Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 23:59:58 -0400
From: Ted White <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Judging a book by...
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Steve Smith wrote:

>  Mike B. wrote:
>
> > The "Laser Books" series all had covers done by Kelly Freas. They
> > were all done in the exact same format...a good thing since he had
> > to do something like 50 of them in one year. He still read each
> > story, and the cover was related, but the general layout of "scene
> > from story in background, main character's face in lower right
> > foreground" was used on all of them.
>
>  I remember talking to Kelly about these. He signed a contract for
>  70-some covers -- and *then* he discovered that the book quality was
>  uniformly ghodawful. He actually read the first few, but he quickly
>  settled on reading only enough to get an idea of one of the main
>  characters, and then putting it against an abstract or semi- abstract
>  background.
>
>  "Seeds of Change", by Tom Monteleone, Laser Books #0, was the only
>  book I know that was printed in a "limited edition" of 250,000. For
>  years, it was the bane of used SF dealers and buyers, as you'd
>  usually find at least one full shelf of them at a used book dealer.
>  I think I bounced my copy off a wall somewhere around page 2.

It was originally a promotional giveaway -- a *free* book.  Tons of them
were dumped on freebie tables at Worldcons in the '70s.  Since Tom had
signed a standard contract guarateeing royalties (ahahaha), and there
were no sales to generate royalties, they had to promise him the average
of the next six titles.  But I don't believe that even so he "earned
out" the advance.

Laser Books were the brainchild of Roger Elwood, demon anthologist of
the '70s.  He sold the idea to Harlequin, the romance publishers in
Canada.  But Roger was psychotic, and he self-destructed that
relationship.  I helped.  I forwarded his correspondence with me to
Harlequin's president.  Throw in sales which were never what Elwood had
led them to expect, and the line perished within a couple of years.

A few of them may be worth having.  R(ay) Faraday Nelson was proud of his.

--Ted White