Douglas Draa's page

I like the basic composition of the Infernal Sorceress cover, but I'm not a real fan of the art. I'd make the sorceress more menacing, maybe cackling with a hand up forming a grasping claw. And have both guys with weapons draw and ready to fight, with either their back towards each other, or in a way that might be misleading (haven't read the book obviously) facing each other.

At anyrate, that's not really the direction I'd go with the covers. If Erik put me in charge of art design for Planet Stories, you get stuff that looks kinda like this.

Now that's just something I whipped up in an hour with graphics found on the internet and free fonts. But that's the kind of compositions I'd go for, something eye-catching and kind of campy, something sort of neo-pulp sensational.

The idea being you'd see it on a shelf and think "What is that?" and you'd have to pick it up and see. You go with pulpy sort of clip-art and a lot op-art style graphic stuff, and some goofy high intensity sales pitching, and you can totally use the fact that this is genuine adventure fiction from an older, less politically correct era as a real selling point.

But first you have to stand out from all the boring fantasy novels covers. The line right now is not doing that.

Take care.
doug

I know it's been close to twenty years since I read them, but I don't remember Dejah Thoris laying eggs. Maybe I just blocked it out of my memory.

I remember the green Martians laid eggs...

Here's the wiki link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsoom

Erik and I are apparently the same age. Probably helps explain our similar tastes.

I discovered John Carter when I was 15. Found the whole collection sitting on a shelf in a friend's house. They were his dads, he'd never read them, but I got to borrow them. I knew I had to read them when i saw the Frazetta covers. I think I read all ten of them in a week. Great stuff, very influential on a lot of my games.

Plus, I'm pretty sure that "A Princess of Mars" is the book that gave the world the chainmail bikini, so, that's praiseworthy.

Take care.
Doug
P.S.
Here are the Barsoom covers I had as a kid way back in the early 70's
http://www.tarzan.org/art/dachille.jpg

Hi!
I just read that you'll be re-issuing "The Sword of Rhiannon"
SUPER!!!!!
I just found a scan of the original cover from "Thrilling Wonder Stories"
where the story premiered under the title "The Sea Kings of Mars"

http://www.oldsfbooks.com/tws4906.jpg

This screams Planet Stories.
This says "Quality Cheese"!! :-)

you need to try a little bit of the "retro look"

Take care.
Doug

Hi!
This is truly great news. I'm so glad to hear the the line is doing so well. To be honest I wasn't so sure of how much support this line of books would receive from younger readers and gamers. and it is a pleasant suprise to see that the line is going strong.
take care and congratulations.

Doug

ok, this is a long shot - I have been trying for ages to track down a book which is set on Mars - only I don't remember the title, or the author - only that it was different, and I found it interesting. Read it at uni many, many years ago.

Plot of the book is that humans have landed on mars and started exploring some pyramids there, and there are traps in the pyramids meant to test teh intelligence of the explorers so that the supposedly long dead martians can determine if the explorers are intelligent enough to make it worth them reviving themselves.

The book starts off with the team having passed the intelligence type tests but the final one is based on music, and the guy exploring the pyramid is trapped and dies. So the team recruits this guitarist / muso character from earth called Ben, for the next mission, and he jams with the music that the pyramid puts out, which gets past the test. Then ... that's all I can remember.

if anyone knows what the heck I'm talking about, I'd be very grateful for a title and author so I can go look it up!

cheers
Sean

That's "LABYRINTH OF NIGHT" by Allen Steele

http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-Night-Allen-Steele/dp/0441467415

Take care.
Doug

P.S.
"Lord of the Spiders" arrived last week!
To be honest, it's just what I remembered from the 1970's. 2nd rate Moorcock/3rd rate ERB

You must love The Dying Earth, then.

As you should. :)

Wiki Link....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun

Take care.
Doug

"Earth's Last Citadel" is also an excellent story.
It was one of his collaberations with C.L. Moore.
A group of WWII participants in the Sahara find an object resembeling a huge gemstone and get transported millions and millions of years into the furture.
Back when I first read it in the 1970's I was very impressed with the whole concept.
I guess I'm just a sucker for stories where the sun has become a Red Giant! LOL

Take care.
Doug

That cover is incredible. Wow. WAAAAAY cooler than I expected when I saw it was a Lulu link.

I have the original DAW Imaro books, but they're buried pretty deep in the work bookcase, next to stuff like RAUM and ORON. Howard Jones from Black Gate has been prodding me to contact Saunders and pick up the Imaro flag, but I confess I have not yet read the books. They sound great and they're inching their way to the top of the pile, but they're not quite at the top.

I'm very excited because I'm about to hit four plane trips in seven days. I tend to read Planet Stories type fiction on planes more than anywhere else, and I've got quite a lineup ready to go.

Phil Farmer's Hadon of Ancient Opar is at the top of the list, but I've also got Sos the Rope by Piers Anthony, Across the Zodiac by Percy Greg, Warrior of Llarn by Gardner F. Fox, and Who Fears the Devil? by Many Wade Wellman.

On second thought, Imaro is not so deeply buried after all.

Take care.
Doug

ditto,
Secret of Sinahrat by Leigh Brackett.

MORE MARS Please!!!
Take care.
Doug

Douglas Draa wrote:

Favorite Mars?

