Category: Secrets

Right To Reprint Or Not? That Is The Question

The question of whether to reprint old stories or not was always a thorny one for pulp publishers. While many know about the so called “reprint menace” of the 1930s and 1940s when publishers like Harry Donenfeld and Martin Goodman pushed out pulps full of reprints without identifying them as such, few know of an… Continue reading Right To Reprint Or Not? That Is The Question

John Alan Maxwell, Illustrator of Romance

A few days ago, I was reading the first issue of Sea Stories and happened to glance through some of the covers of that magazine. The December 1925 issue, unattributed in the FictionMags Index, caught my eye. Ah! A signature on the bottom left of that cover. I squinted at it and tried to see… Continue reading John Alan Maxwell, Illustrator of Romance

The Thrilling World of Robert C. Blackmon: Man of Mystery

The depression, back in 1932, made writing sink-or-swim prop­osition for Robert C. Blackmon. Cast out on his own after losing a comfortable clerical position with the Atlantic Coast Line rail road, Blackmon swam and to­day he blesses the day his work terminated with the railroad. Today, eight years later, Black­mon is recognized as one of… Continue reading The Thrilling World of Robert C. Blackmon: Man of Mystery

Pulp Magazines: A man’s world

While the representation of women authors in the western and general fiction pulps was low, it wasn’t all a man’s world. In westerns Eli Colter and Cherry Wilson appeared regularly in Western Story; in general adventure fiction Beatrice Grimshaw (54 appearances in Blue Book); and in detective fiction the names of Mary Roberts Rinehart and… Continue reading Pulp Magazines: A man’s world

Do you know why The Popular Magazine had no illustrations?

For a long time, I was puzzled by why the Popular Magazine carried no illustrations. Here’s an explanation from the editor, Charles Agnew MacLean in the July 1904 issue. A Chat With You (editorial from the Popular Magazine, July 1904 issue) DID it ever occur to you what a bully good thing success is? There… Continue reading Do you know why The Popular Magazine had no illustrations?

The ponies were howling and singing: Secrets of good copy

I usually post about the often overlooked good points of the pulps, but there’s no excusing some of their worst excesses, pointed out by a copy editor who spent time cleaning up their messes. GRINDING TO A PULP By KENNETH A. FOWLER Mr. Fowler was formerly a copy editor with street & Smith Publications. Consequently,… Continue reading The ponies were howling and singing: Secrets of good copy

3 Pulp Tales: Words are money, Speed thrills and more

Three pulp tales from the newspapers. Words are Money Since basic pulp pay is a cent per word, and since the creation of any sort of fiction is to most authors slow and difficult labor, the majority of practitioners in pulp are poorly paid. But there are others who through long practice, have mastered the… Continue reading 3 Pulp Tales: Words are money, Speed thrills and more

Paint by numbers: The most hard-working pulp artists

Who were the most prolific pulp artists? By which i mean, the artists who painted the highest number of pulp covers under tough conditions. Norman Saunders’ oeuvre consists of 865 covers, meticulously documented here by his son. Has anyone come close, or even surpassed this? Using the Fictionmags Index, I tried to do a count… Continue reading Paint by numbers: The most hard-working pulp artists

Three Pulp Tales: No fiction, only the truth

Tales discovered while searching for other stuff. Music to my ears JULIUS F. STONE says that rehabilitating Key West for the FERA has its ups and down.He gives an example. His staff had renovated a famous old sea-captain’s home down there in order to rent it to visitors. Stone rented the first floor apartment to… Continue reading Three Pulp Tales: No fiction, only the truth