Laser Books

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Laser Books was a line of 58 paperback science fiction (SF) novels published from 1975 to 1977 by Canadian romance powerhouse Harlequin Books. Laser published three titles per month, available by subscription as well as in stores. The books were limited to 50,000-60,000 words. They were numbered as a series, though each was a standalone novel. All the covers were painted by fan favorite Kelly Freas, a winner many times over of the Hugo Award for Best Artist.

The project was an attempt by Harlequin to duplicate the success they'd had in the romance market by publishing SF novels with clockwork regularity, consistent packaging, and contents that, depending on your point of view, were either reliable or predictable. The editor of the series was Roger Elwood, who at that time was already a controversial figure in the SF community for having strip-mined the anthology market.

The Laser Books line was not a commercial success, in part because SF readers don't consider predictability a major virtue, and in part because it published too many books, too quickly, and far too indiscriminately. Quality varied hugely from book to book. Perhaps the best of them was Blake's Progress by R. Faraday Nelson.

Colorful stories are still told in the SF community about Laser's strange marketing and editorial practices. To date, no one has systematically collected the authors' anecdotes about their experiences. A few of them follow:

1. Thomas F. Monteleone's Seeds of Change was Laser Books' inexplicable choice of lead-off title. It was Monteleone's first novel, and while it wasn't terribly good, neither the book nor the author deserved what came next. Laser Books issued Seeds of Change in vast quantities in a free promotional "collector's edition" that was shipped by the carton to anyone who asked. Small regional SF conventions were sent enough to give several copies each to everyone in attendance. Come Sunday morning, copies would be scattered like popcorn on the consuite floor. This unwanted manna provoked a great deal of derisory comment, as did the book itself. Normally, weak first novels vanish without a trace, or are never published at all. Young Thomas Monteleone suffered the mortification of having his first novel publicly mocked and scrutinized in detail, in a blaze of publicity. (Demonstrating considerable strength of character, he continued to write, and has gone on to become a respected author of supernatural thrillers.) ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

2. Piers Anthony's But What of Earth? was badly mistreated. Elwood had problems with the manuscript. At that time, Anthony was already an established writer, presumably capable of taking editorial direction. But instead of asking him to rewrite and correct the manuscript, Elwood turned the whole thing over to Robert Coulson, another Laser Books author, for a wholesale reworking of the text. Coulson was credited as Anthony's co-author on the cover of the book. Piers Anthony found out about this when he received his first finished copies. He was outraged. To make matters worse, Elwood cravenly described Coulson's activities to Piers Anthony as "copyediting", even though that degree of interference with the text is far beyond anything freelance copyeditors are allowed to do. (Old editorial dodge: faced with an author who's incandescently angry over deleted chapters, renamed characters, and other editorial-level alterations, say "Oh gosh, look what the copyeditor did, what a pity it's too late to change it back.") Piers Anthony has been denouncing the iniquities of copyeditors ever since. Many of his fans now believe that publishing houses casually allow freelancers to do terrible things to manuscripts. A restored version of But What of Earth?, interlarded with Anthony's splenetic footnotes and comments, was published years later by Tor.

3. Tim Powers was a talented but as-yet-unpublished writer. His friend K.W. Jeter told him about a new line of paperbacks called Laser Books. Their rates were bad, but they'd give you a contract on the basis of three chapters and an outline, a thing most publishing houses are loath to do with a first-time writer. He wrote two books for Laser. The text of the second, An Epitaph in Rust, was editorially munged. The alterations were ill-judged, in places downright stupid. Powers did his best to repair the damage in galleys, but when he saw his first finished copies, he discovered that most of his corrections had been ignored. Years later, another house published a restored version of the text.