<snip>

Burroughs Barsoom

Leigh Brackett's "Colonial Barsoom" stories.

Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

Red Planet by Robert Heinlein

Old Faithful by Raymond Z. Gallun (novelette)

Martian Odyssy by Stanly G. Weinbaum (short story)

<snip>

Wow, Doug, that's the choice list! The Mars described in these works is what Den Valdron called the Shared Mars of 1880-1950 (http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1405.html)

Don't you realize that what I listed is the...
REAL MARS!!!
It's the Mars that we are not encouraged to know about.
Haven't you ever asked yourself why most of these books and stories have been out of print for oh so very long?

If we Knew that this is the real Mars then we would all want to go there.
And as long as I live I will never accept that there could be any other kind of Mars.
Perish the thought! :-)
Take care.
Doug

We're going to be playing around some with the cover designs for Planet Stories in forthcoming books. While I can't say for sure that they'll be pulpier - while I love the subject matter of those old covers, I vastly prefer a more modern art style - I think they may take a turn for the artsy, and I'm hoping to get more monsters and things into the scene. For instance, we just got in the cover sketch for Infernal Sorceress (a never-before-published Gygax book, the last written before his death), and I'm more excited about that than anything I've seen from the line so far... it reminds me a lot of Mike Mignola and the old Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser covers.

One thing to note with these in regards to not feeling enough "planet" in the compositions: while I understand completely where you're coming from, the fact remains that many of the sword and planet books we've published so far place the emphasis firmly on the former. A lot of these old stories were straight-up sword-swinging fantasy by modern standards, with the barest hint of sci-fi thrown in so as to make it more marketable. In fact, with the exception of Northwest Smith, I think actual spaceships get about 30 seconds of "screen time" in the whole line to date (notably in The Ginger Star). While I'm excited to see things expand a bit to include more old-school science fiction in the coming year, we strive to remain true to the books, so if a novel is primarily about a buff dude with a sword (and really, what else is Stark, Kane, Elak, or Esau?), that's probably what will end up on the cover.

But please, everyone, keep the comments coming! Our style is very much in flux with these, and we're always open to new ideas.

look at this here.

http://www.llfbooks.com/shop_image/product/121.jpg

It's a "BGWS" (buff guy with sword.) :-)

But it doesn't (to me) invoke traditional "Fantasy"
or this either...

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/9a/33/801f729fd7a02c43be27f0 10.L.jpg

Or this...

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/fb/34/6b69828fd7a0417ddcfcf0 10.L.jpg

These are great examples of "PLANET STORIES" You don't need any space ships for people to realize that these are not typical "Fantasy"
and as far as Sword&Sorcery goes, the covers need to be heroic!

like this....

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f327/jackgreen7/mouse1.jpg
or this...
http://www.hormiga.org/fondosescritorio/wallpapers/Dibujos-Animados/comic/Y ear-V-Fantasy-Art-Wall-235-Ken-Kelly.jpg
The one thing that so far all of the Paizo titles have had in common is that they all take place in "Weird Worlds"

I wish I could explain it better. I just don't think that the covers are "special" enough.
I can only speak for myself. But can't you remember being 12 or 13 and your browsing the paperback racks at the Drugstore and as your eyes are wandering over the covers there would be that one book that just screamed "pick me up!!" "I'm so cool that you just have to pick me up and ignore all that other mediocre mundane crap!!"
So far the books and stories that you have brought out are everything but mundane. These are all "in your face action and adventure"!!
and the covers should say that! They are holding back.

A perfect example are all the old Lancer Conan editions from 40 years ago. Conan wasn't a houshold name back then. REH had been mainly forgotten. But tons of readers got hooked because of those amazing eye catching Frank Frazetta covers and they took a chance and bought the books. In the end it was the quality of the writting that carried the day, but it was the Frazetta covers that kicked open the door to let Conan out.
These were the first paperbacks which sold millions of copies. And that was thanks to Frank Frazetta!
I guess I would be happiest if the books diplayed a little more playfulness and kitsch. But I know that that is all a matter of taste.
I still love this series regardless of my opinion of the covers.
so please keep it up and be successful.
Take care.
Doug

I quite like the cover designs and artwork. The modern layout and imposing cover shots makes the series look slick, mature and distinctive. The volumes are sharp addition to my bookshelf.

I fear that retro-pulp stylings would made the series look cheesy.

My two cents. Keep up the good work!

Here are a few examples of what I mean.....

http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/M-series/M-101a.jpg

http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/M-series/M-101b.jpg

http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/Ace%20singles/sG-series/G-656.jpg

http://www.pandora.ca/pictures33/103568.jpg

Take care.
Doug

Show of hands folks.

How many people would subscribe to a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly Planet Stories short fiction magazine? I envision classic pulp style and feel with a sprinkling of reprints and some new authors.

This might also be a place to begin fictional explorations of Korvosa. I'd love to see that world through the lens of fiction.

Anybody else like this idea?

