Amazing Stories

''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances in other magazines, including some published by Gernsback, but ''Amazing'' helped define and launch a new genre of pulp fiction.

As of 2018, ''Amazing'' has been published, with some interruptions, for 92 years, going through a half-dozen owners and many editors as it struggled to be profitable. Gernsback was forced into bankruptcy and lost control of the magazine in 1929. In 1938 it was purchased by Ziff-Davis, who hired Raymond A. Palmer as editor. Palmer made the magazine successful though it was not regarded as a quality magazine within the science fiction community. In the late 1940s ''Amazing'' presented as fact stories about the Shaver Mystery, a lurid mythos that explained accidents and disaster as the work of robots named deros, which led to dramatically increased circulation but widespread ridicule. ''Amazing'' switched to a digest size format in 1953, shortly before the end of the pulp-magazine era. It was sold to Sol Cohen's Universal Publishing Company in 1965, which filled it with reprinted stories but did not pay a reprint fee to the authors, creating a conflict with the newly formed Science Fiction Writers of America. Ted White took over as editor in 1969, eliminated the reprints and made the magazine respected again: ''Amazing'' was nominated for the prestigious Hugo Award three times during his tenure in the 1970s. Several other owners attempted to create a modern incarnation of the magazine in the following decades, but publication was suspended after the March 2005 issue. A new incarnation appeared in July 2012 as an online magazine. Print publication resumed with the Fall 2018 issue.

Gernsback's initial editorial approach was to blend instruction with entertainment; he believed science fiction could educate readers. His audience rapidly showed a preference for implausible adventures, and the movement away from Gernsback's idealism accelerated when the magazine changed hands in 1929. Despite this, Gernsback had an enormous impact on the field: the creation of a specialist magazine for science fiction spawned an entire genre publishing industry. The letter columns in ''Amazing'', where fans could make contact with each other, led to the formation of science fiction fandom, which in turn had a strong influence on the development of the field. Writers whose first story was published in the magazine include John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Howard Fast, Ursula K. Le Guin, Roger Zelazny, and Thomas M. Disch. Overall, though, ''Amazing'' itself was rarely an influential magazine within the genre after the 1920s. Some critics have commented that by "ghettoizing" science fiction, Gernsback harmed its literary growth, but this viewpoint has been countered by the argument that science fiction needed an independent market to develop in to reach its potential.

Origins

By the end of the 19th century, stories centered on scientific inventions, and stories set in the future, were appearing regularly in popular fiction magazines. The market for short stories lent itself to tales of invention in the tradition of Jules Verne.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 7. Magazines such as ''Munsey's Magazine'' and '' The Argosy'', launched in 1889 and 1896 respectively, carried a few science fiction stories each year. Some upmarket "slick" magazines such as ''McClure's'', which paid well and were aimed at a more literary audience, also carried scientific stories, but by the early years of the 20th century, science fiction (though it was not yet called that) was appearing more often in the pulp magazines than in the slicks.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 21–25.Nicholls, Peter, "Pulp Magazines", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of SF'', p. 979.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 155.

In 1908, Hugo Gernsback published the first issue of ''Modern Electrics'', a magazine aimed at the scientific hobbyist. It was an immediate success, and Gernsback began to include articles on imaginative uses of science, such as "Wireless on Saturn" (December 1908).Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 28–29. In April 1911, Gernsback began the serialization of his science fiction novel, ''Ralph 124C 41+'', but in 1913 he sold his interest in the magazine to his partner and launched a new magazine, '' Electrical Experimenter'', which soon began to publish scientific fiction. In 1920 Gernsback retitled the magazine ''Science and Invention'', and through the early 1920s he published much scientific fiction in its pages, along with non-fiction scientific articles.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 29–35.

Gernsback had started another magazine called ''Practical Electrics'' in 1921. In 1924, he changed its name to ''The Experimenter'',Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 48–49. and sent a letter to 25,000 people to gauge interest in the possibility of a magazine devoted to scientific fiction; in his words, "the response was such that the idea was given up for two years."Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 47. However, in 1926 he decided to go ahead, and ceased publication of ''The Experimenter'' to make room in his publishing schedule for a new magazine. The editor of ''The Experimenter'', T. O'Conor Sloane, became the editor of ''Amazing Stories''. The first issue appeared on 10 March 1926, with a cover date of April 1926.

