, and much cheaper than most books. After the postage is paid by librarian there will probably be a couple of cents left over. This money can be saved and used for rebinding of books, purchasing of new material, etc.

On the other hand, if the library uses the card system, it will be much more likely to get new material. Suppose that instead of paying money for his card, a fancontributed five-fourths (not four-fifths) of its value in books or magazines; and in exchange he'd have a card and the same privileges as someone who had paid for a card with money, but didn't pay quite as much.

The major obstacle is not money, or books and magazines, but finding some well known fan who would be willing to act as librarian. And, what is much more important, who could act in that capacity; that is, who has the necessary space to store the constantly mounting stock of material and the necessary time to index and handle the material.

Perhaps it would be better if some group such as the NFFF or the Frontier Society handled it. A group such as that would have more space and time than any single fan, no matter how energetic he was.

That's the proposition. It's up to you now, fandom.

Reactions

"How to Win Fans and Influence Stf." was pretty good, nothing wonderful. I'm afraid the idea is impractical, though (or maybe I mean impracticable). Maybe it's just my personal inclination, but it doesn't seem to me that such a library would be of interest to very many people, and I really can't see how it could create new fans. Collectors, maybe, but not fans. And whereas the "Skylark" issues would probably circulate a good deal, who's going after the July, 1929 Amazing Stories, for example? Even if for some ungodly reason you wanted to read it, you could probably buy a copy for not very much more than a dime--certainly that holds true of more recent issues. I'll give the article a 7. It's constructive, anyhow.

Paul H. Spencer: Letter printed in Spaceways #24 pg 23. Dec. 1941.

Beling gets 7. A library like this would be swell, though I don't think it would win many new fans or influence stf. For instance, would a new fan, knowing nothing about stf., write in and ask for a good magazine? I doubt it greatly. How would he know about the library if he knew nothing about stf.? It could be a swell thing, tho. As for a librarian, I'm willing and able, but far from well known.

Larry Shaw: Letter printed in Spaceways #24 pp 23-24. Dec. 1941.

How To Win Fans and Influence Science Fiction: 7. An interesting idea, but might not, shall we say, John Fann, age 15, send for some magazines, and per as your suggestion, the librarian would ship him Astoundings? Well, John Fann is a young fellow who likes slambang action, but can't assimilate Astounding as yet. If the librarian would send him Amazing, he'd be duly pleased, toss aside his westerns and turn to s-f. After a couple of months of "conditioning" then he'd be ready to take on Astounding. Whereas, if he were given Astounding as the first dose, it might not taste so good. But that's the Palmer type of argument! Which, incidentally, I agree with to a certain degree.

Harry Jenkins, Jr.: Letter printed in Spaceways #24 pg 24. Dec. 1941.

The Beling library article is in large measure responsible for this letter's being somewhat overdue. It recalled my own experiences in this field with the MSA and I wrote several pages of comment and criticism which I have just discarded for their excessive length and sterility. In general I would judge from my own experience that the proposed library would have but little, if any, influence among those sections of the s.-f. reading populace wherein said influence is needed. Certainly Beling's proposed means of handling the library transactions are not such as to encourage use of the library by the "new fan, with limited finances". I favor the encouragement of numerous local, state-wide, or semi-regional libraries rather than a general library. Many such library groups, of limited membership, could be organized around the numerous private collections extant... The nub of this proposition is that it must be exclusive. The circulation of any particular collection must be limited to avoid excess wear and tear on the library and the librarian. But this limitation is overcome by setting up a sufficient number of groups. With some national organization such as the NFFF to act as a coordinating agency any fan or reader desirous of participating in or of using the library service could be fitted in somewhere. It's inevitable, of course, that some groups will have better library facilities than others. But eventually the rarer and more desired items could be rendered generally available through a mutually cooperative intergroup exchange.

...Question is, will the collectors cooperate in such a project? As active fans, or at least enthusiasts, they will certainly agree as to the desirability of a lending library. There remain two other other considerations which might cause the collector to hesitate from participating. First the matter of wear. Keeping the separate groups small minimizes this. If a group librarian found the demand too heavy another group could be organized to take part of the load. But from my own experience I would expect the opposite to be the case. That is, a light response to the offer to lend items. Demand would be lopsided, running most heavily to those "classics" most highly and frequently hailed as such. Borrowers would use the service less frequently once they had skimmed the cream of the available material. Thus although a group might grown large in membership the number of withdrawals of items would remain fairly constant.

The prospective librarian might also entertain misgivings regarding the amount of time and labor involved in packing, mailing, and keeping tabs on the borrowed items. There will be some effort involved, of course, but, again drawing on my MSA experience, I have found that it can be held to a minimum by adopting and adhering to a systematic and efficient procedure. For shipping books and magazines it is desirable to enclose them in stout cases to avoid damage in transit... The borrower should pay the postage on the items both ways. This is best handled if the borrower sends the librarian small sums, say 25c or 50c from time to time, to maintain a cash balance for postage prepayment at the lending end... As Beling states, there are already several small group libraries in existence. So we have a nucleus for a library project. Their experiences and methods of procedure can be studied as a guide for other library groups. There is a vast amount of private borrowing and lending of items privately between s.-f. correspondents. A library group natwork would be but a systematized extension of this activity. Now that fankind seems at last to be awakening to a unity of purpose and of organization, this seems the time to get the project under way. Whatever the form it may take, let's do something about it.

Norman F. Stanley: Letter printed in Spaceways #24 pp 21-22. March 1942.

As to libraries, if anyone in the East wants to start one, I will donate my collection of Amazing Stories, which includes most of the Gernsback, all of the Sloane, and none of the Palmer issues. I must, of course, be satisfied that the fan in question is both willing & able to operate the proposed library efficiently....

Louis Russell Chauvenet: Letter printed in Spaceways #27 pg 24. April 1942.