Hi!
I just saw the new "Ginger Star" cover. It is a scene staright from the book.
Which is good,But this is a SWORD & PLANET STORY!!!!!
I don't see any swords or planets.
I've read the books. But what should a new reader think when he/she see's that cover?
It looks like a witch burning during the middle ages.
To be 100% honest I find the art is very nice and well done but the layout/scene/content/feeling is very poor.
THESE ARE PLANET STORIES!!
THEY NEED A SENSE OF WONDER!!
or PLAYFUL RETRO FEEL/STYLE/LOOK!
I assume (yeah, I know what happens when you assume.) that you major audience is gamers.
But give them some credit. It doesn't all have to look a D&D novleization and that's what most of theese look like. All that is missing is someone shooting rays from their finger tips or raising a staff.
A lot of a books success depends of a browser's first impression. There are lots of other books crying out for their attention and limited book budget
If I didn't already know and love these novels I would probably just walk on by.
I'm sorry but that's what this grumpy old man thinks.

Take care and enjoy the weekend.

Doug

Hi!
Have you all decided how many books are comming out this month? I can't afford a triple shot month. That would blow my budget big time since I'm having the books shipped to Germany. and really P.O. the Mrs.!!!

Take care.
Doug

Douglas Draa wrote:

Hi!
How come there is no delivery date listed any more??

Take care.
Doug

Because it arrived in the warehouse on Friday, and is now shipping!

Hi!
How come there is no delivery date listed any more??

Take care.
Doug

Thank you for everything Mr. Gygax. I was only a fan of your writing and never a gamer ,but both my younger brothers and many of my friends were very deeply into AD&D. And I know that when they played, they were the happiest people in the world and I was always a little bit envious. Back in the 80's while stationed I even saw guys throw togehter campaigns during NATO manuevers ,now that was a dedicated fan base!
Anyone who could make so many people happy had to be someone very special.
God bless.

Douglas Draa wrote:

But I would bet that the target public is much younger than me or maybe gamers who aren't not that familiar with Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet and golden age Adventure SF.

Well, one of our main goals is raising awareness of classic out-of-print books and lesser-known authors among readers who are already buying more recent sci-fi and fantasy novels. But we're pleased to appeal to folks like you who already know what's between the pages.

Either way, we do appreciate the feedback!

How do you feel specifically about the covers up through April?

ANUBIS MURDERS:
Very good, but looks like a Horror novel.

CITY OF THE BEAST:
Looks like a cover to one of the old Tor Books CONAN pastiches.
And it¡¦s not colorful enough.

BLACK GODS KISS:
Composition is nice, but once again too static and dark.

ELAK OF ATLANTIS:
Very good, but still too dark.

SECRET OF SINHARAT:
Composition is good.
Stark is black=EXCELLENT!!
Colors are not bright enough.
IT LOOKS LIKE AN ASTRONAUT RIDING A STEGOSAURUS!!
THIS IS MARS!!!!

NORTHWEST OF EARTH:
Composition is nice, but too static form my taste.
He should be on the attack and not backed into a corner.
Again the colors are too subdued.
No sense of Place!
THESE ARE PLANET STORIES!!!

ALMURIC:
Another Tor CONAN pastiche.
Where¡¦s the winged babe?

LORD OF THE SPIDERS:
EXCELLENT!!
Still too dark though.

SAMARKIND SOLUTION:
Good companion to the Anubis cover.
And halfnaked Eurobabe/Harem girls are a good seller!! ļ

What I would like to see are covers that have a sense of WOW!!
Excitement! Action!! and FUN!!!

These are WONDER stories and that (IMHO) seems to be missing from these covers so far.

It's like a good burger. You're giving me excellent meat, but I still want some CHEESE with it! :-)

Take care.
Doug

Yah, I gotta say, IMO Doug has a good point that's worth discussing.

Myself, I'm reading them because I've learned a little bit about the authors and I'm a gamer. That flashier covers might win more readers who don't know the authors and aren't aware of the D&D reading list is worth considering.

Hi!
The Tarzan covers from the late 70’s early 80’s were mostly done by Neal Adams.
They were wonderful! Dark, gritty and exciting and fairly representational of the book contents.
His cover to „Tarzan at the Earth’s Core“ is IMHO the single best portrayal of PELLUCIDAR!!
Regarding the difference between UK and US book cover, I brought this up at the REH forum the other day. The UK covers for lots of SF books are too subdued form y tastes. Though from what I understand the covers by Chris Foss are very popular even though I find them too cold and sterile.
Go on the web and compair the UK „Lenman“ edition with the Chris Foss covers and the US editions with the Jack Gaughan covers.

There is nothing wrong with abstract covers. Go and „google“ Paul Lehr. He did tons of covers during the late 1960’s and 1970. mostly for Fawcett books. He did allmost all the Asimov cover in the early 70’s. They are so amzing! The first book I ever bought with my own money was the Fawcett edition of Wells „the Time Machine“ and War of the Worlds. I still have a copy today and still enjoy just looking at the cover! Sad, but true! &#61514;

Here are a few Paul Lehr links….

http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/0052.html

http://phantasy-and-art.nnm.ru/paul_lehr

http://images.google.de/images?hl=de&q=paul+lehr&um=1&ie=UTF-8& amp;sa=N&tab=wi

This stuff is so eye catching that you just have to pick up the book and check it out.

And here is a link to the entire ACE SF series from the 1950’s through the present day.
These are great examples of Marketing through covers even when a ton of the books weren’t so good.

http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/ACE.html

Or look at the Micheal Whelan covers to ERB’s John Carter/Barsoom books. I grew up with the earlier editions but these are probably the best ever!!

