Laser Books was a line of 58 paperback science fiction novels published from 1975 to 1977 by Canadian romance powerhouse Harlequin Books. Laser published three titles per month, available by subscription as well as in stores. The books were limited to 50,000-60,000 words. They were numbered as a series, though each was a standalone novel. All the covers were painted by fan favorite Kelly Freas, a winner many times over of the Hugo Award for Best Artist. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Kelly Freas publicity headshot Frank Kelly Freas (27 August 1922–2 January 2005), called the Dean of Science Fiction Artists, was one of the most prolific and popular science fiction and fantasy artists. ... The Hugo Award is given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy stories of the previous year, and for related areas in fandom, art and dramatic presentation. ...

The project was an attempt by Harlequin to duplicate the success they'd had in the romance market by publishing SF novels with clockwork regularity, consistent packaging, and contents that, depending on your point of view, were either reliable or predictable. The editor of the series was Roger Elwood, who at that time was already a controversial figure in the SF community for having strip-mined the anthology market. This article needs to be wikified. ...

The Laser Books line was not a commercial success, in part because SF readers don't consider predictability a major virtue, and in part because it published too many books, too quickly, and far too indiscriminately. Quality varied hugely from book to book. Perhaps the best of them was Blake's Progress by R. Faraday Nelson.

Colorful stories are still told in the SF community about Laser's strange marketing and editorial practices. To date, no one has systematically collected the authors' anecdotes about their experiences. A few of them follow:

1. Thomas Monteleone's Seeds of Change was Laser Books' inexplicable choice of lead-off title. It was Monteleone's first novel, and while it wasn't terribly good, neither the book nor the author deserved what came next. Laser Books issued Seeds of Change in vast quantities in a free promotional "collector's edition" that was shipped by the carton to anyone who asked. Small regional SF conventions were sent enough to give several copies each to everyone in attendance. Come Sunday morning, copies would be scattered like popcorn on the consuite floor. This unwanted manna provoked a great deal of derisory comment, as did the book itself. Normally, weak first novels vanish without a trace, or are never published at all. Young Thomas Monteleone suffered the mortification of having his first novel publicly mocked and scrutinized in detail, in a blaze of publicity. (Demonstrating considerable strength of character, he continued to write, and has gone on to become a respected author of supernatural thrillers.)

2. Piers Anthony's But What of Earth? was badly mistreated. Elwood had problems with the manuscript. At that time, Anthony was already an established writer, presumably capable of taking editorial direction. But instead of asking him to rewrite and correct the manuscript, Elwood turned the whole thing over to Robert Coulson, another Laser Books author, for a wholesale reworking of the text. Coulson was credited as Anthony's co-author on the cover of the book. Piers Anthony found out about this when he received his first finished copies. He was outraged. To make matters worse, Elwood cravenly described Coulson's activities to Piers Anthony as "copyediting", even though that degree of interference with the text is far beyond anything freelance copyeditors are allowed to do. (Old editorial dodge: faced with an author who's incandescently angry over deleted chapters, renamed characters, and other editorial-level alterations, say "Oh gosh, look what the copyeditor did, what a pity it's too late to change it back.") Piers Anthony has been denouncing the iniquities of copyeditors ever since. Many of his fans now believe that publishing houses casually allow freelancers to do terrible things to manuscripts. A restored version of But What of Earth?, interlarded with Anthony's splenetic footnotes and comments, was published years later by Tor.

3. Tim Powers was a talented but as-yet-unpublished writer. His friend K.W. Jeter told him about a new line of paperbacks called Laser Books. Their rates were bad, but they'd give you a contract on the basis of three chapters and an outline, a thing most publishing houses are loath to do with a first-time writer. He wrote two books for Laser. The text of the second, An Epitaph in Rust, was editorially munged. The alterations were ill-judged, in places downright stupid. Powers did his best to repair the damage in galleys, but when he saw his first finished copies, he discovered that most of his corrections had been ignored. Years later, another house published a restored version of the text.