Publishing history

1920s

Initially the magazine focused on reprints; the first original story was "The Man From the Atom ''(Sequel)''" by
G. Peyton Wertenbaker in the May 1926 issue.
In the August issue, new stories (still a minority) were noted with an asterisk in the table of contents.
The editorial work was largely done by Sloane, but Gernsback retained final say over the fiction content. Two consultants, Conrad A. Brandt and Wilbur C. Whitehead, were hired to help find fiction to reprint. Frank R. Paul, who had worked with Gernsback as early as 1914, became the cover artist; Paul had produced many illustrations for the fiction in ''The Electrical Experimenter''. ''Amazing'' was issued in the large bedsheet format, 8.5 × 11.75 in (216 × 298 mm), the same size as the technical magazines. It was an immediate success and by the following March reached a circulation of 150,000.
Gernsback saw there was an enthusiastic readership for "scientifiction" (the term "science fiction" had not yet been coined), and in 1927 started a Discussions section and issued ''Amazing Stories Annual''. The annual sold out, and in January 1928, Gernsback launched a quarterly magazine, '' Amazing Stories Quarterly'', as a regular companion to ''Amazing''. It continued on a fairly regular schedule for 22 issues.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 51–54.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 238.
Gernsback was slow to pay his authors and creditors; the extent of his investments limited his liquidity. On 20 February 1929 his printer and paper supplier opened bankruptcy proceedings against him. "Experimenter Publishing Co., Inc., 230 Fifth Avenue – Liabilities approximately $500,000, assets not stated. Principal creditors listed are Art Color Printing Co., Dunellen, N.J., $152,908; Bulkley Dunton Co., $154,406 ..."The bankruptcy is described in detail in Tom Perry, "An Amazing Story: Experiment in Bankruptcy" in ''Amazing Science Fiction'' vol. 51, no. 3 (May 1978), p. 161. It has been suggested that Bernarr Macfadden, another magazine publisher, maneuvered to force the bankruptcy because Gernsback would not sell his titles to Macfadden, but this is unproven.del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 47.Brian Stableford, "Amazing Stories", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of SF'', pp. 25–26. Experimenter Publishing did not file any defence and was declared bankrupt by default on 6 March 1929; ''Amazing'' survived with its existing staff, but Hugo and his brother, Sidney, were forced out as directors. Arthur H. Lynch took over as editor-in-chief, though Sloane continued to have effective control of the magazine's contents. The receivers, Irving Trust, sold the magazine to Bergan A. Mackinnon on 3 April 1929.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 63–64.

1930s

In August 1931, ''Amazing'' was acquired by Teck Publications, a subsidiary of Bernarr Macfadden's Macfadden Publications.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 76. "Teck Publishing Corp. J Schultz. 522 5th Av. $10,000" Joseph Schultz was the attorney for Macfadden Publications, Inc. Macfadden's deep pockets helped insulate ''Amazing'' from the financial strain caused by the Great Depression.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 77. The schedule of ''Amazing Stories Quarterly'' began to slip, but ''Amazing'' did not miss an issue in the early 1930s. However, it became unprofitable to publish over the next few years. Circulation dropped to little more than 25,000 in 1934, and in October 1935 it switched to bimonthly (publishing every other month).Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 112–116.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 85.

By 1938, with ''Amazing'''s circulation down to only 15,000, Teck Publications was having financial problems. In January 1938 Ziff-Davis took over the magazine and shortly thereafter moved production to Chicago; the April issue was assembled by Sloane but published by Ziff-Davis. Bernard Davis, who ran Ziff-Davis's editorial department, attempted to hire Roger Sherman Hoar as editor; Hoar turned down the job but suggested Raymond A. Palmer, an active local science fiction fan. Palmer was hired that February, taking over editorial duties with the June 1938 issue. Ziff-Davis launched '' Fantastic Adventures'', a fantasy companion to ''Amazing'', in May 1939, also under Palmer's editorship.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 143–144. Palmer quickly managed to improve ''Amazing's'' circulation, and in November 1938, the magazine went monthly again, though this did not last throughout Palmer's tenure: between 1944 and 1946 the magazine was bimonthly and then quarterly for a while before returning to a longer-lasting monthly schedule.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 119.