I know I keep repeating myself, but how old ist he main target audience?
Have they ever heard of most of thse authors?
Have they ever heard of Planet tories?
I would bet that most people under 40 have no recollection of this stuff.
So you need a HOOK to make this series stand out above all the other titles on the shelves
And that starts with the eye candy.

Take care.
Doug

I'm not sure which covers you're complaining about. I think almost all of the "final" covers through April are appropriately pulpy, though your point about the colors is well taken.

To be clear, we post mock-up place-holder covers using existing art when we solicit the books because it is too expensive (at least right now) to get final covers 12 or so months before we make a penny off of each book.

Don't read too much into the covers of the recently announced books. They have almost nothing to do with what they will look like in their final versions.

Hi Erik,
have you all thought of reprinting any old anthologies?
Decamp but out 3 Sword& sorcery anthologies back in the 1960' and early 70's...

The Fantastic Swordsmen:
CONTENTS..
# Tellers of Tales" (introduction) (L. Sprague de Camp)
# "Black Lotus" (Robert Bloch)
# "The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth" (Lord Dunsany)
# "Drums of Tombalku" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
# "The Girl in the Gem" (John Jakes)
# "Dragon Moon" (Henry Kuttner)
# "The Other Gods" (H. P. Lovecraft)
# "The Singing Citadel" (Michael Moorcock)
# "The Tower" (Luigi de Pascalis, originally in Italian, translated by L. Sprague de Camp)

Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Swordsmen

Warlocks and Warriors:
Contents...
* "Introduction" (L. Sprague de Camp)
* "Turutal" (Ray Capella)
* "The Gods of Niom Parma" (Lin Carter)
* "The Hills of the Dead" (Robert E. Howard)
* "Thunder in the Dawn" (Henry Kuttner)
* "Thieves' House" (Fritz Leiber)
* "Black God's Kiss" (C. L. Moore)
* "Chu-Bu and Sheemish" (Lord Dunsany)
* "The Master of the Crabs" (Clark Ashton Smith)
* "The Valley of the Spiders" (H. G. Wells)
* "The Bells of Shoredan" (Roger Zelazny)

Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlocks_and_Warriors

Or maybe..

Swordsmen in the Sky
Edited by Donald A. Wolllheim ( Founder of DAW Books)
Contents:
THE MOON THAT VANISHED • s&p • Leigh Brackett

A VISION OF VENUS • s&p • Otis Adelbert Kline •

KALDAR, WORLD OF ANTARES • s&p • Edmond Hamilton

Sworsman of Lost Terra by Poul Anderson

People of the Crater by Andre Norton

Here is a link to some great Sword and Sorcery anthologie.
They also have a great list of old and forgotten/lost masters of Heroic Fantasy.

http://www.swordandsorcery.org/multiauthors-anthos.htm
http://www.swordandsorcery.org/book-reviews.htm

And Issac Asimov edited a HUGE anthology in the early 1970's called Before the Golden Age.
It contains great SF (over the top) stories from the early 30's's through to the late 30's. This is where I discovered "Prof. Jameson"

Here is the wiki link with contents ect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_the_Golden_Age

The Tumithak stories included by Charles R. Tanner are 2 of my all time favorites.
Also the "Moon Age" by Jack Williamson and the "Tetrahedra of Space" by P. Schuyler Muller are real mind blowers!!
I hope that you might finds these interesting.

Take care.
Doug

Erik Mona wrote:

Not yet. Most of what I've read of his comes from our Amazing Stories archive, and has not subsequently been printed. My favorite, favorite story by RMW is "The Return of Satan" from the October 1939 issue of Amazing Stories. It is so riddled with clichés as to be considered unpublishable by most modern editors, but it is such a madcap _pulpy_ story that I loved every page of it.

His "The Secret of the Pyramid" from the July 1939 issue was also great fun.

I've been accumulating several of his paperbacks for the last year or so, but I've not yet had time to read them. He is probably best know for a sword and planet character entitled "Zanthar of the Many Worlds," and for a Tarzan clone called Jongor.

Anyone read any of this stuff?

Well, I ordered a couple of his novels on-line to check them out: "Star Wasps" and "Bell from Infinity". I'll let you know when I've read them (after they go in the to-be-read-pile-of-doom).

Take care.
Doug

Hi.
I have only one beef with the series so far and even though some of the covers do appeal to me, most of them are just simply way to Generic.
The series is called PLANET STORIES for crying out loud!. Go and google up a few cover galleries to the old Planet Stories magazine.

They were garrish! Bold! colorful They screamed and jumped out at you.
I know that this is always a matter of taste, but to me these covers are too dark, boring and simply look like generic Fantasy/SF covers.

Go and check out the old DAW Books covers to Moorcock's mars trilogy.That was art that was better than the books deserved.

Or the old Jim Steranko the covers of the Skaith Trilogy that was put out by Ballantine in the 1970's. This was amazing stuff which probably had a huge influence on the sales of these book.
The "new" skaith covers don't look like "buyer magnets" to me. I don't even think that those are representative of the contents of the skaith books.

Or go look at the Jim Kelly cover for Almuric in the old Berkley editions!!

I don't want to insult anyone, but have the cover artists even read the books? It doens't look like it to me, but I could be wrong.
These books need to jump off the racks and yell "THIS IS SOME OF THE COOLEST STUFF EVER TO HAVE APPEARED ON THE PRINTED PAGE!!!!!!"

