The Soldier of Fortune Letter
May 27, 2016 19:30:52 GMT -5
Post by bobbyderie on May 27, 2016 19:30:52 GMT -5
"I see where the Claytons are bringing out a new magazine dealing with weird subjects and another dealing with historical tales of romance and adventure — two cents a word on acceptance and up. If I can’t make both of them I ought to be ham-strung. You ought to re-read Dumas and crash the historical one — the ad says the tales should generally feature the Anglo-Saxon but that the gallant Frenchman and dashing Spaniard will have their place. I see where I dress Solomon Kane up in a nom de plume and let him thrust, parry and riposte for eighteen chapters."
- Robert E. Howard to Tevis Clyde Smith, 9 May 1931, CL2.195
Not enough here for an article, but enough to interest a few folks, perhaps - I had recently purchased a couple issues of the Writer's Digest from 1931, the May issue of which includes a letter from editor Harry Bates of Clayton Magazines asking for submissions for a new adventure magazine - obviously Soldier of Fortune - and I recognized that REH was borrowing some of Bates' language in writing this letter to Clyde Smith. I don't think REH actually subscribed to Writer's Digest - it is more likely he saw Bates' advertisement, probably with identical language, in an issue of The Author & Journalist, the organ of the American Fiction Guild, of which REH was a member. But for those interested in seeing the full letter, here it is.
- Robert E. Howard to Tevis Clyde Smith, 9 May 1931, CL2.195
Not enough here for an article, but enough to interest a few folks, perhaps - I had recently purchased a couple issues of the Writer's Digest from 1931, the May issue of which includes a letter from editor Harry Bates of Clayton Magazines asking for submissions for a new adventure magazine - obviously Soldier of Fortune - and I recognized that REH was borrowing some of Bates' language in writing this letter to Clyde Smith. I don't think REH actually subscribed to Writer's Digest - it is more likely he saw Bates' advertisement, probably with identical language, in an issue of The Author & Journalist, the organ of the American Fiction Guild, of which REH was a member. But for those interested in seeing the full letter, here it is.
