Ballantine Books

• 1. Simultaneous Publishing Launch

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  Ian Ballantine announced a new plan in 1952 that would change how books reached readers. He offered trade publishers simultaneous hardcover and paperback editions of original titles. The first book to follow this strategy was Cameron Hawley's Executive Suite. Houghton Mifflin published the $3.00 hardcover at the same time Ballantine distributed its 35¢ paper-cover edition. By February 1953, Ballantine had sold 375,000 copies and prepared to print another 100,000 more. Houghton Mifflin sold only 22,000 hardback copies in its initial run. Total sales for Ballantine soon reached 470,000 copies instead of hurting hardback sales as some predicted. The paperback edition gave the book more publicity. Film rights were later sold to MGM with Robert Wise directing the 1954 film nominated for four Academy Awards.

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• 2. Science Fiction And Fantasy Dominance

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  Ballantine attracted attention during the early 1950s as one of the leading publishers of paperback science fiction and fantasy. The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth appeared as number 21 in their catalog. This novel had first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction under the title Gravy Planet. Stanley Kauffman acquired and edited Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 which originally ran in Galaxy as a shorter version called The Firemen. Ballantine also published Star Science Fiction Stories edited by Frederik Pohl with cover paintings by Richard Powers. This innovative anthology series offered new fiction rather than reprints. It successfully combined formats from both magazines and paperbacks to attract readers. In 1968 Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry published The Making of Star Trek as a non-fiction work related to the television show. Lin Carter edited the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series starting in 1969 bringing rare titles back into print while launching Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series.

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• 3. Tolkien Licensing Rivalry

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  A well-known rivalry emerged between Ballantine Books and Ace Books over rights to reprint J.R.R. Tolkien works in paperback form during the early 1960s. Ballantine prevailed in the struggle for the Tolkien work with editions including a message on the back cover from Tolkien himself urging consumers to buy Ballantine's version. He asked for and received permission to add this statement after learning that Ace was not paying royalties to Professor Tolkien. Betty Ballantine recalled that they put a little statement on the back covers saying Ace was not paying royalties. She noted that everybody who admired Lord of the Rings should only buy their paperback edition. There was literally no publication that did not carry some kind of outraged article about the situation. The whole science fiction fraternity got behind the book since it was their meat and drink. A separate Canadian edition of the books was published with different front cover artwork.

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• 4. Humor Comics And Counterculture

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  Ballantine introduced Shel Silverstein in 1956 with his Grab Your Socks! collection of cartoons from Pacific Stars and Stripes. Bernard Shir-Cliff handled Zacherley anthologies as an editor at Ballantine during the 1950s and 1960s. He edited Hunter Thompson's Hell's Angels paperback along with Harvey Kurtzman's The Mad Reader and other early Mad paperbacks. Shir-Cliff made four contributions to Mad and other magazines edited by Kurtzman. In 1956 he edited a humor anthology called The Wild Reader including essays poems and satirical pieces by Robert Benchley Art Buchwald Tom Lehrer John Lardner Shepherd Mead Ogden Nash S.J. Perelman Frank Sullivan James Thurber and others. The 154-page paperback was illustrated with cartoons by Kelly Freas who also did the front cover. Roger Price contributed two humor books for Ballantine including I'm for Me First which details Herman Clabbercutt's plan to launch a revolutionary political party known as the I'm for Me First Party.

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• 5. Corporate Acquisitions Evolution

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  Ballantine Books is now a major American book publisher that serves as a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ian Ballantine founded the company in 1952 with his wife Betty Ballantine. The firm acquired Random House in 1973 which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998. Ballantine remains part of that company today. Their original logo featured a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back before changing to two Bs stacked to form an elaborate gate. Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff served as early editors at the firm. Ballantine has been a frequent winner of the Locus Award for Best Publisher winning the inaugural award and securing twelve additional awards. They have published books featuring Jim Davis' comic strip Garfield since 1980. The company maintains imprints including Del Rey Fawcett Ivy Mockingbird Books One World Presidio Press Wellspring Comstock Editions and Beagle Books.

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