Table of Contents, May 1985
This is the scanned Table of Contents for the issue, embedded as a PDF. It is searchable and includes all of the titles reviewed in the month. These issues are not available digitally yet, but most can be ordered by contacting the Locus offices. Locus-ToC-1985-05
ISSN-0047-4959
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Charles N. Brown
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Faren Miller
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Donna Burriston
MANAGING EDITOR
Dawn Atkins
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Norman Spinrad
Richard Curtis
Fritz Leiber
Debbie Notkin
Locus, ISSN-0047-4959, The Newspaper of the
Science Fiction Field, is published monthly by LOCUS
PUBLICATIONS. Editorial address: 34 Ridgewood
Lane, Oakland, CA 94611; telephone (415) 339-9196.
Please send all mail to Locus Publications, P.O. Box
13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Individual copies are $2.50. Individual subscriptions in
the U.S. are $24.00 for 12 issues, $45.00 for 24 issues
via second class mail. Individual subscriptions in Canada
are $26.00 for 12 issues, $49.00 for 24 issues via
second class mail. First class individual subscriptions
in the U.S. or Canada are $31.00 for 12 issues, $59.00
for 24 issues. Institutional subscriptions—the only ones
we bill—are $26.00 per calendar year in the U.S. by
second class mail, $28.00 per calendar year in Canada
by second class mail, or $33.00 per calendar year via
first class mail in the U.S. or Canada. We only accept
institutional subscriptions on a calendar year basis.
Individual overseas subscriptions are $26.00 for 12
issues, $49.00 for 24 issues via sea mail. Air mail individual
overseas subscriptions are $38.00 for 12 issues,
$72.00 for 24 issues. Overseas institutional subscriptions
are $28.00 per year for sea mail, or $40.00 per
year via air mail. Make all checks payable to Locus
Publications. All subscriptions, including Canadian,
are payable directly in U.S. funds only. When converting
from second class to first class delivery, please
convert all remaining issues on your present subscriptions
(75c per issue). The number after your name on
the mailing label is that of the last issue on your present
subscription. We do not send notices when subscriptions
are about to expire. If you change your address,
please notify us immediately. Second class mail is not
usually forwarded. It is either returned or destroyed.
We subtract one issue from your subscriptions for each
returned copy. We keep expired addresses on file for
one year, so tell us if your subscription is a renewal
or completely new.
British Subscription Agent
Fantast (Medway) Ltd.
P.O. Box 23, Upwell
Wisbech, CAMBS PE14 9BU
Australian Subscription Agent
Space Age Books
305-307 Swanston St.
Melbourne, 3000, Victoria
Japanese Subscription Agent
Takumi Shibano
700 Ninomiya Ninomiya-machi
Naka-gun Kanagawa-ken
259-01 Japan
Subscriptions accepted at current exchange rate.
Display advertising rates on request. Contact Donna
Burriston at (415) 339-3182.
We take no responsibility for unsolicited submissions.
Contents copyright © 1985 by Locus Publications.
Second class postage paid at Oakland, California.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Locus Publications,
P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Contents
Gibson Wins Philip K. Dick Award…p.1
1985 Hugo Nominations…………….. 1
Ace Announces Hardcovers, Promotions.1
Tim Powers: Ten Years a Pro………. 1
Contents…………………………..3
Editorial Matters…………. ……. 3
Brian Aldiss: the Music of Writing…4
Simon & Schuster Reorganized……… 4
Waldenbooks Expands Marketing…….. 4
1984 Bestsellers…………………. 4
AussieCon Update…………………. 4
Market Notes……………………… 4
Longhorn Sinks…………………….5
Asimov & EMPIRE……………………5
Electronic Disch Pays Of f…….. ….5
Publishing Notes…………………. 5
Announcements…………. …………5
Book Notes……………………….. 5
New Editor of The Twilight Zon e…..5
People & Publishing………………. 7
Agent’s Corner, Richard Curtis…… 9
Moons & Stars & Stuff, Fritz Leiber.11
Locus Looks at Books, Faren Miller..13
Locus Looks at More Books,
Debbie Notkin………………. 15
Locus Looks at French Books,
Pascal J. Thomas……… …… 19
Report from France, Pascal Thomas…22
SF in Poland, Piotr Kasprowski……24
Norwescon 8 Report, C.N. Brown &
Dawn Atkins………………… 28
Convention Listings……….. …… 32
Books Received— March…………….36
Magazines Received— March……….. 41
Classified Ad s ……….. …………44
Bestseller Lists………………… 47
Locus Letters………… …………48
Obituaries: Larry T. Shaw,
Leo R. Summers, J.W. Schutz….48
Ad Index…. ……………………. 54
ISSUE #292 • VOL. 18, NO. 5 • MAY 1985 Mailing date: April 18,1985
The recent A ssociation
of American
Publishers meeting
in Palm Springs had
some bad news for
book p e ople. The
United States ranks
49th in world literacy;
20 to 27 million
Americans are
functionally illiterate,
45 to 49 marg
i nally illiterate,
and the rate grows
at 2.25 million per
year. By 1990, there will be 50 m i l lion
VCRs out there and stores will
push more tapes than books. Hang in
there, guys! We need you.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
We’ve d e c i d e d to bow to e normous
pressure (at least three letters and an
anonymous phone call) and put the first
class and overseas copies in envelopes.