Is it possible to use some classic cover art or at least get an artist who understands that this is PULP FICTION and not Goth/MOODY ?
These are stories written in very broad colorful strokes. The covers should reflect it.

I am sooooo excited about this series, but I feel that the covers do not do the series justice.
There is an old story that the first cover for Glenn Cook's "The Black Company" was turned down by the publisher. The art was still laying on the publisher's desk when a buyer for a large chain saw it and said "I'll take 50,000 copies of whatever book has that cover". So even if you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover it'll still make a huge sales difference.

Take care.
Doug

Doug,

Elak of Atlantis has been out for quite a while—it left our warehouse at the end of December. We don't have insight into amazon.de, but I'll have our senior book editor make some inquiries with Amazon's distributor.

Hi!
Look at the cover of "The Secret of Sinharat" and you see that he is pretty dark skinned.

Hint Hint ..read my (entire) 4-star review... :-)

Take care.
Doug

Hey all!
I've been following this thread pretty closely and I'm starting to wonder how closely this series will follow the spirit/concept of "PLANET STORIES"
I'm almost 50 years old, so what I wish/want from this series might not be what younger readers want. You also have to understand that lots of these "forgotten, golden-Age writers" were still in print and more or less household names way up into the 1970's so I am more tolerant of "dated" SF than someone younger might be.

Here are some links to what I think should define (IMHO) the selection criteria for "PLANET STORIES"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Stories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_romance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_planet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planets_in_science_fiction

There are tons of authors and Stories that deserve to be re-discovered by a newer/younger audience, But i think that this series would be the place for writers such as Lovecraft or even Isaac Asimov (even though I am a huge fan of both and both men are "Gods" of their fields.)

I think that the series should stick to adventure oriented Science Fantasy stories like those written by....
such past masters/mistresses as

Andre Norton.
early Ursula LeGuin
Poul Anderson
A.E. Van Vogt
Jack Vance
Maron Zimmer Bradley

Or especially Lin Carter, who is a genuine goldmine when you consider that the series has so far showed no shyness about printing pastiches (Moorcocks and Klines Mars stories)

Or more modern works such as
the "New Sun" (or "Urth") series by Gene Wolf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun

All of these people wrote/write a deft mixture of Sf and Fantasy that will appeal greatly to fans of both genres. These are also stories that are still accessible to newer/younger fans

If this series was named for example "The AMAZING STORIES Library", then most of the great genre writers would have a place here.
The series is called "Planet Stories" though and I think (IMHO) that the choice of stories should fit the theme/concept/spirit of "Planet Stories"

And one small request...
regarding what I said at the beginning about being tolerant of "dated" SF....
For god's sake don't print any E. E. "Doc" Smith!!! His dialog is so clunky that it hurts!! The Lensman and SkyLark series always sound so incredibly cool when being described, but go ahead and try reading them without wincing! I find them impossible to read and I grew up on reprints of this kind of stuff!!

What I'm mainly trying (albeit badly and disjointedly) to say is that we should decide what the spirit of this series is and then stick to it. Even when focused, there is such a wide range of styles, stories and voices that are not just "good" but truly "GREAT".
Take care.
Doug

"science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible." Rod Serling

Hi Erik,
thanks for the reply. I'll stick it out and cross my fingers.
But IF I get hit with a triple month and my wife rips a huge chunk out of my butt I'll be flying back to the states and sleeping on your sofa!! :-)

Take care.
Doug

Printing in China _is_ much cheaper than printing in the US. Basically, if we printed the books domestically we would not be able to produce the line.

Unfortunately, overseas shipping adds a certain unpredictable element to things, and both "Northwest of Earth" and "Almuric" have been delayed by factors outside our control. Both books are currently in America and on their way to us, but I am currently facing the unenviable position of Almuric arriving BEFORE Northwest of Earth, within about two weeks of one another.

"Lord of the Spiders" is pretty much on track, but I may hold it for a week or so to save subscribers from a triple-shot month. After "Lord" things should be fully back to a regular, monthly schedule.

I definitely appreciate your support in subscribing to the line, and I apologize if this causes problems for you. I am trying to get everything straightened out as best I can.

Thanks,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Hey All,
are my eyes playing tricks on me? Are 3 TITLES coming out in March???
What's with one book every month? I have a subscription and I live in Germany. I'm paying about $18.00 a book including postage.
But, as I stated in another post.. I decided on subscribing so that this project would get the support it deserves. If I took the Amazon route I would be saving about $5 per book. Though this would not guarantee you any advanced sales and I understand how important advanced sales are to a publisher.
One book a month doesn't blow my budget, but 3 books in a month does.
If this is the case then I will mostly likely be forced to cancel my subscription, pick and choose which titles I truly want and go buy them through Amazon.de. If they are even being carried that is. They are not carrying "Elak of Atlantis" (they went and canceled my order saying the title is unavailable).
Is printing in China really so much cheaper than printing in North America??

Take care.
Doug

Hey all!