Titles

0. Seeds of Change by Thomas F. Monteleone, 1975, ISBN 088950900X

1. Renegades of Time by Raymond F. Jones, 1975, ISBN 0373720017

2. Herds by Stephen Goldin, 1975, ISBN 0373720025

3. Crash Landing on Iduna by Arthur Tofte, 1975, ISBN 0373720033

4. Gates of the Universe by Robert Coulson with Gene DeWeese, 1975, ISBN 0373720041, cover price $0.95

5. Walls Within Walls by Arthur Tofte, 1975, ISBN 037372005X

6. Serving in Time by Gordon Eklund, 1975, ISBN 0373720068

7. Seeklight by K. W. Jeter, 1975, ISBN 0373720076

8. Caravan by Stephen Goldin, 1975, ISBN 0373720084

9. Invasion by Aaron Wolfe, 1975, ISBN 0373720092

10. Falling Toward Forever by Gordon Eklund, 1975, ISBN 0373720106

11. Unto the Last Generation by Juanita Coulson, 1975, ISBN 0373720114

12. The King of Eolim by Raymond F. Jones, 1975, ISBN 0373720122

13. Blake's Progress by R. F. Nelson, 1975, ISBN 0373720130

14. Birthright by Kathleen Sky, 1975, ISBN 0373720149

15. The Star Web by George Zebrowski, 1975, ISBN 0373720157

16. Kane's Odyssey by Jeff Clinton, 1976, ISBN 0373720165

17. The Black Roads by J. L. Hensley, 1976, ISBN 0373720173

18. Legacy by J. F. Bone, 1976, ISBN 0373720181

19. The Unknown Shore by Donald Malcolm, 1976, ISBN 037372019X

20. Space Trap by Juanita Coulson, 1976, ISBN 0373720203

21. A Law for the Stars by John Morressy, 1976, ISBN 0373720211

22. Keeper by Joan Hunter Holly, 1976, ISBN 037372022X

23. Birth of Fire by Jerry Pournelle, 1976, ISBN 0373720238

24. Ruler of the World by J. T. McIntosh, 1976, ISBN 0373720246

25. Scavenger Hunt by Stephen Goldin, 1976, ISBN 0373720254

26. To Renew the Ages by Robert Coulson, 1976, ISBN 0373720262

27. The Horde by Joseph Green, 1976, ISBN 0373720270

28. The Skies Discrowned by Timothy Powers, 1976, ISBN 0373720289

29. The Iron Rain by Donald Malcolm, 1976, ISBN 0373720297

30. The Seeker by David Bischoff with Christopher Lampton, 1976, ISBN 0373720300

31. Galactic Invaders by James R. Berry, 1976, ISBN 0373720319

32. Then Beggars Could Ride by R. F. Nelson, 1976, ISBN 0373720327

33. The Dreamfields by K. W. Jeter, 1976, ISBN 0373720335

34. Seas of Ernathe by Jeffrey Carver, 1976, ISBN 0373720343

35. I, Aleppo by Jerry Sohl, 1976, ISBN 0373720351

36. Jeremy Case by Gene DeWeese, 1976, ISBN 037372036X

37. The Meddlers by J. F. Bone, 1976, ISBN 0373720378

38. Ice Prison by Kathleen Sky, 1976, ISBN 0373720386

39. Brandyjack by Augustine Funnell, 1976, ISBN 0373720394

40. Master of the Stars by Robert Hoskins, 1976, ISBN 0373720408

41. Future Sanctuary by Lee Harding, 1976, ISBN 0373720416

42. Cross of Empire by Christopher Lampton, 1976, ISBN 0373720424

43. Spawn by Donald Glut, 1976, ISBN 0373720432

44. But What Of Earth? by Piers Anthony and Robert Coulson, 1976, ISBN 0373720440

45. Finish Line by Stephen Goldin, 1976, ISBN 0373720459

46. Dance of the Apocalypse by Gordon Eklund, 1976, ISBN 0373720467

47. Epitaph in Rust by Timothy Powers, 1976, ISBN 0373720475, cover price $1.25

48. Rebels of Merka by Augustine Funnell, 1976, ISBN 0373720483, cover price $1.25

49. Tiger in the Stars by Zach Hughes, 1976, ISBN 0373720491

50. West of Honor by Jerry Pournelle, 1976, ISBN 0373720505

51. Mindwipe! by Steve Hahn, 1976, ISBN 0373720513

52. The Extraterritorial by John Morressy, 1977, ISBN 0373720521

53. The Ecolog by R. Faraday Nelson, 1977, ISBN 037372053X

54. The River and the Dream by Raymond F. Jones, 1977, ISBN 0373720548

55. Shepherd by Joan Hunter Holly, 1977, ISBN 0373720556

56. Gift of the Manti by J. F. Bone and Roy Myers, 1977, ISBN 0373720564

57. Shadow on the Stars by Robert B. Marcus Jr., 1977, ISBN 0373720572

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