Editing If (magazine) (section)

==Publication history==
Although science fiction had been published in the United States before the 1920s, it did not begin to coalesce into a separately marketed genre until the appearance in 1926 of ''Amazing Stories'', a [[pulp magazine]] published by [[Hugo Gernsback]]. By the end of the 1930s, the field was undergoing its first boom,<ref>Nicholls & Clute, "Genre SF"; Edwards & Nicholls, "Astounding Science-Fiction"; Stableford, "Amazing Stories"; Edwards & Nicholls, "SF Magazines", all in Nicholls & Clute, "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction".</ref> but [[World War II]] and its attendant paper shortages led to the demise of several titles. By the late 1940s, the market began to recover.<ref>Edwards & Nicholls, "SF Magazines", in Nicholls & Clute, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', p.&nbsp;1068.</ref> From a low of eight active magazines in 1946, the field expanded to 20 in 1950, and a further 22 had commenced publication by 1954.<ref name=AshleyV3_323>Magazine publishing dates for the period are tabulated in Ashley, ''History of the Science Fiction Magazine Vol. 3'', pp.&nbsp;323–325.</ref> ''If'' was launched in the middle of this second publishing boom.

===Origins and 1950s===
''If'''s origins can be traced to 1948 and 1949, when [[Raymond A. Palmer|Raymond Palmer]] founded two magazines while working at [[Ziff Davis|Ziff-Davis]] in Chicago: ''[[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]'' and ''[[Other Worlds (magazine)|Other Worlds]]''. ''Fate'' published articles about occult and supernatural events, while ''Other Worlds'' was a science fiction magazine. The two were sufficiently successful to attract the notice of [[James L. Quinn (editor)|James L. Quinn]], a New York publisher. When Ziff-Davis moved to New York City in late 1950, [[Paul W. Fairman]], a prolific writer, went with them, and was soon in touch with Quinn, who decided to found a pair of magazines modelled after Palmer's. One was a nonfiction magazine entitled ''Strange''; the other was ''If''.<ref name=TM_45-8>Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp.&nbsp;45–48.</ref>

[[File:If cover June 1954.jpg|thumb|left|The June 1954 issue of ''If'', featuring a wraparound cover by [[Kenneth S. Fagg]], titled "Lava Falls on Mercury"]]
The first issue of ''If'' was dated March 1952, with Fairman as editor; it featured stories by Richard Shaver, Raymond Palmer, and Howard Browne, all writers who were regulars of the Ziff-Davis magazines. By the time the third issue reached the news stands, the disappointing sales figures for the first issue were in, and Quinn decided to let Fairman go. Quinn persevered with himself as editor. His first issue was dated July 1952, and he continued as editor on the masthead for some years. Quinn brought in [[Ed Valigursky]] as the art editor; he designed striking covers, including some wraparound artwork—an unusual feature—which helped improve circulation. Quinn began searching for a replacement editor: writer [[Lester del Rey]] turned down the job (a decision he is reported to have later regretted), but Quinn was able to engage [[Larry T. Shaw]], an active [[science fiction fan]] who had sold a few stories.<ref name=TM_45-8/><ref>Malcolm Edwards & John Clute, "Larry T. Shaw", in Nicholls & Clute, "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction".</ref> Shaw joined in May 1953 as associate editor and soon began writing editorials (beginning with the September 1953 issue) and assisting with story selection. The magazine's quality quickly improved and soon Quinn felt able to switch to a monthly schedule, instead of bimonthly. Shaw left after only a year, and Quinn resumed full editorial responsibilities.<ref name=TM_45-8/>

In late 1953, Quinn decided to run a competition for short fiction from new writers. The competition was only open to college students who had not sold a story before. The first prize was $1,000, the second prize $500, with five runner-up prizes of $100 each. Entries came in from writers who were later to become well known, including [[Harlan Ellison]], [[Roger Zelazny]], and [[Andrew J. Offutt]], whose story "And Gone Tomorrow", about a man unexpectedly sent a hundred years into the future, won first prize and appeared in the December 1954 issue of ''If''. The only other one of the seven announced winners who had a career as a science fiction writer was [[Leo P. Kelley]]. Quinn decided to move ''If'' to a monthly schedule with the March 1954 issue, perhaps because the competition had increased readership.<ref name=TM_45-8/> It reverted to a bimonthly schedule with the June 1956 issue, as circulation dropped again.<ref name=AshleyV4_433>Ashley, ''History of SF Magazine Part 4'', p.&nbsp;33.</ref>