Has anyone considered reprinting some of Cordwainer Smith`s (Paul M. A. Linebarger) stories?
These would fit perfectly into the „Planet Stories“ line.
I’ve re-read quite a bit of his work lately and they have held up wonderfuly well. Just a good as Ray Bradbury’s work does.
Linebarger was an amazing man. He was a Spy, Diplomat, Linguist and one of the Greatest SF writers ever.
Most of his stories take place in the same universe/future called the„Instrumentality of Mankind”.
These stories are simultaniously heartbreaking and optimistic. Everything needed for a good “Planet Story” are here. Sacrifice, love, adventure, philosophy,redemption,sacrifice, what is humanity, humor ect.
These are stories that read on so many different levels that it boogles the mind. On one level they are far future adventure stories. On the other hand they are also religious/philosophical treatsies.
No matter what, they are all entertaining!
Cordwainer Smith is too important of a figure to be forgotten. His story “Scanners Live in Vain” was one of the first stories to be admitted to the SF Hall of Fame by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His work was a great influence on Robert Silverberg who helped initiate the “ Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award“. This is givien every year at the World SF Convention to groundbreaking and important writers who have been more or less forgotten by modern audiences.
The winner(s) in 2004 were Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. As a married couple the wrote many stories under the pseudonom „Lewis Padgett“. But most Planet Stories readers already now them through Elak and Jorie.
The winner in 2005 was none other than LEIGH BRACKETT!! Most PS readers know her also.
So if 3 of these winners have already appeared in Planet Stories ,shouldn’t then the man who inspired this award also appear in Planet Stories.

Here is the „Cordwainer Smith“ Wiki link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer_Smith

So people, please read up on this man and give your opinions!!
You won’t be disappointed.

Take care.
Doug

Hi!
Has something gone wrong with the "Elak" delivery? Amazon.de just canceled my order. They said that it is not available??
Does this book even exist? Or does amazon have an overseas distribution problem?? Since Amazon.de doesn't charge postage it is cheaper for me to order through them instead of ordering back issues from you all directly. It would be also cheaper for me to order the new volumes directly from Amazon.de and save the postage all the way to Germany. But I figured that by subscribing I would help the series with "pre-order" sales. Will the later volumes also be delayed?

take care.
Doug

Hi!
The Llarn books are great fun.
someone mentioned "Maza of the moon" by klinein a previous post.
The book is great while it's sooo over the top1
It is of course dated, but that didn't impede my enjoyment last year when I read it!! I think that it holds up much better that the "Lensman" series by smith.
The Kane series by KEW is probably (IMHO) the 2nd greatest Sword and Sorcery series ever writeen. BUT!! The content is very ADULT!!
Lots of Andre´ Norton's earlier works are out of print. These are almost all Planetary Adventure stories. Lots of mutant tlelpathic animals, young protagonists, newly discovered planets with ancient civilizations ect. ect.
Perfect stuff for a series called Planet Stories..
Here are a few..

Sargasso of space.
Daybrak 2250 A.D.
Storm over Warlock.
Eye of the monster.
Secret of the Lost Race
Operation time Search (a fellow goes back in time and gets involved in the war between Atlantis and Mu!! :-)

Beast Master is sadly still in print!! The movie was good and of course and the book is so much better.

Well that's it for now! Gotta get back to work!!
BUT I STILL THINK THAT PROF: JAMESON AND THE ZOROMES ARE A GREAT CHOICE!! :-)
Take care.
Doug

Hi!
I just went and posted my review at Amazon.de (I'm a Buckeye abroad)
Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
I hope that it helps.
take care.
Doug

Here is my complete review of "The Secret of Sinharat"

Let me start off by saying that this is the first book review that i have ever written.. so cut me some slack! :-)

Paizo has taken a big chance here by attempting to introduce classic works of Adventure SF and Fantasy to a new/younger audience. And so far it seems to be paying off if the activity on the message boards is any indication.
I have a new subscription to the series and my first volume arrived today.
“The Secret of Sinharrat ( with “The People of the Talisman”) is probably Leigh Brackett’s most famous work or at least it features her most famous character “Eric John Stark”.
This is the 3rd edition I own of the book. I first discovered LB waaaaay back in the early 70’s when an older cousin of mine gave me a pile of the old “Ace Double” paperbacks. For those of you who don’t remember them these were a very long running series of 241 Science Fiction/Fantasy paperback series from Ace Books from the 1950’s up to the early 1970’s.
The contents were usually one short novel from a famous writer and one short novel from a newer writer. The novelty was that the 2 novels were not printed one after the other. You would read one novel and then flip the book over (which made the back cover the front cover) and read the next novel. So these were paperbacks that 2 different “Front covers”.
Anyways one of these caught my eye right off. On one side it showed a man dressed somewhat in barbarian fashion riding some sort of large reptile beast across a night time desert landscape while being pursued by other figures who were similarly mounted .
My 11 year old brain thought “Cool!”.
As I started to read it I became very excited when I realized that this was two novels set on a Mars that was very similar to the Mars/Barsoom of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
But after reading a few pages of the first novel I became kind of confused. The good guy was actually sort of a bad guy who is forced / black mailed into helping the law stop a planned uprising of the locals.
Eric John Stark was the first Anti-hero I ever came into contact with. He lives in a universe where it seems that at least all of the inner planets of the Solar System are habitable.
You have to understand that even into the 1950’s no one was 100% sure of the conditions that existed on the other planets. So the popular conceptions in the minds of many folks were