1940s

In September 1943 Richard Shaver, an ''Amazing'' reader, began to correspond with Palmer, who soon asked him to write stories for the magazine. Shaver responded with a story called "I Remember Lemuria", published in the March 1945 issue, which was presented by Palmer as a mixture of truth and fiction. The story, about prehistoric civilizations, dramatically boosted ''Amazings circulation, and Palmer ran a new Shaver story in every issue, culminating in a special issue in June 1947 devoted entirely to the Shaver Mystery, as it was called.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 178–180. ''Amazing'' soon drew ridicule for these stories. A derisive article by William S. Baring-Gould in the September 1946 issue of '' Harper's'' prompted William Ziff to tell Palmer to limit the amount of Shaver-related material in the magazine; Palmer complied, but his interest (and possibly belief) in this sort of material was now significant, and he soon began planning to leave Ziff-Davis. In 1947 he formed Clark Publications, launching '' Fate'' the following year, and in 1949 he resigned from Ziff-Davis to edit that and other magazines.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 183–185.

Howard Browne, who had been on a leave of absence from Ziff-Davis to write fiction, took over as editor and began by throwing away 300,000 words of inventory that Palmer had acquired before he left. Browne had ambitions of moving ''Amazing'' upmarket, and his argument was strengthened by Street & Smith, one of the longest established and most respected publishers, who shut down all of their pulp magazines in the summer of 1949. The pulps were dying, largely as a result of the success of pocketbooks, and Street & Smith decided to concentrate on their slick magazines. Some pulps struggled on for a few more years, but Browne was able to persuade Ziff and Davis that the future was in the slicks, and they raised his fiction budget from one cent to a ceiling of five cents per word. Browne managed to get promises of new stories from many well-known authors, including Isaac Asimov and Theodore Sturgeon. He produced a dummy issueA dummy issue is a magazine issue produced to show to potential advertisers or for advance review. See the glossary at this publisher page: in April 1950, and planned to launch the new incarnation of ''Amazing'' in April 1951, the 25th anniversary of the first issue. However, the economic impact of the Korean War, which broke out in June 1950, led to budget cuts. The plans were cancelled, and Ziff-Davis never revived the idea.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 220–225.

1950s

Browne's interest in ''Amazing'' declined when the project to turn it into a slick magazine was derailed. Although he stayed involved with '' Fantastic Adventures'', another Ziff-Davis magazine, he left the editing work on ''Amazing'' to William Hamling and Lila Shaffer. In December 1950, when Ziff-Davis moved their offices from Chicago to New York, Hamling stayed behind in Chicago, and Browne revived his involvement with the magazine.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 7.

In 1952, Browne convinced Ziff-Davis to try a high-quality digest fantasy magazine. '' Fantastic'', which appeared in the summer of that year, focused on fantasy rather than science fiction and was so successful that it persuaded Ziff-Davis to switch ''Amazing'' from pulp format to digest in early 1953 (while also switching to a bimonthly schedule). Circulation fell, however, and subsequent budget cuts limited the story quality in both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic''. ''Fantastic'' began to print science fiction as well as fantasy. Circulation increased as a result, but Browne, who was not a science fiction aficionado, once again lost interest in the magazines.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 48–51.

Paul W. Fairman replaced Browne as editor in September 1956.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 173–174.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 353. Early in Fairman's tenure, Bernard Davis decided to try issuing a companion series of novels, titled ''Amazing Stories Science Fiction Novels''. Readers' letters in ''Amazing'' had indicated a desire for novels, which ''Amazing'' did not have room to run. The novel series did not last; only one, Henry Slesar's ''20 Million Miles to Earth'', appeared. However, in response to readers' interest in longer fiction, Ziff-Davis expanded ''Amazing'' by 16 pages, starting with the March 1958 issue, and the magazine began to run complete novels.

Fairman left to edit ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' at the end of 1958, and his place was taken by Cele Goldsmith. Goldsmith had been hired in 1955 as a secretary and became assistant editor to help cope with the additional work created when Ziff-Davis launched two short-lived magazines, ''Dream World'' and ''Pen Pals'', in 1956. Ziff-Davis were not confident of Goldsmith's abilities as an editor, so when Fairman left, a consultant, Norman Lobsenz, was hired to work with her. She performed well, however, and Lobsenz's involvement soon became minimal.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 222–226.