In 1957, [[American News Company]], by far the largest magazine distributor, was liquidated.<ref>Distributors move magazines from publishers to news stands, and are a critical part of the magazine publishing industry.</ref> Almost all the science fiction magazines had to find a new distributor, and the smaller independent companies remaining in the market often demanded monthly publication and a larger format from the magazines they took on. Many of the magazines did not have the advertising revenue required to support these changes, and within two or three years, many of them had disappeared:<ref name=TM_190>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;190.</ref> the number of science fiction magazines being published dropped from a high of 46 in 1953 to less than a dozen by the end of the decade.<ref name=Robinson_128>Robinson, ''SF of the 20th Century'', p.&nbsp;128.</ref> For a while ''If'' was hard to find on the news stands, but it survived. Quinn did try the [[Slick (magazine format)|slick format]] (using glossy paper, unlike the cheaper paper used for pulps and digests) for a companion magazine, ''Space Age'', which he launched in November 1958; the experiment was unsuccessful, however. In an attempt to improve ''If'''s circulation, Quinn hired writer [[Damon Knight]], whose first issue was October 1958. Circulation failed to increase, though this was at least partly due to the problems with distribution, and by early 1959, Quinn decided to sell the magazine. Knight's last issue was his third, dated February 1959.<ref name=TM_196-7>Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp.&nbsp;196–197.</ref>

===Early 1960s===
''If'''s new owner was Robert Guinn, of Galaxy Publishing. The change of ownership was abrupt and led to a delay in publication, with the first issue under new editorship not appearing until July 1959. The editor was [[Horace Gold]], who was also the editor of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]''; ''Galaxy'' had gone from a monthly to a bimonthly schedule at the start of 1959, and ''If'' and ''Galaxy'' appeared in alternate months for the next few years. In a 1975 retrospective article, Gold commented that his policy with ''If'' was to experiment, using new writers who had not yet established themselves. In the judgement of science fiction historian [[Mike Ashley (writer)|Mike Ashley]], the effect was that ''If'' became the weaker of the two magazines, printing stories that were of lower quality than those Gold selected for ''Galaxy''.<ref name=TM_197>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;197.</ref>

[[File:Annual circulation of If (magazine).gif|thumb|400px|Annual circulation from 1960–1974]]
[[Frederik Pohl]] took over the editorship of both ''If'' and ''Galaxy'' in 1961. Gold had had a car accident with sufficiently severe health consequences to prevent him from being able to continue as editor.<ref name=TWTFW_190-4>Pohl, ''Way the Future Was'', pp.&nbsp;190–194.</ref> Pohl, who had been intermittently helping Gold with editorial duties for some time prior to the car accident, is first listed as editor of ''If'' on the masthead of the November 1961 issue, and as editor of ''Galaxy'' for the December 1961 issue, but he had been acting as editor of both magazines since at least midyear.<ref name=TWTFW_190-4/><ref name=issues/> Pohl paid one cent per word for the stories he bought for ''If'', whereas ''Galaxy'' paid three cents per word, and like Gold, he regarded ''Galaxy'' as the leading magazine of the two, whereas ''If'' was somewhere he could work with new writers, and try experiments and whims. This developed into a selling point when a letter from a reader, Clayton Hamlin,<!-- Note Ashley misspells his name as "Hamling"; it is "Hamlin" in the magazine --> prompted Pohl to declare that he would publish a new writer in every single issue of the magazine,<ref name=TM_208-9>Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp.&nbsp;208–209.</ref><ref name=If_1962_09_129>''If'' vol.&nbsp;12, no&nbsp;4 (September 1962), p.&nbsp;129.</ref> though he was also able to attract well-known writers.<ref name=TM_210>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;210.</ref> When Pohl began his stint as editor, both magazines were operating at a loss; despite ''If'''s lower budget, Pohl found it more fun to edit, and commented that apparently the readers thought so, too; he was able to make ''If'' show a profit before ''Galaxy'', adding, "What was fun for me seemed to be fun for them."<ref name=TWTFW_199>Pohl, ''Way the Future Was'', p.&nbsp;199.</ref>

In April 1963, Galaxy Publishing brought out the first issue of ''[[Worlds of Tomorrow (magazine)|Worlds of Tomorrow]]'', another science fiction magazine, also edited by Pohl.<ref name=TM_207>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;207.</ref> The magazine published some well-received material and was profitable, but Guinn, the publisher and owner, decided in 1967 that it would be better to have ''Galaxy'' resume a monthly schedule; both ''Worlds of Tomorrow'' and ''Galaxy'' were bimonthly at that time, while ''If'' was monthly. With the August 1967 issue ''Worlds of Tomorrow'' was merged with ''If'', though it was another year before ''Galaxy'' actually switched to a monthly schedule.<ref name=TM_273>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;273.</ref> By this time, ''If'' had become monthly again, starting with the July 1964 issue (though the schedule had an initial hiccup, omitting September 1964).<ref name=TM_210/>

