Category: Secrets

Original painting of a magazine cover, absolutely free

A bit late for those of us born later than 1936, unfortunately. If you were born before then, give a good excuse for why you don’t have one or share a photo of your original cover painting. Excerpted from the January 1936 issue of Gold Seal Detective, which would have been on the newsstands from… Continue reading Original painting of a magazine cover, absolutely free

Link Roundup: Academics, Collectors, Secrets and Stories

It’s been a while since I did a link roundup, there should be something interesting for everyone here. From the Groves of Academe Herbert Morton Stoops – Pulp Illustrator, a talk Stoops was an early graduate of Agricultural College of Utah (now Utah State University). During his career, Stoops’ illustrations featured in publications like “Colliers,”… Continue reading Link Roundup: Academics, Collectors, Secrets and Stories

Starting right: Powerful advice on story openings

From top pulp editor, Arthur S. Hoffman, who edited Adventure for the better part of two decades and made it into one of the top general fiction pulps, comes this advice on story openings. Originally published in Author & Journalist, August 1930. THE mystery is: Why aren’t they better? Much has been written telling how… Continue reading Starting right: Powerful advice on story openings

Last Wish: Argosy

Asks for Copies of Argosy Magazine to Finish Serial Story Who in Livingston has copies of the Argosy magazine for August 17 and 24? The Enterprise wants one copy of each. The request is made in order that Rollin Davisson, condemned to die Oct. 30. may be able to complete a continued story which he… Continue reading Last Wish: Argosy

Look inside: Producing magazines at Street & Smith

Earlier we saw what happened to manuscripts when they arrived at Street & Smith. Now let’s see what happened when producing the physical magazine. Pictures taken from the December 1904 issue of The Popular Magazine, which included a self-congratulatory section on the magazine’s success. Typing it out These are linotype machines; the user types out… Continue reading Look inside: Producing magazines at Street & Smith

One Man Show: Authors, pound that typewriter till it bleeds!

During  my time attending pulp conventions, I heard about an author who, under one pseudonym or another, wrote the entire fiction contents of an all-fiction magazine. But it was never clear to me who it was we were talking about. Some authors were obvious candidates – H. Bedford-Jones, Max Brand, Arthur J. Burks etc. Could… Continue reading One Man Show: Authors, pound that typewriter till it bleeds!

Bellem Lettres: The secret life of a pulpster

And no, that isn’t a spelling mistake. Read on and find out why. While pursuing some research, I came across five letters from Robert Leslie Bellem, the creator of Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective and prodigious producer of pervy passion plots for the pulps. These letters have little personal stuff but quite a bit about the… Continue reading Bellem Lettres: The secret life of a pulpster

The mysterious life of Robert Reeves – Storyteller, Soldier

Robert Reeves, the author of the Cellini Smith stories in Black Mask, is a mysterious character. The veil of mystery around Reeves starts with his life. He seems to appear out of nowhere in the magazines, showing no evidence of newspaper work or other professions connected to the publishing business. Who was he? Where did… Continue reading The mysterious life of Robert Reeves – Storyteller, Soldier

How Spicy Can You Make It? The Bare Truth

as revealed by the editor of Spicy Detective in the Author and Journalist, 1935. This is a letter to a contributor who must have transgressed the Spicies unwritten code, outlining guidelines for the stories. The editor of the trade magazine chose to publish it for the benefit of would be authors. Dear       : On account… Continue reading How Spicy Can You Make It? The Bare Truth