I really didn’t know what pulp magazines were until around 1970 when I was introduced to the Lancer collections of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian. Somewhere along the way, as my comic book habit had bled into reading the fanzines of the day, I got to learn about the Shadow, Doc Savage, G-8, and the others.
Not long after, Long Island’s WLIR (I believe) played Old-Time Radio shows Monday-Friday at 7 p.m., and I listened religiously, falling for The Shadow and the Lone Ranger. By then, Pyramid had begun releasing new editions of The Shadow stories with striking covers by Jim Steranko. I found myself gravitating more to these stories than Lester Dent’s Doc Savage tales (much as I prefer Batman to Superman, yet love both).
As I learned more about pulp magazines and their creators during the 1970s, I was fascinated. Apparently, that affection for the pulp magazine era has remained lodged in my mind, which may explain why I chose to produce Thrilling Adventure Yarns a few years back. It was my first attempt at a Kickstarter campaign, which proved tremendously successful, so I did another. And another.
I am now about to produce a fourth volume. The Kickstarter campaign begins at Noon EDT on Friday, August 9. You can log in now and sign up to be notified so you don’t forget.
As I have learned as a writer, editor, and reader is that putting together an anthology is an art. It’s picking the right subjects, the right writers, and the the order of the stories. The first three books have relied heavily on my Crazy 8 Press peers and then invitations to recommended writers or people whose works I have enjoyed.
For this new collection, I wanted to shake things up in the hopes of widening my reach. So, C8 participation was a given but not mandatory. Joining me for another go-round are Aaron Rosenberg, Glenn Hauman, Hildy Silverman, Mary Fan, Michael Jan Friedman, Paul Kupperberg, and Russ Colchamiro.
Now, each time I begin work on one of these, I draft a wish list. As a comics editor, I learned you never knew who would say yes unless they were asked. So, I made my dream team and began asking. In some cases, the nos were swift, and in other cases, people looked at previous editions and either declined or never replied. That’s life. But, those who said yes gave me a roster of new-to-the-series writers coming from a variety of backgrounds that I think will bring some fresh energy to the book.
So, joining me for the first time are Charles Ardai, Christopher Priest, Dan Abnett, Elliot S! Maggin, Jeff Mariotte, Bobby Nash, Liz Braswell, William F. Wu, and Win Scott Eckert. Several here are long-time friends, while others have been in my circle, but we’ve never worked together before. This should be tremendous fun for me, and I hope the readers.
Further freshening, I asked Jeff Hayes to illustrate the cover, and he has been impressive with his talent, speed, and enthusiasm. My authors loved the cover when they first saw it, and I hope it resonates with my potential backers.
Every time I hit publish, I worry about how people will react. But after three of these, I am cautiously optimistic that I have a solid enough core that I should reach my goal and deliver a book worthy of everyone’s time and money.
Please consider joining in on the fun next week.
#Tags: Aaron Rosenberg, Bobby Nash, Charles Ardai, Christopher Preist, Conan the Barbarian, Dan Abnett, Doc Savage, Elliot S! Maggin, Glenn Hauman, Hildy Silverman, Jeff Hayes, Jeff Mariotte, Jim Steranko, Kickstarter, Lancer Books, Lester Dent, Liz Braswell, Michael Jan Friedman, Paul Kupperberg, Pyramid Books, Russ Colchamiro, The Shadow, Thrilling Adventure Yarns, Win Scott Eckert, WLIR, Wlliam F. Wu