The circulation rose from 64,000 in 1965 to 67,000 in 1967; the modest 5% increase was exceeded only by ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Analog]]'' among the other science fiction magazines, and ''If'' won the Hugo Award for best professional SF magazine three years running during this period. However, in March 1969, Robert Guinn sold all four of his magazines, including ''Galaxy'' and ''If'', to Arnold Abramson at Universal Publishing and Distribution Corporation (UPD). Pohl was in [[Rio de Janeiro]] when he heard the news, and decided to resign his position as editor rather than continue under the new management. He had been considering a return to a writing career for some time and the change in ownership precipitated his decision to leave.<ref name=TM_281-2>Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp.&nbsp;281–282.</ref><ref name=GF_34>Ashley, ''Gateways to Forever'', p.&nbsp;34.</ref>

===Decline and merger with ''Galaxy''===
The new editor was [[Ejler Jakobsson]], though Pohl continued to be listed as editor emeritus on the masthead until the July–August 1970 issue.<ref name=issues/> Much of the editorial work was actually done by [[Judy-Lynn del Rey|Judy-Lynn Benjamin]], who was hired by Pohl in 1969 as an editorial assistant. The new regime failed to impress readers, and circulation dropped from over 67,000 for the year ending October 1968 to under 45,000 the following year, a drop of over 30%. ''If'' went bimonthly in May 1970, as Abramson attempted to juggle the frequency of publication of several of his titles to maximize profits; the page count and price were also adjusted more than once over the next year, again increasing profitability. Abramson also began a British distribution of ''If'', reprinted with a separate cover, priced in British currency. Circulation figures of the time show an increase of about 6,000 copies, but if this includes sales in the UK is not clear.<ref name=GF_53-6>Ashley, ''Gateways to Forever'', pp.&nbsp;53–56.</ref>

In May 1973, Judy-Lynn Benjamin (Judy-Lynn del Rey since her 1971 marriage to Lester del Rey) resigned. She was briefly replaced by Albert Dytch, but within four months, Dytch in turn left, and in August 1973, [[Jim Baen|James Baen]] joined UPD. He was made managing editor of ''If'' with effect from the January 1974 issue, and full editor one issue later; Jakobsson was listed as editor emeritus until the August 1974 issue. Baen had little opportunity to work with ''If'', however, as financial problems at UPD combined with the increasing cost of paper (a consequence of the rising price of oil) led to a decision to combine ''If'' with ''Galaxy''. Despite the fact that in 1974, ''If''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s circulation had exceeded ''Galaxy''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s for the first time,  ''Galaxy''  was retained and ''If'' was merged with it beginning with the January 1975 issue.<ref name=GF_56-62>Ashley, ''Gateways to Forever'', pp.&nbsp;56–62.</ref>

===Relaunches of the magazine===
In 1986, an attempt was made to revive ''If'' as a semiprofessional magazine. The only issue, dated September–October 1986, was edited by Clifford Hong.<ref name=Contento_WoI>{{cite web | url = http://www.locusmag.com/index/chklst/mg1196.htm| title = Worlds of If Checklist | access-date=23 February 2008|publisher = Stephen G. Miller and William T. Contento}}</ref><ref name=Tuck_569>Tuck, "''If''", p.&nbsp;569.</ref><ref name=LM_If>{{cite web | url = http://www.locusmag.com/index/t53.htm#A5912| title = Contents List | access-date=23 February 2008|publisher = Locus Press}}</ref>

''Worlds of IF'' was relaunched again in February 2024 by Starship Sloane Publishing, with [[Justin T. O'Conor Sloane]] as editor, Jean-Paul L. Garnier as deputy editor, [[Daniel Pomarède]] as science editor, and [[Robert Silverberg]] as a contributing editor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stableford |first=Brian |last2=Ashley |first2=Mike |last3=Nicholls |first3=Peter |last4=Langford |first4=Dave |date=March 4, 2024 |title=SFE: If |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/if |access-date=March 29, 2024 |website=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction}}</ref>  The first issue featured cover art by [[Bob Eggleton]], with reprinted fiction by Silverberg and [[David Brin]] among other notables.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 2024 |title=Table of contents |url=https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/acb0ae7f-adc1-4f9b-a137-abbcaae4fef9/downloads/WorldsOfIF_1.pdf?ver=1711468192422 |journal=Worlds of If |volume=1 |issue=177 |pages=2}}</ref>