The following is a letter Eric Frank Russell has been sending to several of his friends in the sf field.
"I could use your advice if you'd care to give it. Right now I'm involved in a fight with my agent and cartain publishers. Cause of the trouble is my refusal to permit anthologised stories to be reanthologised a second, third or maybe fourth time. So far I've taken up the attitude that one anthologising is enough, except of course for foreign reprints.
My reason for this: the belief that it's unfair to fans that they should pay hard-earned cash for collections holding the same stories as they've got in previous books. When, for example, a new anthology comes out with a dozen yarns four of which have been anthologised previously, and the fan has to buy those four a second time to get the wanted eight, I think it's a swindle.
The arguments against me are that earlier anthologies are out of date, even the ones still selling. The fans don't care if they have to buy twice. The fans don't matter anyway. The guy who turns down easy money is a fool, etc etc.
I'm not infallible and I could be wrong. Maybe the readers don't give a hoot. On the other hand, I might be right. Possibly the readers object to repetition. There's only one way to find out and that's to ask them. So I'm asking you.
I'd appreciate it if you'd drop me a brief letter saying how you feel about it when you have to pay /.00 for a book and find it contains material you already have in some other /.00 book. Don't you mind? Or do you feel sore?
Upon what you say depends whether or not I maintain my ban. To date a couple of yarns have slipped into repetition before I could prevent it. I'm permitting no more pending result of this, my personal poll of the readership.
Please don't expect extensive correspondence with me---I just can't cope with all coming in right now. But for your considered opinion I shall be genuinely grateful.
Cordially yours,
Eric Frank Russell
In a later letter to me EFR mentions that he has refused reprinting of about four stories after four others had slipped through before he could stop them. Also that he has turned down a $1,000 pocketbook contract for material already anthologised. "I know of no reason why the stf game should not be played straight."
In these days of Browne and Spillane it seems to me that fans will be both pleased and surprised to find that one noted author at least has their interests at heart enough to forgo financial gain rather than be a party to something he considers unfair. I thought some of you might like to return the compliment by letting EFR know just what you do think about this business. If you'd like to send your opinions to me (preferably on a separate piece of paper from your extravagant praise of this magazine) I'll pass them on to him. We can let him know either that we agree with and appreciate his stand or that we think it's a case of caveat emptor, so that he can abandon his quixotic position and cash in with the others. What we shouldn't do is leave him in doubt.
(data entered by Judy Bemis)
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