It adds an ounce plus the envelope cost
to first class, or $3.00 per year. We
will raise the rate $2.00 next issue.
The recent changes in overseas postage
have hit us extremely hard, and
foreign air mail rates will have to go
way up. We’re proud of our foreign
coverage and are even willing to subsidize
foreign subscriptions somewhat,
but an air mail copy to Australia now
costs the same in postage as the subscription
price! Starting next month,
the air mail rate to Europe and South
A m e r i c a w i l l be $45.00 per year or
$85.00 for two years. Australia, Asia,
and Africa will be $50.00 for one year
or $95.00 for two. Yes, I know these
are prohibitive prices, but we’re still
subsidizing $7.00 per year postage.
These new rates will be published in
the next issue, but we’ll accept renewals
or new subs at the old rates up to
June 1. After that, all subs will be
prorated.
DONNING
Bob Friedman of Donning called last
month and was upset over the story we
ran about Donning returning purchased
books to a u t h o r s and r e m a i n d e r i n g
others. He was particularly upset over
the comment that Donning should not be
considered a market. According to him,
Donning is still actively looking for
properties in the field, particularly
in the graphics area. There’s a book
by Charles de Lint due in March (it
apparently hasn’t appeared yet) and a
deluxe Harlan Ellison book due. It’s
quite true they returned older books
bought by Hank Stine to the authors and
remaindered others, but according to
Friedman, other books will be reprinted
and they hope to do more titles in the
future.
PUBLISHING
The Ace story and the Simon & Schuster
story have an important theme in
common. In some types of trade publishing
(and in science fiction in
particular) there is no difference in
the audience for hardcovers or paperbacks.
The lines between trade and
mass market publishing have blurred,
and no mass market company can survive
unless it can offer its own hardcover
editions. The opposite is also true,
and no hardcover trade house doing fiction
can afford not to have a paperback
outlet. McGraw-Hill recently announced
its first mass market paperback, and
Pinnacle has announced a hardcover
line. Houghton-Mifflin has a new merchandising
program which uses mass
market techniques to sell hardcovers,
and Bantam has had an incredible number
of hardcover bestsellers by pushing
them as if they were paperbacks.
CORRECTIONS
As usual, there were several errors
in the last issue. On the Locus bestseller
list, ENDER’S GAME by Orson
Scott Card was credited to Bluejay
instead of Tor; it’s definitely a Tor
book. Betsy W o l l h e i m was typoed into
Betsy Williams on page 54, and Lillian
Stewart Carl had her middle name misspelled
on page 4. The book with the
favorable review on page 11 was FISKADO
RO by Denis Johnson (Knopf). These
are the only ones we caught so far.
There are probably others — especially
in the Russian and Czechoslovakian
sections. The Polish and French this
issue was bad enough.
We have also been misspelling the
name of Warner editor Brian Thomsen
without even knowing it. Unlike authors,
he was too polite to complain.
In the March issue’s story on LAcon
donations, we incorrectly stated that
the committee gave $10,000 to NESFA.
The money was actually an investment in
a NESFA real estate trust, which will
earn LAcon interest and eventual repayment.
LAcon did give a direct donation
of $2,000 to the NESFA building fund.
I don’t think we’re much worse off in
the typo department than we used to be,
except we’re doing twice as much material.
Tom Whitmore and Debbie Notkin
have joined the staff as proofreaders,
but they can’t be blamed for missing
items — especially since we keep rewriting
up to the last minute.
MAILING
Mailing help on the April issue was
furnished by Pat Murphy, Mike Friedrich,
Mikey Roessner-Herman, Lisa Goldstein,
Carol Day, Aaron Buchanan, plus
Donna and Dawn. Thank you all.