1960s

Goldsmith is well regarded by science fiction historians for her innovation, and the impact she had on the early careers of writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin and Roger Zelazny, but circulation lagged during her tenure. By 1964 ''Fantastics circulation was down to 27,000, with ''Amazing'' doing little better. The following March both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' were sold to Ultimate Publishing Company, run by Sol Cohen and Arthur Bernhard." rchase by the Ultimate Publishing Company, Inc., of two science-fiction magazines from Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. 'Amazing Stories'' and ''Fantastic.''nbsp;... according to Sol Cohen, president of Ultimate."Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 263. Goldsmith was given the choice of going with the magazines or staying with Ziff-Davis; she stayed, and Cohen hired Joseph Wrzos to edit the magazines, starting with the August and September 1965 issues of ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'', respectively. Wrzos used the name "Joseph Ross" on the mastheads to avoid mis-spellings. Both magazines immediately moved to a bi-monthly schedule.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 321.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 325.

Cohen had acquired reprint rights to the magazines' back issues, although Wrzos did get Cohen to agree to print one new story every issue. Cohen was also producing reprint magazines such as '' Great Science Fiction'' and '' Science Fiction Classics'', but no payment was made to authors for any of these reprints. This brought Cohen into conflict with the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), a professional writers' organization formed in 1965. Soon SFWA called for a boycott of Ultimate's magazines until Cohen agreed to make payments. Cohen agreed to pay a flat fee for all stories, and then in August 1967 this was changed to a graduated rate, depending on the length of the story.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 263–267. Harry Harrison had acted as an intermediary in Cohen's negotiations with SFWA, and when Wrzos left in 1967, Cohen asked Harrison to take over. '' SF Impulse'', which Harrison had been editing, had folded in February 1967, so Harrison was available. He secured Cohen's agreement that the policy of printing almost nothing but reprinted stories would be phased out by the end of the year, and took over as editor with the September 1967 issue.

By February 1968 Harrison decided to leave, as Cohen was showing no signs of abandoning the reprints. He resigned, and suggested Barry N. Malzberg to Cohen as a possible successor. Cohen knew Malzberg from his work at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, and thought that he might be more amenable than Harrison to continuing the reprint policy. Malzberg took over in April 1968, but immediately came into conflict with Cohen over the reprints, and then threatened to resign in October 1968 over a disagreement about artwork Malzberg had commissioned for a cover. Cohen contacted Robert Silverberg, then the president of SFWA, and told him (falsely) that Malzberg had actually resigned. Silverberg recommended Ted White as a replacement. Cohen secured White's agreement and then fired Malzberg; White assumed control with the May 1969 issue.

1970s

When White took over as editor, ''Amazings circulation was about 38,500, only about 4% of which were subscribers (as opposed to newsstand sales). This was a very low ebb for subscriptions; ''Analog'', by comparison, sold about 35% of its circulation through subscriptions. Cohen's wife mailed out the subscription copies from home, and Cohen had never tried to increase the subscriber base as this would have increased the burden on his wife.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 72. White worked hard to increase the circulation despite Cohen's lack of support, but met with limited success. One of his first changes was to reduce the typeface to increase the amount of fiction in the magazine. To pay for this he increased the price of both ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'' to 60 cents, but this had a strong negative effect on circulation, which fell about 10% from 1969 to 1970.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 74.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 480.

In 1972, White changed the title to ''Amazing Science Fiction'', distancing the magazine slightly from some of the pulp connotations of "Amazing Stories". White worked at a low wage, and his friends often read manuscripts for free, but despite his efforts the circulation continued to fall. From near 40,000 when White joined the magazine, the circulation fell to about 23,000 in October 1975. White was unwilling to continue with the very limited financial backing that Cohen provided, and he resigned in 1975. Cohen was able to convince White to remain; White promised to stay for one more year, but in the event remained as editor until late 1978.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 84–85.

