So You're Going to Print Your Fan Magazine
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| Title: | So You're Going to Print Your Fan Magazine |
| Creator: | Robert A. Madle |
| Date(s): | Published May 1940 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Science Fiction |
| Topic: | Traditional printing in fanzines |
| External Links: | Hosted online by the Iowa Digital Library; The Science Fiction Fan #46, pp. 15-18. May 1940. |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
So You're Going to Print Your Fan Magazine was a 1940 article by Robert A. Madle that appeared in The Science Fiction Fan.
Most fanzines at the time were either mimeographed or hectographed. Traditional printing often produced nicer-looking results, but it required an even more specialized machine and was usually restricted to professional publications. Madle gave a short rundown of printed zines in science fiction fandom. The most recent one was William L. Hamling's Stardust, which was operating at huge losses and wound up failing in November 1940, as Madle predicted. His other example of a popular printed zine was Fantasy-News, which was able to stay active because of its circulation numbers and short length.
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Quite often you read an announcement to the effect that so-and-so is going to pubilsh a printed fan magazine, and perhaps most of you sadly shake your head, and allow the poor misguided individual to experience some soul-shaking facts. A few of you, like Donald A. Wollheim, having an absolute knowledge of the fan world, waste your time warning the fan, who is usually quite new to the fan world. At any rate, our young, inexperienced fan goes ahead and prints a fan magazine, and then things begin to happen! The following is a short history of printed fan magazines, and their hectic careers.THE TIME TRAVELLER: Allen Glasser, back in January 1932, thought of this one. Mr. Glasser conceived the idea, and talked young Conrad Ruppert, then getting his start in the printing business, into printing the magazine. Ruppert was delighted with the idea -- he was a real fan. However, Ruppert spent most of his time printing THE TIME TRAVELLER, and getting absolutely nothing for efforts. Allen Glasser received credit for everything, so Ruppert, after realizing things discontinued printing the magazine. Glasser and several other fans attempted to print the magazine after Ruppert dropped out, but only one issue appeared. The life of this magazine was ten issues, and it was the only fan magazine at the time.
SCIENCE FICTION DIGEST: After Rupper discontinued printing THE TIME TRAVELLER, he and Julius Schwartz, Forrie Ackerman, and Ray Palmer, formed the Science Fiction Digest Company, and published a magazine exactly like the TIME TRAVELLER. They decided that someone with editorial experience should edit the new magazine, so they asked Maurice Z. Ingher, then editor of Schwartz' High School paper, to edit the magazine. Ingher condescended, but he was not a real fan, and the boys behind the magazine soon "resigned" Ingher. Ruppert elected himself to the editor's chair, but resigned sometime later to Julius Schwartz, who was editor until the final page of the magazine was printed. The magazine, in January 1934, a year and one-half after it started, changed its name to FANTASY MAGAZINE. Ruppert finally had to quit printing FM because he was getting too busy, so Schwartz attempted to have it done professionally. That was the beginning of the end, for after several issues the magazine was discontinued, with the January 1937 issue. This magazine had an enviable record for number of issues printed, but but this can be traced to the fact that a professional printer was printing the magazine for costs, which amounted to only several dollars.
SCIENCE FANTASY CORRESPONDENT: This was a BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PRINTED MAGAZINE, ISSUED BY Willis Conover and Corwin Stickney late in 1930. Stickney, having access to the shop of a professional printer, did all of the publication work on the magazine. Conover doing the editing and collecting all the credit. After two issues Stickney dropped Conover, made himself editor, changed the policy of the magazine from that of a general fan publication, to that of a magazine "for the amateur fantasy writer", featuring fiction for the most part. The magazine failed after three issues under the new setup.
SCIENCE FICTION WORLD: Hayward S. Kirby, semi-prominent fan, surprised the fan world early in 1937 by bringing out an almost totally unannounced printed paper called THE SCIENCE FICTION WORLD. The initial issue was printed in newspaper format consisting of only one page. The second and final issue was published in the very small size 3" x 3 1/2". Kirby soon discovered the folly of a printed fan magazine.
UNIQUE: A group of hitherto inactive fans, headed by Russell Leadabrand, of California, brought forth a printed magazine, called UNIQUE TALES. The first issue was dated June 1937 and consisted almost entirely of fiction -- it contained eighteen small printed pages. Six months later the second issue appeared, consisting of thirty pages. The final issue appeared several months later, and was the best of the three, containing almost forty pages, with some excellent amateur fiction.
THE PHANTAGRAPH: Originally a hectographed bulletin of an organization called The Terrestrial Fantascience Guild, this magazine blossomed forth with a printed issue in July 1935. Donald A. Wollheim supplanted the former editor. Quite a few issues of this fan magazine appeared before its inevitable failure became fact. Many of the last issues were small, four-page affairs, costing Wollheim $5.00 per issue. Wollheim often claimed he didn't mind losing the $5.00, but despite this, he finally discontinued the magazine, Robert W. Lowndes bringing out one small issue after Wollheim gave it up.
SCIENCE FICTION NEWS: After publishing numerous issues of this journal in carbon-copy form for the Oklahoma Scientifiction Association Daniel McPhail, surprised everyone by publising the first of three printed issues in October 1936. It was a neatly printed journal, but after McPhail lost access to a friend's printing equipment, it was impossible for the magazine to continue.
SCIENCE FICTION CRITIC: The first several issues of this magazine were mimeographed but Claire P. Beck, the publisher, purchased printing equipment and printed the magazine. Altho rather unreliable at the first, it finally became a quite reliable and interesting magazine commencing with the December '36 issue. However, after eight more issues, Beck finally discontinued the magazine. It served its purpose, however, in its short and hectic career.
FANCIFUL TALES: Donald A. Wollheim and Wilson Shepherd conceived of this 50-paged printed magazine of science and weird fiction. Wollheim edited and helped financially while Shepherd did the actual printing. One issue appeared, dated Fall 1936.
There are several others, of course, including Wm. Crawford's superb ventures, MARVEL TALES AND UNUSUAL STORIES. But these latter two were published as fiction magazines in their entirety and cannot rightly be called fan magazines. At the present time there are two outstanding printed fan publications; Wm. S. Sykora's FANTASY NEWS and W. Lawrence Hamling's magnificently printed STARDUST. The former of these two has a good chance to continue because the circulation is rather large, and if there is a loss, it doesn't amount to very much. Although Hamling deserves every possible chance of success, it is very doubtful that STARDUST will see many more issues because Hamling suffers an incredible loss every issue. At any rate STARDUST is the most beautiful fan magazine ever to appear; Hamling has that much to his credit.