Once upon a time, a year ago last summer, to be more specific, I had
money to burn, but rather than burn it, I decided to launch an attack
upon the fantasy-loving public in the form of a fan magazine. You've
guessed it--the result was none other than THE FANTASY FAN. I placed
enough capital in the venture to start it off. Needless to say, I
was disappointed with the results, as far as circulation goes--it's
always that way. Inexperience with the publishing game allows for
pretty pictures of people just dying to send in their dollars to
your new magazine, but the cold facts certainly throw ice-water on
air-castles. Experience shows that a publisher must fight for every
subscription. It is filled with disappointments and hard knocks. After
all, magazines are luxuries, particularly fiction magazines, and even
more particularly fan magazines--and people can't afford luxuries
during times when they can just about secure money enough to live on.
Fantastic fiction magazines have never been huge successes with the
general public, whose average intelligence is that of a moron. The
lovers of fantasy have a higher type of intellect, and are therefore
very few in number. I doubt that there are 150,000 people in this
country of 125,000,000 who can really appreciate the science and weird
fiction that is published in contemporary magazines. They are what you
call 'class' publications. And not one reader in five hundred of these
fantasy magazines is the least bit interested in the "fan" angle--but
those of them that are are loyal to the last. Each of them is worth
fifty ordinary readers. They are the only ones that are interested
in the fan magazines, so you can see why the aforementioned fan
magazines will never boast of circulations comparing with _Liberty_
or the _Saturday Evening Post_ or pay $500 for a cover illustration.
Therefore, the only way to keep fan magazines is to secure every
available _active_ fan, those rare specimens, and keep them together in
one big family. Of course, a few more spring up every here and there
when otherwise normal people discover that there _is_ such a thing as
fantasy fiction and fan magazines.
What I started out to say was that I had money to burn when I organized
THE FANTASY FAN and didn't mind it running in the red for a year. And
so it has. And so it continues. I kept putting money in, and putting
money in, never taking a cent out--never regretting the loss (nor do
I today, nor consider it loss). I have enjoyed sacrificing hundreds
of dollars (and that's not sarcasm) and devoting much of my time to
gathering and assorting material for each issue.
But--and here's the reason for all this quibbling--domestic
circumstances now prevent from taking any more money from my own pocket
to donate to the cause, and the only way that THE FANTASY FAN can
continue publication is to pay for itself. Of course, the circulation
has gone up way past the mark where it half pays for the issue,
certain months--due to advertising in Wonder Stories Science Fiction
Swap Column under cover and the mention that Farnsworth Wright gave
THE FANTASY FAN is in the Eyrie in the September 1934 issue of Weird
Tales, not to speak of the co-operation of the readers we already
had--but that is not enough. Now, my printer is a very nice fellow and
prints THE FANTASY FAN for a very low price that cannot be duplicated
anywhere, and it really does not cost so much to run TFF, when compared
to the more professional magazines. I can guarantee you one thing,
though: if every reader we now have would subscribe (if he has not
already done so) and secure at least one new subscriber, we could
continue monthly publication indefinitely.
So, if you really like our little publication, will you do your best to
help bring in the subscriptions? The next issue will be published in
anywhere from three weeks to two months, depending entirely upon cash
receipts. And here is an amazing fact--every dollar sent in actually
brings the next issue _days_ nearer publication. What do you say?
Wouldn't you hate to see THE FANTASY FAN break off publication, and
right in the middle of Lovecraft's article, too? I know I would. It's
become one of the family with me and if anything should happen to it, I
believe I'd put a crepe on the door.
Your Sincere Friend,
THE EDITOR
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