(ReacTor) When Did SFF Get Too Big?

Post by James Nicoll
When Did SFF Get Too Big?
Is it possible to pinpoint the moment when readers stopped being able
to keep up with their favorite genres?
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/

So, should all SFF writers become government registered and the
government decide what books are worthy to publish ?

BTW, I read about 100 books a year. Not all are SFF.

Lynn

Ahasuerus

2024-09-27 00:02:52 UTC

On 9/26/2024 4:30 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
[snip]

So, should all SFF writers become government registered [snip]

How else would ISFDB editors know whether the latest "Andrew Smith"
story was written by:

Andrew Smith - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179138
Andrew Smith (I) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179140
Andrew Smith (II) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179139
Andrew Smith (III) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?213355
Andrew Smith (IV) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179142
Andrew Smith (V) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179141
Andrew Smith (VI) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?261371
Andrew Smith (VII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?280123
or Andrew Smith (VIII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?309023

?!

I knew everything that was being published and read everything
up until the 1940s

makes a good deal of sense. As I wrote back in March, there were only 3
stable science fiction monthlies between mid-1930 and mid-1938:
*Amazing*, *Astounding* and *Wonder* (*Thrilling Wonder* after 1936.)

Things began to change in mid-1938 with the launch of *Marvel* and then
the Golden Age started in 1939: *Planet Stories*, *Captain Future*,
*Startling Stories*, *Dynamic*, *Famous Fantastic Mysteries*, *Science
Fiction*/*Future Fiction*, *Strange Stories*, *Uncanny Tales*, *Marvel
Science Stories*, *Fantastic Adventures*, *Science Fiction Quarterly*,
*Super Science Stories*, *Astonishing Stories*, *Cosmic Stories*,
*Fantastic Novels*, *Stirring Science Stories*, *Unknown*.

Even if you skipped the reprints (some magazines specialized in
reprints), there was a significant amount of SF content being published
every month.

Lynn McGuire

2024-09-27 02:06:57 UTC

Post by Ahasuerus
[snip]

So, should all SFF writers become government registered [snip]

How else would ISFDB editors know whether the latest "Andrew Smith"
Andrew Smith - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179138
Andrew Smith (I) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179140
Andrew Smith (II) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179139
Andrew Smith (III) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?213355
Andrew Smith (IV) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179142
Andrew Smith (V) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179141
Andrew Smith (VI) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?261371
Andrew Smith (VII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?280123
or Andrew Smith (VIII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?309023
?!

I knew everything that was being published and read everything
up until the 1940s

makes a good deal of sense. As I wrote back in March, there were only 3
*Amazing*, *Astounding* and *Wonder* (*Thrilling Wonder* after 1936.)
Things began to change in mid-1938 with the launch of *Marvel* and then
the Golden Age started in 1939: *Planet Stories*, *Captain Future*,
*Startling Stories*, *Dynamic*, *Famous Fantastic Mysteries*, *Science
Fiction*/*Future Fiction*, *Strange Stories*, *Uncanny Tales*, *Marvel
Science Stories*, *Fantastic Adventures*, *Science Fiction Quarterly*,
*Super Science Stories*, *Astonishing Stories*, *Cosmic Stories*,
*Fantastic Novels*, *Stirring Science Stories*, *Unknown*.
Even if you skipped the reprints (some magazines specialized in
reprints), there was a significant amount of SF content being published
every month.

When the internet came out, fan fiction went wild and is still wild.
Plus quite a few books were published as freeware on the intertubes then
published on dead trees for cash dollars.

When ebooks came out, the amount of SFF probably quadrupled due to the
self publishing.

Lynn

pyotr filipivich

2024-09-27 15:23:57 UTC

I knew everything that was being published and read everything
up until the 1940s

makes a good deal of sense.

It also covers not only SFF, but just about every category of
publication these days, especially technical papers.