— C.N. Brown
LOCUS May 1985 / 3
Photo by Rick Hawes
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Charles N. Brown
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Faren Miller
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Donna Burriston
MANAGING EDITOR
Dawn Atkins
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Norman Spinrad
Richard Curtis
Fritz Leiber
Debbie Notkin
Locus, ISSN-0047-4959, The Newspaper of the
Science Fiction Field, is published monthly by LOCUS
PUBLICATIONS. Editorial address: 34 Ridgewood
Lane, Oakland, CA 94611; telephone (415) 339-9196.
Please send all mail to Locus Publications, P.O. Box
13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Individual copies are $2.50. Individual subscriptions in
the U.S. are $24.00 for 12 issues, $45.00 for 24 issues
via second class mail. Individual subscriptions in Canada
are $26.00 for 12 issues, $49.00 for 24 issues via
second class mail. First class individual subscriptions
in the U.S. or Canada are $31.00 for 12 issues, $59.00
for 24 issues. Institutional subscriptions—the only ones
we bill—are $26.00 per calendar year in the U.S. by
second class mail, $28.00 per calendar year in Canada
by second class mail, or $33.00 per calendar year via
first class mail in the U.S. or Canada. We only accept
institutional subscriptions on a calendar year basis.
Individual overseas subscriptions are $26.00 for 12
issues, $49.00 for 24 issues via sea mail. Air mail individual
overseas subscriptions are $38.00 for 12 issues,
$72.00 for 24 issues. Overseas institutional subscriptions
are $28.00 per year for sea mail, or $40.00 per
year via air mail. Make all checks payable to Locus
Publications. All subscriptions, including Canadian,
are payable directly in U.S. funds only. When converting
from second class to first class delivery, please
convert all remaining issues on your present subscriptions
(75c per issue). The number after your name on
the mailing label is that of the last issue on your present
subscription. We do not send notices when subscriptions
are about to expire. If you change your address,
please notify us immediately. Second class mail is not
usually forwarded. It is either returned or destroyed.
We subtract one issue from your subscriptions for each
returned copy. We keep expired addresses on file for
one year, so tell us if your subscription is a renewal
or completely new.
British Subscription Agent
Fantast (Medway) Ltd.
P.O. Box 23, Upwell
Wisbech, CAMBS PE14 9BU
Australian Subscription Agent
Space Age Books
305-307 Swanston St.
Melbourne, 3000, Victoria
Japanese Subscription Agent
Takumi Shibano
700 Ninomiya Ninomiya-machi
Naka-gun Kanagawa-ken
259-01 Japan
Subscriptions accepted at current exchange rate.
Display advertising rates on request. Contact Donna
Burriston at (415) 339-3182.
We take no responsibility for unsolicited submissions.
Contents copyright © 1985 by Locus Publications.
Second class postage paid at Oakland, California.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Locus Publications,
P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661.
Contents
Gibson Wins Philip K. Dick Award…p.1
1985 Hugo Nominations…………….. 1
Ace Announces Hardcovers, Promotions.1
Tim Powers: Ten Years a Pro………. 1
Contents…………………………..3
Editorial Matters…………. ……. 3
Brian Aldiss: the Music of Writing…4
Simon & Schuster Reorganized……… 4
Waldenbooks Expands Marketing…….. 4
1984 Bestsellers…………………. 4
AussieCon Update…………………. 4
Market Notes……………………… 4
Longhorn Sinks…………………….5
Asimov & EMPIRE……………………5
Electronic Disch Pays Of f…….. ….5
Publishing Notes…………………. 5
Announcements…………. …………5
Book Notes……………………….. 5
New Editor of The Twilight Zon e…..5
People & Publishing………………. 7
Agent’s Corner, Richard Curtis…… 9
Moons & Stars & Stuff, Fritz Leiber.11
Locus Looks at Books, Faren Miller..13
Locus Looks at More Books,
Debbie Notkin………………. 15
Locus Looks at French Books,
Pascal J. Thomas……… …… 19
Report from France, Pascal Thomas…22
SF in Poland, Piotr Kasprowski……24
Norwescon 8 Report, C.N. Brown &
Dawn Atkins………………… 28
Convention Listings……….. …… 32
Books Received— March…………….36
Magazines Received— March……….. 41
Classified Ad s ……….. …………44
Bestseller Lists………………… 47
Locus Letters………… …………48
Obituaries: Larry T. Shaw,
Leo R. Summers, J.W. Schutz….48
Ad Index…. ……………………. 54
ISSUE #292 • VOL. 18, NO. 5 • MAY 1985 Mailing date: April 18,1985
The recent A ssociation
of American
Publishers meeting
in Palm Springs had
some bad news for
book p e ople. The
United States ranks
49th in world literacy;
20 to 27 million
Americans are
functionally illiterate,
45 to 49 marg
i nally illiterate,
and the rate grows
at 2.25 million per
year. By 1990, there will be 50 m i l lion
VCRs out there and stores will
push more tapes than books. Hang in
there, guys! We need you.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
We’ve d e c i d e d to bow to e normous
pressure (at least three letters and an
anonymous phone call) and put the first
class and overseas copies in envelopes.