Mars is a dying desert world that is much older than ours.
Venus is a young dynamic tropical hothouse of a world that is younger than ours.
Mercury is hot as hell, doesn’t rotate on its axis and is probably only liveable at the terminator existing between the day and night sides.
This is the universe that Eric John Stark was born into. He is a mixture between Tarzan and Clint Eastwood’s “Man with no name”.
Stark was born on mercury in a mining colony where his parents worked as geologists. They were killed in a landslide and he was adopted as a baby and raised by the mercurian aborigines who are/were more or less an art of Neanderthal and given the name “N’Chaka” which means “He with no Tribe”
When he was 12 years old his tribe gets wiped by Terran miners and he is caged and tormented by the men who murdered his people. He gets raised and civilized by an agent of this universes UN interplanetary police.
We have some serious Tarzan parallels going on here! :-)
He spends the large part of his adult life as a mercenary helping the natives of Mars and Venus in their attempts to throw off the yoke of Earth.
This is some serious stuff here! This is not Burroughs romanticized Mars with its noble warlike inhabitants who are taken as they are and seen from the perspective of their own cultures.
This is Mars from the gutter up that has been exploited and “colonialized” by the Earth (white folks that is.). Imagine Barsoom going straight to hell after the big earth corporations show up and exploit the hell out of the place, keeping down the natives and basically treating them as 3rd class nuisances! We don’t see Mars from the eyes of its Ruling Class. We get a Mars from the perspective of its lower classes. These are people who are being screwed over by not just their own rulers but also the colonial powers from earth. LB’s Martians are cut throats, thieves and whores who we see from the context of our culture and not theirs. This is a sad, worn out, angry, brutal and cynical Mars. It’s not really a place you’d care to visit. And if you did bother to visit, the locals would cut your throat the first chance they got.

What is so great with Leigh Brackett is that her women are as tough as the men and maybe tougher.
If you have ever seen the old westerns by Howard Hawks; Rio Lobo, Rio Bravo and El Dorado starring John Wayne, you might have notice how tough and strong the female characters are. That’s not just because Hawks loved tough “dames”. Leigh Brackett was his favourite Screenwriter. She wrote the scripts to at least 4 Howard Hawks’s films starring John Wayne.
So what we have here is “Film noir” Science Fiction. The good guys aren’t really all that good. They are just good in comparison to the true villains.
Both novels included in this volume are 2 stark adventures the LB expanded to novel size. Both deal with Stark being forced into helping people against his own interests and better judgement. I won’t give too much away aside from saying that these are very adult stories. When I say “adult” I mean “adult” in an emotional sense. These are stories full of wonder that are set a SF universe that is not wonderful. The “ERBzine” website has a great article on this subject. Check it out. It is called “Colonial Barsoom”.
And did I mention that Eric John Stark is to my knowledge the first BLACK hero?
That’s right, he black! He was burned black by the searing rays of the sun over Mercury.
In the “Secret of Sinharat” one of the villains even refers to him as a”black ape”!
And big Hats off to Paizo for having the first cover art ever that doesn’t portray him as a white man.
I would also like to mention that the Paizo edition is a very nice book. Well bound, large format and with very thick covers. This will look great in my collection!

“The Secret of Sinharat” is the book for you if you love SF adventure where the wonder and adventure are matched with brilliant writing, great dialog and people who behave like real people.

Ok, Planet Stories readers! Do me a favor and head over to the link Doug just posted. Scroll all the way to the bottom until you get to the montage of images of cone-headed robots with tentacle arms.

Would you buy a novel in which every single character looked like that?

Take care.
Doug

I've been accumulating the Professor Jameson stories, and recently read the first of them. It's interesting, but I'm a little nervous what the audience might make of a band of interstellar adventurers that all look like modrons.

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3k.html

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page.
Take care.
Doug

I've been accumulating the Professor Jameson stories, and recently read the first of them. It's interesting, but I'm a little nervous what the audience might make of a band of interstellar adventurers that all look like modrons.

I hear the second story (Planet of the Double-Sun?) is quite compelling, so I have high hopes for the rest of the series.

This is exactly the sort of stuff I've been reading lately. My fingers smell like pulps and my apartment is filled with paper chips and flakes! :)

Planet of the Double Suns is great! It deals with ovelapping/parallel universes!
Take care.
Doug

Hi!
How about the Prof. Jameson series by Neil R. Jones?
These were written back in the 1930's and early 1940's.
They've only been reprinted/collected once. That was by Ace Books back in the late 1960's (I still have my copies!).
Prof. Jameson had his body (after his death.) placed in an artificial satellite orbiting the Earth. This was how he planned on keeping his corpse perfectly preserved for eternity.
Millions of years later he is still orbiting the (now dead) Earth where it is discovered by a "Zerome" ship. The "Zeromes" are a race of benevolent machine men. The were once normal biological beings. But they figured that machin bodies were better suited to explore the galaxy, so all the spacefaring "Zeromes" have volentarily abandoned their flesh and blood bodies in exchange for robot bodies. They discover Prof. Jamesons PERFECTLY PRESERVED corpse. They place his brain in a machine body and revive him. He decides he likes being a machine man and enjoys the company of the "Zeromes". So they go flying around the galaxy have great adventures and helping other beings to boot.
They stories have aged amazingly well and have a genuine sense of wonder about them.
I bet that the reprint right are fairly cheap! LOL
Here are a few Prof. Jameson links...

http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/jameson.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_R._Jones
http://www.meteor25.fsnet.co.uk/
http://davidszondy.com/future/robot/jameson.htm

Take care.
Doug

Favorite Returning character/s???