''Amazing'' raised its price from 75 cents to $1.00 with the November 1975 issue. The schedule switched to quarterly beginning with the March 1976 issue; as a result, the 50th anniversary issue had a cover date of June 1976. In 1977, Cohen announced that ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' had lost $15,000, though ''Amazings circulation (at nearly 26,000) was as good as it had been for several years. Cohen looked for a new publisher to buy the magazines, but in September of the following year sold his half-share in the company to his partner, Arthur Bernhard.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 85–86. White had occasionally suggested to Cohen that ''Amazing'' would benefit from a redesign and investment; he made the same suggestions to Bernhard in early October. According to White, Bernhard not only said no, but told him he would not receive a salary until the next issue was turned in. In late 1978 White resigned, and returned all manuscripts in his possession to their authors, even if copy-edited and ready for publication. White claimed Bernhard had told him to do this, though Bernhard denied it.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 347–348.

1980s to 2000s

Elinor Mavor took over as editor in early 1979. She had worked for Bernhard as an illustrator and in the production department of several of his magazines, though not for ''Amazing''. She had also been an editor at ''Bill of Fare'', a restaurant trade magazine. Mavor had read a good deal of science fiction but knew nothing about the world of science fiction magazines when she took over. She was not confident that a woman would be accepted as the editor of a science fiction magazine, so she initially used the pseudonym "Omar Gohagen" for both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'', dropping it late in 1980. Circulation continued to fall, and Bernhard refused to consider Mavor's request to undertake a subscription drive, which might have helped. Instead, in late 1980, Bernhard decided to merge the two magazines. ''Fantastics last independent issue was October 1980; thereafter the combined magazine returned to a bimonthly schedule. At the same time the title was changed to ''Amazing Science Fiction Stories''. Bernhard cut Mavor's salary after the merger, as she was editing only one magazine. Despite this, she stayed with ''Amazing'', but was unable to prevent circulation from dropping again, down to only 11,000 newsstand sales in 1982.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 348–355.

Shortly after the merger, Bernhard decided to retire, and approached Edward Ferman, the editor of ''Fantasy and Science Fiction'', and Joel Davis, at Davis Publications, among others, about a possible sale of ''Amazing''. Jonathan Post, of Emerald City Publishing, believed he had concluded a deal with Bernhard, and began to advertise for submissions, but the negotiations failed. Bernhard also approached George H. Scithers, who declined, but put Bernhard in touch with Gary Gygax of TSR. On 27 May 1982 TSR, Inc. acquired the trademarks and copyrights of ''Amazing Stories''. Scithers was taken on by TSR as editor beginning with the November 1982 issue. He was replaced by Patrick Lucien Price in September 1986, and then by Kim Mohan in May 1991. TSR ceased publication of ''Amazing'' with the Winter 1995 issue,See the individual issues. For convenience, an online index is available at but in 1997, shortly after they were acquired by Wizards of the Coast, the magazine was relaunched, again with Mohan as editor. This version lasted for only ten issues, though it did include a special celebratory 600th issue in early 2000. The science fiction trade journal ''Locus'' commented in an early review that distribution of the magazine seemed to be weak. The title proved unable to survive: the last issue of this version was dated Summer 2000. The title was then acquired by Paizo Publishing, who launched a new monthly version in September 2004. The February 2005 issue was the last printed; a March 2005 issue was released in PDF format, and in March 2006 Paizo announced that it would no longer publish ''Amazing''. In September 2011, the trademark for ''Amazing Stories'' was acquired by Steve Davidson. Two online issues appeared, in July and August 2012, followed by another in 2014. Davidson relaunched print publication of ''Amazing Stories'' with the Fall 2018 issue with Ira Nayman as editor.

Contents and reception

Gernsback era

Gernsback's editorial in the first issue asserted that "Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are also always instructive".Quoted in Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 50. He had always believed that "scientifiction", as he called these stories, had educational power, but he now understood that the fiction had to entertain as well as to instruct.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 50. His continued belief in the instructional value of science fiction was not in keeping with the general attitude of the public towards pulp magazines, which was that they were "trash".Carter, ''Creation of Tomorrow'', p. 3.

The first issue of ''Amazing'' contained only reprints, beginning with a serialization of ''Off on a Comet'', by Jules Verne. In keeping with Gernsback's new approach, this was one of Verne's least scientifically plausible novels. Also included were H. G. Wells's "The New Accelerator", and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"; Gernsback put the names of all three authors on the cover. He also reprinted three more recent stories. Two came from his own magazine, ''Science and Invention''; these were " The Man from the Atom" by G. Peyton Wertenbaker and " The Thing from—'Outside'" by George Allan England. The third was Austin Hall's '' The Man Who Saved the Earth'', which had appeared in ''All-Story Weekly''.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 50–51.