It adds an ounce plus the envelope cost
to first class, or $3.00 per year. We
will raise the rate $2.00 next issue.
The recent changes in overseas postage
have hit us extremely hard, and
foreign air mail rates will have to go
way up. We’re proud of our foreign
coverage and are even willing to subsidize
foreign subscriptions somewhat,
but an air mail copy to Australia now
costs the same in postage as the subscription
price! Starting next month,
the air mail rate to Europe and South
A m e r i c a w i l l be $45.00 per year or
$85.00 for two years. Australia, Asia,
and Africa will be $50.00 for one year
or $95.00 for two. Yes, I know these
are prohibitive prices, but we’re still
subsidizing $7.00 per year postage.
These new rates will be published in
the next issue, but we’ll accept renewals
or new subs at the old rates up to
June 1. After that, all subs will be
prorated.
DONNING
Bob Friedman of Donning called last
month and was upset over the story we
ran about Donning returning purchased
books to a u t h o r s and r e m a i n d e r i n g
others. He was particularly upset over
the comment that Donning should not be
considered a market. According to him,
Donning is still actively looking for
properties in the field, particularly
in the graphics area. There’s a book
by Charles de Lint due in March (it
apparently hasn’t appeared yet) and a
deluxe Harlan Ellison book due. It’s
quite true they returned older books
bought by Hank Stine to the authors and
remaindered others, but according to
Friedman, other books will be reprinted
and they hope to do more titles in the
future.
PUBLISHING
The Ace story and the Simon & Schuster
story have an important theme in
common. In some types of trade publishing
(and in science fiction in
particular) there is no difference in
the audience for hardcovers or paperbacks.
The lines between trade and
mass market publishing have blurred,
and no mass market company can survive
unless it can offer its own hardcover
editions. The opposite is also true,
and no hardcover trade house doing fiction
can afford not to have a paperback
outlet. McGraw-Hill recently announced
its first mass market paperback, and
Pinnacle has announced a hardcover
line. Houghton-Mifflin has a new merchandising
program which uses mass
market techniques to sell hardcovers,
and Bantam has had an incredible number
of hardcover bestsellers by pushing
them as if they were paperbacks.
CORRECTIONS
As usual, there were several errors
in the last issue. On the Locus bestseller
list, ENDER’S GAME by Orson
Scott Card was credited to Bluejay
instead of Tor; it’s definitely a Tor
book. Betsy W o l l h e i m was typoed into
Betsy Williams on page 54, and Lillian
Stewart Carl had her middle name misspelled
on page 4. The book with the
favorable review on page 11 was FISKADO
RO by Denis Johnson (Knopf). These
are the only ones we caught so far.
There are probably others — especially
in the Russian and Czechoslovakian
sections. The Polish and French this
issue was bad enough.
We have also been misspelling the
name of Warner editor Brian Thomsen
without even knowing it. Unlike authors,
he was too polite to complain.
In the March issue’s story on LAcon
donations, we incorrectly stated that
the committee gave $10,000 to NESFA.
The money was actually an investment in
a NESFA real estate trust, which will
earn LAcon interest and eventual repayment.
LAcon did give a direct donation
of $2,000 to the NESFA building fund.
I don’t think we’re much worse off in
the typo department than we used to be,
except we’re doing twice as much material.
Tom Whitmore and Debbie Notkin
have joined the staff as proofreaders,
but they can’t be blamed for missing
items — especially since we keep rewriting
up to the last minute.
MAILING
Mailing help on the April issue was
furnished by Pat Murphy, Mike Friedrich,
Mikey Roessner-Herman, Lisa Goldstein,
Carol Day, Aaron Buchanan, plus
Donna and Dawn. Thank you all.
— C.N. Brown
LOCUS May 1985 / 3
Photo by Rick Hawes
