Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
The market for SF was very limited in those days: 2-3 magazines and essentially zero books. In those early days the editors valued high concept "scientific" ideas and scenarios over story. A lot of the same writers putting out the "clunky" scientifiction pulps for Amazing were also doing much better in other genres.
SF has long been constrained by the gatekeepers' preconceptions and prejudices. Even the best of editors--Campbell, Boucher, etc--had biases and expectations that make modern readers roll their eyes. Things like "SF is for boys and they won't buy stories from girls" or the near universality of two-fisted east coast WASP protagonists.
I'd say it's a tribute to the writers that so many of their stories remain relevant after a century of social change, considering the editorial constraints they faced.
(One point that is virtually universal among indie authors is the matter of control. Over the decades their lack of control over the finished product has chaffed even more than the predatory contract terms; the contracts being universally bad, while the quality and quantity of gatekeeper support was essentially random luck.)
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Most old Sci Fi was short stories back in the day I think like you said and of course it didn't pay very well either from what I understand. a penny or two a word which meant that the writer's had to keep on typing away in order to make enough money to survive (if they could make a living just writing). Dr. Asimov was a college chemistry professor back when he did a lot of his early writing. So you had writers who didn't make a of of money, slow typewriters and writers who had to have day jobs to make ends meet.