In the June 1926 issue Gernsback announced a competition to write a short story to suit a cover drawn by illustrator Frank R. Paul, with a first prize of $250. The competition drew over 360 entries, seven of which were eventually printed in ''Amazing''. The winner was Cyril G. Wates, who sold three more stories to Gernsback in the late 1920s. Two other entrants went on to become successful writers: one was Clare Winger Harris, whose story, "The Fate of the Poseidonia", took third place in the competition, and was published in the June 1927 issue as by "Mrs. F.C. Harris". The other notable entrant was A. Hyatt Verrill, with ''The Voice from the Inner World'', which appeared in July 1927.

A letter column, titled ''Discussions'' soon appeared, and became a regular feature with the January 1927 issue. Many science fiction readers were isolated in small communities, knowing nobody else who liked the same fiction. Gernsback's habit of publishing the full address of all his correspondents meant that the letter column allowed fans to correspond with each other directly. Science fiction fandom traces its beginnings to the letter column in ''Amazing'' and its competitors, and one historian of the field, author Lester del Rey, has commented that the introduction of this letter column "may have been one of the most important events in the history of science fiction".del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 45.

For the first year, ''Amazing'' contained primarily reprinted material. It was proving difficult to attract new, high-quality material, and Gernsback's slowness at paying his authors did not help. Writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, and Murray Leinster all avoided ''Amazing'' because Gernsback took so long to pay for the stories he printed. The slow payments were probably known to many of the other active pulp writers, which would have further limited the volume of submissions. New writers did appear, but the quality of their stories was often weak.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 54–56.

Frederik Pohl later said that Gernsback's magazine published "the kind of stories Gernsback himself used to write: a sort of animated catalogue of gadgets". Gernsback discovered that the audience he had attracted was less interested in scientific invention stories than in fantastical adventures. A. Merritt's '' The Moon Pool'', which began serialization in May 1927, was an early success; there was little or no scientific basis to the story, but it was very popular with ''Amazings readers. The covers, all of which were painted by Paul, were garish and juvenile, leading some readers to complain. Raymond Palmer, later to become an editor of the magazine, wrote that a friend of his was forced to stop buying ''Amazing'' "by reason of his parents' dislike of the cover illustrations"."Discussions", ''Amazing Stories'', October 1928, p. 662; quoted in Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 56. Gernsback experimented with a more sober cover for the September 1928 issue, but it sold poorly, and so the lurid covers continued. The combination of poor quality fiction with garish artwork has led some critics to comment that Gernsback created a "ghetto" for science fiction,Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 58. though it has also been argued that the creation of a specialized market allowed science fiction to develop and mature as a genre.del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 80.

Among the regular writers for ''Amazing'' by the end of the 1920s were several who were influential and popular at the time, such as David H. Keller and Stanton Coblentz, and some who would continue to be successful for much longer, most notably Edward E. Smith and Jack Williamson. Smith's '' The Skylark of Space'', written between 1915 and 1920, was a seminal space opera that found no ready market when ''Argosy'' stopped printing science fiction.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 60. When Smith saw a copy of the April 1927 issue of ''Amazing'', he submitted it to Sloane, and it appeared in the August–October 1928 issues. It was such a success that Sloane requested a sequel before the second installment had been published. It was also in the August 1928 issue that "Armageddon – 2419 AD", by Philip Francis Nowlan, appeared; this was the first appearance of Buck Rogers in print.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 61–62.

Sloane, Palmer, Browne and Fairman

Sloane took over full control of the content of ''Amazing'' when Gernsback left in 1929.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 64. He was infamous for his slow response to manuscripts, and when '' Astounding Stories'' was launched in January 1930, with better rates and faster editorial response, some of Sloane's writers quickly defected.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 69. Little of quality appeared in ''Amazing'' during Sloane's tenure,del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 62. though "The Lost Machine", an early story by John Wyndham, appeared in April 1932, under Wyndham's real name of John Beynon Harris. John W. Campbell and Howard Fast sold their first stories to Sloane; Campbell's "When the Atoms Failed" appeared in the January 1930 issue, and Fast's "Wrath of the Purple" was printed in the October 1932 issue.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 113.