Nr.1: ME!!!!
Nr.2: Remo Williams
Nr.3: Tarzan
Nr.4: Doc Savage
Nr.5: John Carter
Nr.6: Agent Pendergast
Nr.7: Eric John Stark
Nr.8: Conan the Cimmerian
Nr.9: Solomon Kane
Nr.10 Luis Wu
Nr.11:David Innes
Nr.12: Carson Naper
Nr.13: Cthulhu

Take care.
Doug

Hi!
I only have two words to offer....

GRAVEYARD RATS!!!!

Take care.
Doug

Hi!
I'm 46 years old,
so names like Kuttner, Moore, Burroughs, Leiber, Weinbaum, Del Rey, Heinlein, Simak, Hamilton, Brackett, Campbell, Pohl, Anderson, Bradbury, Blish, Clarke, Silverberg, Ellison, Brown, Russell, Williamson, Smith ect. ect. were still in every book store back in the early 70's. Most of the stuff from the 30's, 40's and 50's was still around. so these guys were household names for SF fans. But those days are sadly gone. I read somewhere that media related SF and Fantasy has the lions share of the market. So if you guys need to utilize authors who are associated with gamming to introduce newer/youger readers to these great "old time" authors then go ahead by all means!
What wouldn't be a bad idea though is anthologies of Sword and Sorcery or Sword and Planet stories written by newer/younger writers using modern sensibilties.
I mean, for example, how would a young adult from our day and age react to a rigid culture like Burroughs described in his Barsoom series?
"What? I have to kill this guy and his entire extended family just because he might of had some unpure thoughts about the Princess?"

Take care.
Doug

Favorite Mars?

Burroughs Barsoom

Leigh Brackett's "Colonial Barsoom" stories.

Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

The Leigh Brackett pastiches by Lin Carter.

Moorcocks 3 Mars books.

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

Red Planet by Robert Heinlein

The Hall of the Martian Kings by John Varley (novelette)

Old Faithful by Raymond Z. Gallun (novelette)

Martian Odyssy by Stanly G. Weinbaum (short story)

The Martian Way by Isaac Asimov (novelette)

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (oops! soory, that's a record.)

Take care.
Doug

1. Have you purchased a Planet Stories novel or anthology yet? If so, which one(s)?

My Subscription has started with Brackett's Sinherat.
I've back ordered through amazon the C.L. Moore, Moorcock and Kuttner volumes.

2. What author in the Planet Stories line most interests you?

Leigh Brackett

3. Please list the following genres in the order you would prefer that we focus on in late 2008 and beyond:

Sword & Planet
Sword & Sorcery
Lost Worlds Tales
Space Opera
Science Fiction
"Weird" Fiction
Horror/Gothic Fantasy
Jungle Tales

4. What can I do to get you to buy more Planet Stories books?

Please, not too many books by newbie writers. I know that they deserve their chance, but a series titled "PLANET STORIES" can't wander too far from it's roots. I have a subscription, but if I (IMHO) receive too many duds then I'll cancel and stick to individual volumes. I figure that if I subscribe it will help the series get started and grow.

5. If we offer a monthly subscription with, say, a 30% discount off the cover price, would you consider subscribing?

WHAT!! 30%?? how come I'm only getting a lousy 20%???? :-)

Take care.
Doug

Hi!
I have a new subscription that begins with "The Secret of Sinherat".
Will i also receive a copy of the elak stories or do i have to order it extra?
Thanks and take care.
Doug

Hi!
I have another question.
I have no idea if some stories have more expensive "re-print rights" than others, but have you looked in the the series of KANE stories and novels written by Karl Edward Wagner? These are some of the most amazing Sword&Sorcery stories ever written. They are a fantastic mix of Sword&Sorcery,Horror and Super Science!!
Plus Kane is one of the most interesting/maddening "protaganists" ever written.
I'm overjoyed that you will also be reprinting O.A. Kline! Have you looked into his novel "Maza of the Moon". It is terribly dated in most ways, but it is still one of the most enjoyable books I've read in the past few years.
Who has the rights now for ERB's Venus series?
And I hope thet sales are good enough to keep this series going until you run out of authors to print!
Take care.
Doug

Hi!
I subscribed yesterday!!! Just haven't told my wife yet :-)
Anyways, I have a question.
Are you going to be mostly publishing reprints of "classic" matrial or will this series be more and more original stories?
I subscribed for the "Classic" books and not new material that is tied into some Roleplaying-universe. As long as I will be receiving "mostly" classic reprints I will be more than happy to keep my subscription running.
Have you thought of reprinting some of Lin Carter's books? Like the Thongor series? Carter's Sword & Sorcery/ Sword & Planet stories were always a little goofy, but still great fun.
What makes me sooooo happy with this series is that I hate to keep re-reading my old paperbacks from the 60's and 70's. They are in too good of shape to be damaging (but books are meant to be read and not just collected.). So now I have nice reading copies that'll also look great on my bookshelf!
Leigh Brackett needs to be exposed to a new genaration. Her sensibilities haven't become dated and so should still be very accessable to a newer/younger audience .
Sorry for rambling! :-)
Doug