--
pyotr filipivich
This Week's Panel: Us & Them - Eliminating Them.
Next Month's Panel: Having eliminated the old Them(tm)
Selecting who insufficiently Woke(tm) as to serve as the new Them(tm)

Scott Dorsey

2024-09-27 18:21:12 UTC

Post by Ahasuerus
[snip]

So, should all SFF writers become government registered [snip]

There is only one real Andrew Smith and he is a positronic robot.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Charles Packer

2024-10-02 07:27:56 UTC

I knew everything that was being published and read everything up
until the 1940s

Looking at the Google Ngram for the category English Fiction
(using "planet" as a proxy for SF) I see a distinct bump at 1940.

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?
content=planet&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=en-
fiction&smoothing=0&case_insensitive=false

Shortened: https://tinyurl.com/c67kwdj2

Could that be explained by what you have listed? Then I wonder
what the bump at 1930 is.

James Nicoll

2024-10-02 13:27:41 UTC

Post by Charles Packer

I knew everything that was being published and read everything up
until the 1940s

Looking at the Google Ngram for the category English Fiction
(using "planet" as a proxy for SF) I see a distinct bump at 1940.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?
content=planet&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=en-
fiction&smoothing=0&case_insensitive=false
Shortened: https://tinyurl.com/c67kwdj2
Could that be explained by what you have listed? Then I wonder
what the bump at 1930 is.

Pluto was discovered in February 1930.

Ahasuerus

2024-10-02 14:36:27 UTC

Post by Charles Packer

I knew everything that was being published and read everything up
until the 1940s

Looking at the Google Ngram for the category English Fiction
(using "planet" as a proxy for SF) I see a distinct bump at 1940.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?
content=planet&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=en-
fiction&smoothing=0&case_insensitive=false
Shortened: https://tinyurl.com/c67kwdj2
Could that be explained by what you have listed? Then I wonder
what the bump at 1930 is.

It may be related to the timeline of the Gernsback era:

1926, April: _Amazing_
1929, June: _Science Wonder_
1929, July: _Air Wonder_
1930, January: _Astounding_
1930, June: _Air Wonder_ and _Science Wonder_ merge to become _Wonder
Stories_, which becomes _Thrilling Wonder Stories_ in August 1936

The peak during the early 1950s may be related to the explosion in the
number of SF digests in 1953.

Joy Beeson

2024-09-29 01:33:22 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/

My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.

Some people the same age as me find writing exhausting because their
schools used pencils or ballpoints for their penmanship exercises, and
they learned to engrave their writing, pressing hard enough to make
fifteen carbons.

If I pressed too hard while writing, I broke my pen point and had to
spend two cents of my candy money to buy another one.

I've been addicted to keyboards for well over six decades, but I can
still jot down a legible note whenever I please. And I please nearly
every day. Spouse consideres writing his name in a guestbook an
intolerable chore.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

Cryptoengineer

2024-09-29 02:45:51 UTC

Post by James Nicoll
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/

My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.

The inkwells were used in the days of dip pens. In the late 60s, I was
probably in 4th grade when we graduated to fountain pens. Since they
didn't need to be constantly reloaded with ink, the desk inkwell became
obsolete.

pt

Scott Dorsey

2024-09-29 16:28:06 UTC

Post by Cryptoengineer

Post by James Nicoll
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/

My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.

This is good. Too many kids would not keep the ink where it belonged but
would instead use fountain pens to squirt one another in the face.

Post by Cryptoengineer
The inkwells were used in the days of dip pens. In the late 60s, I was
probably in 4th grade when we graduated to fountain pens. Since they
didn't need to be constantly reloaded with ink, the desk inkwell became
obsolete.

I never used a dip pen except in art class, but I can see it would have
major advantages over fountain pens with bladders that could be used to
squirt people with.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Ted Nolan <tednolan>

2024-09-29 17:34:17 UTC

Post by Scott Dorsey

Post by Cryptoengineer

Post by James Nicoll
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/

My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.

This is good. Too many kids would not keep the ink where it belonged but
would instead use fountain pens to squirt one another in the face.

I never used a dip pen except in art class, but I can see it would have
major advantages over fountain pens with bladders that could be used to
squirt people with.

However, pigtails.

--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

Dimensional Traveler

2024-09-30 02:40:42 UTC