Titles

• Laser Books # 0 - Seeds of Change by Thomas F. Monteleone, ISBN: 0-88950-900-X
• Laser Books # 1 - Renegades of Time by Raymond F. Jones, 1975 ISBN:0-373-72001-7
• Laser Books # 2 - Herds by Stephen Goldin, 1975 ISBN: 0-373-72002-5
• Laser Books # 3 - Crash Landing on Iduna by Arthur Tofte, 1975
• Laser Books # 4 - Gates of the Universe by Robert Coulson with Gene DeWeese, 1975 ISBN:0-373-72004-1 cover price $0.95
• Laser Books # 5 - Walls Within Walls by Arthur Tofte, 1975
• Laser Books # 6 - Serving in Time by Gordon Eklund, ISBN:0-373-72006-8
• Laser Books # 7 - Seeklight by K. W. Jeter, 1975 ISBN:0-373-72007-6
• Laser Books # 8 - Caravan by Stephen Goldin, 1975
• Laser Books # 9 - Invasion by Aaron Wolfe (Dean R. Koontz), 1975 ISBN: 0-373-72009-2
• Laser Books #10 - Falling Toward Forever by Gordon Eklund, 1975
• Laser Books #11 - Unto the Last Generation by Juanita Coulson
• Laser Books #12 - The King of Eolim by Raymond F. Jones, 1975
• Laser Books #13 - Blake's Progress by R. F Nelson, 1975 ISBN:0-373-72013-0
• Laser Books #14 - Birthright by Kathleen Sky, 1975 ISBN:0-373-72014-9
• Laser Books #15 - The Star Web by George Zebrowski, 1976
• Laser Books #16 - Kane's Odyssey by Jeff Clinton, 1976 ISBN:0-373-72016-5
• Laser Books #17 - The Black Roads by J. L. Hensley, 1976
• Laser Books #18 - Legacy by J.F. Bone
• Laser Books #19 - The Unknown Shore by Donald Malcolm, 1976
• Laser Books #20 - Space Trap by Juanita Coulson, 1976
• Laser Books #21 - A Law for the Stars by John Morressy, 1976 ISBN:0-373-72021-1
• Laser Books #22 - Keeper by J. Hunter Holly, 1976
• Laser Books #23 - Birth of Fire by Jerry Pournelle, ISBN:0-373-72023-8
• Laser Books #24 - Ruler of the World by McIntosh, J.T. 1976 ISBN:0-373-72024-6
• Laser Books #25 - Scavenger Hunt by Stephen Goldin, 1976
• Laser Books #26 - To Renew the Ages by Robert Coulson, 1976
• Laser Books #27 - The Horde by Joseph Green, 1976
• Laser Books #28 - The Skies Discrowned by Tim Powers,
• Laser Books #29 - The Iron Rain by Donald Malcolm, ISBN:0373720297
• Laser Books #30 - The Seeker by David Bischoff, with Christopher Lampton
• Laser Books #31 - The Galactic Invaders by James R. Berry, ISBN:0373720319
• Laser Books #32 - Then Beggars Could Ride by R.F. Nelson
• Laser Books #33 - The Dreamfields by K. W. Jeter
• Laser Books #34 - Seas of Ernathe by Jeffrey Carver
• Laser Books #35 - I, Aleppo by Jerry Sohl
• Laser Books #36 - Jeremy Case by Gene DeWeese
• Laser Books #37 - The Meddlers by J. F. Bone, 1976
• Laser Books #38 - Ice Prison by Kathleen Sky, 1976 ISBN:0-373-72038-6
• Laser Books #39 - Brandyjack by Augustine Funnell, 1976 ISBN: 0373720394
• Laser Books #40 - Master of the Stars by Robert Hoskins, 1976
• Laser Books #41 - Future Sanctuary by Lee Harding, 1976
• Laser Books #42 - Cross of Empire by Christopher Lampton, 1976 ISBN: 0373720424
• Laser Books #43 - Spawn by Donald F. Glut
• Laser Books #44 - But What Of Earth? by Piers Anthony and Robert Coulson
• Laser Books #45 - Finish Line by Stephen Goldin, 1976
• Laser Books #46 - Dance of the Apocalypse by Gordon Eklund, 1976
• Laser Books #47 - Epitaph in Rust by Timothy Powers, 1976 ISBN:0-373-72047-5 cover price $1.25
• Laser Books #48 - Rebels of Merka by Augustine Funnell, 1976 ISBN:0-373-72048-3 cover price $1.25
• Laser Books #49 - Tiger in the Stars by Zach Hughes
• Laser Books #50 - West Of Honor by Jerry Pournelle, 1976 ISBN: 0-373-72050-5
• Laser Books #51 - Mindwipe! by Steve Hahn, 1976
• Laser Books #52 - The Extraterritorial by John Morressy, 1977
• Laser Books #53 - The Ecolog by R. Faraday Nelson, 1977
• Laser Books #54 - The River and the Dream by Raymond F. Jones, 1977
• Laser Books #55 - Shepherd by Joan Holly, 1977 ISBN:0373720556
• Laser Books #56 - Gifts of the Manti by J. F. Bone and Roy Myers, 1977 ISBN:0373720564
• Laser Books #57 - Shadow on the Stars by Robert B. Marcus Jr. 1977 ISBN:0373720572

Raymond F(isher) Jones (b. ... Robert Stratton Buck Coulson (1928-1999) was a science fiction writer and, with his wife, writer and filmmaker Juanita Coulson, a well-known fan, filk singer, and fanzine editor. ... Kevin Wayne Jeter (born 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. ... Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania) is a prolific and best-selling fiction author known primarily for his popular suspense novels. ... George Zebrowski (born December 28, 1945) is a science fiction author who has written Macrolife (1979) and The Omega Point Trilogy (1983). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Joseph Green (April 23, 1900 – June 20, 1996), born Yoysef Grinberg, a. ... Tim Powers at the Israeli ICon 2005 SF&F Convention Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is a Catholic American science fiction and fantasy author. ... Kevin Wayne Jeter (born 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. ... Jeffrey A. Carver is an American science fiction author. ... Gerald Allan Sohl Sr. ... Lee Harding on Australian Idol. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Robert Stratton Buck Coulson (1928-1999) was a science fiction writer and, with his wife, writer and filmmaker Juanita Coulson, a well-known fan, filk singer, and fanzine editor. ... Roy Myers (born April 30, 1969 in Limón) is a former Costa Rican soccer player who played most of his career with Deportivo Saprissa. ...

External links

• Tim Powers on Laser Books
• A fan's take on the Piers Anthony debacle