Raymond Palmer, who took over in 1938 after production of the magazine was moved to Chicago, was less interested in the educational possibilities of science fiction than Sloane had been. He wanted the magazine to provide escapist entertainment, and had no interest in scientific accuracy. His terse instruction—"Gimme Bang-Bang"—to one pulp writer sums up his approach. Palmer disposed of almost all of Sloane's accumulated inventory, instead acquiring stories from local Chicago writers he knew through his connections with science fiction fandom.del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', pp. 114–115.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 112.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 116–117. He also added features such as a "Correspondence Corner" and a "Collectors' Corner" to appeal to fans, and introduced a "Meet the Authors" feature, though on at least one occasion the featured author was a pseudonym, and the biographical details were invented. An illustrated back cover was tried, and soon became standard.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 118–119. In 1939 Palmer acquired Isaac Asimov's first sale, " Marooned off Vesta".John Clute & Malcolm Edwards, "Isaac Asimov", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', p. 56.

In the 1940s, several writers established themselves as a stable of reliable contributors to ''Amazing''. These included David Wright O'Brien and William P. McGivern, both of whom wrote an immense amount for Ziff-Davis, much of it under house names such as Alexander Blade. John Russell Fearn became a prolific contributor, using the pseudonyms "Thornton Ayre" and "Polton Cross".del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 116. Palmer also encouraged long-time science fiction writers to return, publishing pulp authors such as Ed Earl Repp and Eando Binder. This policy did not always meet with approval from ''Amazings readers, who, despite a clear preference for action and adventure stories, could not stomach the work of some of the early pulp writers such as Harry Bates.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 176–177.

The first Shaver Mystery story, "I Remember Lemuria", by Richard S. Shaver, appeared in the March 1945 issue. Shaver claimed that all the world's accidents and disasters were caused by an ancient race of deros (short for "detrimental robots") who lived in underground cities. This explanation for the world's ills, coming towards the end of World War II, struck a chord with ''Amazings readership. Palmer received over 2,500 letters, instead of the usual 40 or 50, and proceeded to print a Shaver story in every issue. The June 1947 issue was given over entirely to the Shaver Mystery.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 179–180. From March 1948 the Shaver Mystery was dropped as a regular feature of the magazine, at Ziff's insistence. Palmer left the following year, and Browne, his successor, "was determined to make sure that the lunatics were no longer in charge of the asylum", in the words of science fiction historian Mike Ashley.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 184–185.

Browne had acquired some good-quality material in the process of planning the launch of a new slick version of ''Amazing'', and when the plan was abandoned this material appeared in the continuing pulp version. This included "Operation RSVP" by H. Beam Piper, and " Satisfaction Guaranteed" by Isaac Asimov. Despite the cancellation of the planned change to a slick format, news had reached the writing community of ''Amazings new approach, and Browne began to receive much better material than Palmer had been able to publish. The existing stable of ''Amazing'' writers, such as Rog Phillips and Chester S. Geier, were replaced by writers such as Fritz Leiber, Fredric Brown, and Clifford D. Simak. Browne also discovered several writers who went on to success in the field, publishing first stories by Walter M. Miller, Mack Reynolds, John Jakes, Milton Lesser and Charles Beaumont, all within nine months in late 1950 and early 1951.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 225. Browne was disappointed by the cancellation of the planned slick version, however, and to some extent reverted to Palmer's policy of publishing sensational fiction. In 1952, for example, he serialized the anonymous ''Master of the Universe'', which purported to be a history of the future from 1975 to 2575.

With the change to digest size in 1953, Browne once again attempted to use higher-quality fiction. The first digest issue, dated April–May 1953, included stories by Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Richard Matheson, Theodore Sturgeon, and Murray Leinster. Further well-regarded stories appeared over the course of 1953, including Arthur C. Clarke's " Encounter in the Dawn", and Henry Kuttner's "Or Else". Subsequent budget cuts meant that Browne was unable to sustain this level. As in the 1940s, ''Amazing'' gained a stable of writers who appeared frequently, though this time the quality of the writers was rather higher—it included Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, and Randall Garrett