SF Bookworm: Collecting Science Fiction Books

As I’ve mentioned once or twice before, one of the things that attracts collectors is the beauty of books as objects apart from their content.  The publication of books as works of art continues to be a potent motivation for many collectors and it is generally the small press publishers that are most active in this field.

One such publisher is Aio Publishing.  Developed in 2003, Aio specializes in speculative fiction creating books that, as stated on their web site, “… will be a pleasure to hold and see, and will provide thought long after they’re put back on the shelf.” 

Aio is headed by Editor and Publisher Tiffany Jonas.  An interview with Jonas appeared on Xark! earlier this month.

Win two tickets to the Nebula Awards ceremony and banquet in New York!

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and AbeBooks.com have teamed up to give a pair of lucky speculative fiction fans the chance to attend the Nebula Awards ceremony and banquet on May 11-12 2007 in New York. Enter the contest here. [via AbeBooks]

An imprint of Harlequin Books, the Laser Books series was published between 1975 and 1977. Following the successful formula of its romance line, Harlequin produced the series on a strict schedule releasing three books a month all with a distinctly similar design, each featuring a cover illustration by Kelly Freas. A series subscription was offered in addition to the normal distribution to booksellers.

The series was not popular with readers of the time most probably because of inconsistency in quality and a general sense of it being too “institutional” in its production. It is however, rather famous in science fiction fan circles for the phenomenon surrounding the appearance of premier title, Thomas F. Monteleone’s first novel, Seeds of Change.

In an effort to get widespread exposure for the series Seeds was given away in large quantities as a free promotional “collector’s edition”. Large quantities of the book were distributed to attendees of a number of science fiction conventions. The result was less than ideal.

Unfortunately the book was not very good and immediately attracted the mockery of a large number of convention attendees. I happened to attend the Equicon SF convention in Los Angeles that year. By Saturday night of the con, groups of fans were gathered around on the upper balconies of the hotel publicly mocking the text as it was read aloud. As each page was finished it was ceremoniously ripped out of the book and flung out over the balconies to the convention floor below. It was a scenario that was repeated at several conventions that year.

Regardless of its rather ignominious introduction the series continued until February of 1977 ultimately totaling 58 titles. Of interest to collectors is the fact that all the titles in the series are paperback originals, among them books by Jerry Pournelle, Kathleen Sky, David Bischoff, Raymond F. Jones and Dean Koontz under the pen name Aaron Wolfe. Especially notable are early works by then unknowns Tim Powers and K. W. Jeter. Aficionados of Hugo Award winning artist Kelly Freas as well as collectors of exceptional genre cover art will also find the series well worth collecting.

Many of the titles are available inexpensively though a handful of titles such as the Koonz, Powers, Jeter and the last two titles of the series, which were only available by subscription, command higher prices.

A series title checklist of the Laser Books series is available on the collectingsf.com site.

Bibliophile Joyce Godsey (Bibliophile Bullpen) was kind enough to let me know of an upcoming radio broadcast of NPR’s The Book Guys.  Hosts Mike Cuthbert and Allan Stypeck will be discussing reading and collecting Science Fiction and Fantasy books.  Of particular interest, they will be offering valuation estimates on listener’s books.  To be included on the show you must contact ABE Book’s Scott Laming (slaming@abebooks.com) prior to the March 13 recording. Check here for more info.

These guys have been doing this show for almost 30 years and often offer a very interesting show.  Unfortunately I don’t get the show broadcast in my area and have to rely on the MG3 archives which only go back to October of last year. Their previous broadcast on Science Fiction and Fantasy was aired last month and can be found on the archive page.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America released the final ballot for the 2006 Nebula Awards and the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.  Winners will be announced at the Nebula Awards® Banquet to be held at the New York Marriott Financial Center May 11-13, 2007.

The complete ballot is available on the SFWA site including links to online versions of several of the nominees.