At 04:44 AM 1/2/01, you wrote:
>While we may have an old measuring stick, maybe its an issue like brand
>recognition?
>Why is it we see so many CONAN pastiches or other REH pastiches?
Yes, there is brand recognition. But why did Conan get the brand and not
some other character? Why Howard and not, say, Lovecraft (who actually has
had more stories turned into movies than Howard, IIRC)?
>| Short story fiction is certainly different from novel fiction. But short
>| story fiction is alive and well. The expectations of the publishing
>field,
>| however, seem to have changed.
>
>The publishing field, from what I read in the newspapers, for the most part
>wants things that
>will sell well over 30,000 copies in hardback.
>
>Also, lets face it, reading is currently down in the USA, given television,
>video and now DVD.
I don't know how much reading might be down, but we published something
like 75,000 new books last year. The publishing field includes the giants
who need the big sellers, small presses, university presses, and
independent publishers or self-publishing authors. Some of these sources
still produce short story collections, and we have a fairly healthy SF
magazine industry. But we're not really seeing a healthy pulp adventure
industry. I know there are still some pulp writers out there, but they
aren't getting the attention that Howard and his contempories get.
Is it solely a matter of quality or aging? Is pulp a dish best served when
the author is dead?
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