Nebula Science Fiction

• 1. Introduction

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  Nebula Science Fiction sold 4,000 copies with its very first issue, dated Autumn 1952. The teenager behind it was Peter Hamilton, just 18 years old, freshly out of school in Glasgow and unable to find work that suited his health. What he did have was access to his parents' printing house, Crownpoint Publications, and an idea that would make him one of the more unlikely figures in British literary history. He would go on to publish the first stories of writers who became giants of science fiction, build a readership that stretched from Australia to South Africa to the United States, and produce a magazine that writers decades later would describe as feeling like family. How did a young man with no capital of his own, dependent on idle moments in his parents' print shop, build something that fans would call the best-loved British SF magazine of its era? And what finally brought it down?

• 2. The Crownpoint Gamble

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  Peter Hamilton's parents ran their printing house at Crownpoint Publications in Glasgow, and it was the gaps between regular jobs that made Nebula possible. Hamilton initially set out not to launch a magazine at all, but a line of paperback science fiction novels. Two novels were acquired before a local wholesaler delivered an unwelcome verdict: paperbacks were a mistake. A magazine, with a reliable publication schedule, would sell better. Hamilton took the advice and pivoted. The first issue arrived dated Autumn 1952, but the erratic nature of spare printing capacity meant the schedule was never truly dependable in those early years. The first four issues stretched across autumn 1952 and all of 1953, appearing in autumn, spring, summer, and autumn. Only from issue five did the magazine adopt monthly dating. Several British science fiction fans stepped in to help with production, including Ken Slater, Vin Clarke, and John Brunner. William F. Temple served as editorial consultant and helped edit manuscripts. Hamilton financed everything himself, but the arrangement was always precarious. He had to wait for revenue from one issue to arrive before he could afford to produce the next, and Crownpoint's capacity was only intermittently available. After a dozen issues, Hamilton made the break. He moved the printing to a Dublin-based firm, severing his connection with Crownpoint entirely, and the schedule became at least somewhat more predictable.

• 3. Paying Writers Properly

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  Hamilton paid 21 shillings, equivalent to £1.05, per thousand words when Nebula launched. Converted, that was about three-tenths of a cent per word. It was a low rate by American standards, but it edged out the contemporary British magazine Authentic Science Fiction, which paid £1 per thousand words. Hamilton knew he could not compete head-to-head with the American market, so he added a bonus of £2 or £5 for whichever story readers voted most popular in each issue. The approach worked. As the magazine grew, Hamilton raised his rates substantially, eventually paying as much as 2d per word, which converts to roughly 2.3 cents, for established authors. That figure matched the top magazines in the United States and surpassed the best domestic UK markets, including New Worlds. Hamilton was also deliberate about why he structured things this way. Both the generous rates and his willingness to work patiently with beginners were designed so that writers would submit to Nebula first, before trying elsewhere. E. C. Tubb, who sold many popular stories to Hamilton, captured the atmosphere that resulted: writers felt that financial reward had become secondary. The desire to submit a good story, Tubb recalled, came first. Writers and contributors felt, in his words, as if Nebula was "their" magazine, and that it had become "a happy, well-integrated family."

• 4. First Stories and Famous Names

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  Robert Silverberg began submitting stories to Hamilton as soon as he learned Nebula existed, reasoning that a Scottish magazine was unlikely to be flooded with American submissions. Hamilton proved him right by being genuinely helpful. Silverberg's first story, "Gorgon Planet", was accepted by Hamilton on the 11th of January 1954. Brian Aldiss, who also sold his first story to Hamilton in 1953, described Hamilton as "a sympathetic editor to a beginner" and added that he was also "a patient editor." Aldiss's debut piece, titled "T", did not reach print until the November 1956 issue, by which time other Aldiss stories were already in circulation. Bob Shaw also sold his first story to Nebula in 1953. Barrington Bayley sold what may have been his first story there too, though the record is uncertain. Other writers who appeared early in their careers in Nebula's pages included Harlan Ellison, John Rackham, and James White. Science fiction historian Mike Ashley assessed Hamilton's editorial choices as showing a wide range of material by excellent writers, seldom predictable. Ashley noted, however, that most of the stories have since dated, with few remaining well known. Among the exceptions he singles out are Aldiss's "Legends of Smith's Burst" and "Dumb Show". Hamilton was planning to serialise a novel by Robert Heinlein when the magazine finally ceased publication.

• 5. Art and Atmosphere

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  Cover art came from artists including Gerard Quinn and featured some of Eddie Jones's earliest professional work. According to science fiction historian Philip Harbottle, the best of the Scottish artists Hamilton worked with was James Stark, who painted nine covers for the magazine between 1956 and 1958. SF artist and art historian David Hardy described Stark's paintings as "severe portrayals of technology against which men were mere ants." Inside the pages, Harry Turner contributed work that Harbottle called "visually striking" and "semi-impressionistic." From the October 1954 issue onward, the back cover was dedicated to black and white artwork, often drawn by Arthur Thomson. Author Ken Bulmer described these back covers as giving the magazine a "tremendously individual flavor." The magazine also ran a column by Walt Willis, first called "The Electric Fan" and later renamed "Fanorama", which covered science fiction fandom. Hamilton serialised only one novel across the magazine's entire run, given the scheduling difficulties: Ken Bulmer's Wisdom of the Gods, which ran in four parts beginning in the July 1958 issue. The physical object was printed in large digest format, measuring 8.5 by 5.5 inches, with page counts that shifted over the years, starting at 120 pages for the first three issues before settling at 112 for most of the later run.

• 6. International Reach and Collapse

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  Hamilton's editorial in the September 1957 issue reported a circulation of 40,000. That figure revealed a striking truth about where Nebula's readers actually lived. Only about a quarter of sales were in the United Kingdom. Another quarter came from Australia, roughly a third from the United States, and close to a tenth from South Africa. Starting in January 1958, Nebula settled into a regular monthly schedule for the first time in its history. It looked like stability. But the magazine's geographic spread, which had been its strength, became its ruin. At the end of the 1950s, South Africa and then Australia moved to restrict imports of foreign periodicals for economic reasons. The loss of those two markets hit hard. Then the United Kingdom imposed excise duties, adding further financial strain. Hamilton was quickly in debt. He had also been dealing with personal health problems, which contributed to his decision. He was forced to cease publication with issue 41, dated June 1959. Issues 30 through 39 had been distributed in the United States, stamped at 35 cents and post-dated four months, meaning American copies ran from September 1958 to June 1959. The price for most of the magazine's life was two shillings, or ten pence; only the final two issues rose to two shillings and sixpence. Ken Bulmer, reflecting on what Hamilton had built, said Nebula had "created a special kind of charisma that, in the view of many writers and readers, no other magazine ever had."