Nebula Science Fiction

In 1952 Peter Hamilton was 18 years old and had just left school; he was looking for a job, but was not healthy enough for hard physical work. His parents ran a printing house in Glasgow, Crownpoint Publications, and occasionally had spare capacity: they were interested in using the idle time on their machinery to enter the publishing business, and Peter persuaded them to publish paperback science fiction (sf) novels. Two novels were acquired, but when Crownpoint approached a local wholesaler to handle the distribution, they were told that paperbacks would be a mistake, and that a magazine, with a regular publication schedule, would be more likely to sell well. The result was Nebula Science Fiction. The first issue was dated Autumn 1952, and sold 4,000 copies. Several British science fiction fans helped Hamilton with the production of the magazine, including Ken Slater, Vin¢ Clarke, and John Brunner. Hamilton provided all the financing, but he had to wait for the money to come in from each issue before he could afford to produce the next. this was a low rate compared to the American market, but was marginally better than the contemporary British magazine Authentic Science Fiction, which paid £1 per thousand words. Hamilton offered a bonus of £2 or £5 to the story that turned out to be the readers' favourite in each issue, which helped attract writers; Hamilton's editorial in the September 1957 issue reported a circulation of 40,000, and starting in January 1958 Nebula went on a regular monthly schedule that was maintained until early 1959. Hamilton had also had health problems which contributed to his decision to stop publication. ==Contents and reception==

The first two issues of Nebula contained the two novels Hamilton had bought before changing his plans from a paperback series to a magazine: Robots Never Weep by E.R. James, and Thou Pasture Us by F.G. Rayer. These left little room for other material, but Hamilton was able to reprint a short story by A. E. van Vogt in the first issue, and stories by John Brunner and E. C. Tubb in the second issue, along with material by lesser known writers. There was also a column by Walt Willis called "The Electric Fan", later renamed "Fanorama", which covered science fiction fandom. Many of the better-known British writers began to appear in Nebula, including William F. Temple and Eric Frank Russell; new authors also began to be published. Hamilton was glad to work with beginning writers, and in 1953 several writers who later became very well known, including Brian Aldiss, Barrington Bayley, and Bob Shaw, each sold their first story to Nebula. Brian Aldiss echoes Silverberg's assessment of Hamilton, commenting that Hamilton was "a sympathetic editor to a beginner. He was also a patient editor." Cover art came from artists such as Gerard Quinn, and included some of Eddie Jones' earliest work. According to sf historian Philip Harbottle, the best of the Scottish artists that Hamilton worked with was James Stark, who painted nine covers for Nebula between 1956 and 1958; sf artist and art historian David Hardy describes Stark's work as "severe portrayals of technology against which men were mere ants". Interior artists included Harry Turner, whose work is described by Harbottle as "visually striking" and "semi-impressionistic". From the October 1954 issue the back cover was given over to black and white artwork, often drawn by Arthur Thomson. and Bulmer recalls that, overall, Nebula "created a special kind of charisma that, in the view of many writers and readers, no other magazine ever had", and adds that it became "what many fans regard as the best-loved British SF magazine". Tubb, who sold many popular stories to Hamilton, comments that "Authors wrote for Nebula with financial reward taking secondary place; the desire of submitting a good story being of primary importance ... the writers and the contributors felt as if Nebula was 'their' magazine, and all that became a happy, well-integrated family." ==Bibliographic details==

The publisher was Crownpoint Publications for the first twelve issues, though the name was dropped from the indicia starting with the December 1953 issue. From September 1955 the publisher was Peter Hamilton, who was editor throughout. The price was 2/- (10p) for all but the last two issues, which were priced at 2/6 (12.5p). ==Notes==