Editing Galaxy Science Fiction (section)

===Origins and 1950s===
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|colspan="13" style="font-size: 8pt; text-align:left"|Issues of ''Galaxy'' from 1950 to 1959, showing volume/issue number. H. L. Gold<br/>was editor throughout the 1950s.<ref name=TA_290-309/>
|}[[H. L. Gold]], ''Galaxy''{{'s}} first editor, had worked at [[Thrilling Publications|Standard Magazines]] in the early 1940s as an assistant editor, reading for Standard's three science fiction pulps: ''[[Startling Stories]]'', ''[[Thrilling Wonder]]'', and ''[[Captain Future (magazine)|Captain Future]]''.<ref name=TM_25>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;25.</ref>  With the advent of the war, Gold left publishing and went into the army, but in late 1949 he was approached by Vera Cerutti, who had once worked for him. Cerutti was now working for a French-Italian publisher, Éditions Mondiales Del Duca founded by [[Cino Del Duca]],<ref name="Sosio">{{Cite news|url=http://www.fantascienza.com/22690/galaxy-svelato-il-mistero-dell-editore-italiano-che-la-fondo|title=Galaxy, svelato il mistero dell'editore italiano che la fondò|author=Silvio Sosio|work=Fantascienza.com|access-date=2017-07-20|language=it}}</ref> that had opened an office in New York as World Editions.<ref name=TM_25/>  She initially asked Gold for guidance on how to produce a magazine, which he provided. World Editions took a heavy loss on ''Fascination'', its first attempt to launch a US magazine, and Cerutti returned to Gold asking for recommendations for new titles.<ref name="ESF_1068"/><ref name="TA_290-309">Lawler, "Galaxy Science Fiction", pp.&nbsp;290–309.</ref><ref name=G30_2>H. L. Gold, "Gold on Galaxy", in Pohl, Greenberg & Olander, ''Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction'', p.&nbsp;2.</ref> Gold knew about ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', a digest launched in the fall of 1949, but felt that there was still room in the market for another serious science fiction magazine.<ref name=TM_25/> He sent a prospectus to World Editions that included a proposal for a series of paperback sf novels as well as a periodical,<ref name=G30_4>H. L. Gold, "Gold on Galaxy", in Pohl, Greenberg & Olander, ''Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction'', p.&nbsp;4.</ref><ref name=TA_293/> and proposed paying three cents a word, an impressively high rate, given that most competing magazines were paying only one cent a word.  World Editions agreed, hired Gold as the editor, and the first issue appeared in October 1950.<ref name=TM_25/>  The novel series subsequently appeared as ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction Novels]]''.<ref name=G30_4/>

Gold initially suggested two titles for the magazine, ''If'' and ''Galaxy''.  Gold's art director, Washington Irving van der Poel, mocked up multiple layouts and Gold invited hundreds of writers, editors, artists, and fans to view them and vote for their favorite; the vote was strongly for ''Galaxy'' as the title.<ref name=G30_4/>{{#tag:ref|The distinctive cover lettering was designed by Frank Conley, the first husband of Gold's wife, Nicky.<ref name="G30_4"/>|group=notes}}  For the first issue, Gold obtained stories by several well-known authors, including [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Fritz Leiber]], and [[Theodore Sturgeon]], as well as part one of ''Time Quarry'' by [[Clifford D. Simak]] (later published in book form as ''Time and Again'').  Along with an essay by Gold, ''Galaxy''{{'s}} premiere issue introduced a book review column by anthologist [[Groff Conklin]], which ran until 1955, and a [[Willy Ley]] science column.  Gold sought to  implement high-quality printing techniques, though the quality of the available paper was insufficient for the full benefits to be seen.<ref name=TA_290-309/> Within months, the outbreak of the Korean War led to paper shortages that forced Gold to find a new printer, Robert M. Guinn. The new paper was of even lower quality, a disappointment to Gold.{{#tag:ref|Gold's recollections of the change include a comment that only one issue was missed in making the switch to Guinn; this is presumably an error on his part, as ''Galaxy'' did not miss an issue till 1955.<ref name=WWTTOL_150>H. L. Gold, "Gold on Gold", in Gold, ''"What Will They Think Of Last?"'', p.&nbsp;150.</ref>|group=notes}}<ref name=WWTTOL_150/>  According to Gold, the magazine was profitable within five issues: an "incredible" achievement, in his words.<ref name=G30_5/>

In the summer of 1951, disagreements within World Editions led to attempts to disrupt ''Galaxy''{{'s}} distribution.<ref name=TM_32>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;32.</ref>  According to Gold, the circulation director and the head of the American office stockpiled many issues instead of distributing them, and made sure that the ones that did get distributed went to areas of the United States, such as the South, where there was little or no audience for the magazine.{{#tag:ref|Gold does not name the two men involved, but according to ''Galaxy''{{'s}} masthead during this period the president of World Editions was George A. Gogniat, and the circulation director (who was listed only from June through September 1951) was Frederick Allardt.<ref name=issues/>|group=notes}}  The head of the French office of World Editions came to the United States to find out what the problem was, and recommended that the magazine be sold to the two Americans, for $3,000—a very low price.  They tried to recruit Gold, but he contacted the Italian office, which rejected the sale and eventually agreed to sell ''Galaxy'' to the printer, Robert M. Guinn. It was only after the sale was complete that the sabotaged distribution came to light; World Editions wanted to buy back the magazine, but Guinn quoted a price four times as high as he had paid.  In Gold's words, "he, Guinn, knew what he was buying, whereas World Editions hadn't known what they were selling".<ref name=WWTTOL_151>H. L. Gold, "Gold on Gold", in Gold, ''"What Will They Think Of Last?"'', p.&nbsp;151.</ref>

Guinn's new company was named Galaxy Publishing Corporation, and it took over beginning with the October 1951 issue.  Gold remained as editor, but lost the assistance of staff at World Editions, relying instead on help from [[Jerome Bixby]], [[Algis Budrys]], [[Theodore Sturgeon]], and Gold's wife, Evelyn Paige. Science fiction author [[Frederik Pohl]], then working as a literary agent, was also helpful in connecting writers with Gold.<ref name=TM_32/>

By the late 1950s, the science fiction magazine boom was over, and the relatively low circulation of the magazines did not endear them to distributors, the middlemen who transported magazines from the publishers to the newsstands and other outlets. Gold changed the title from ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' to ''Galaxy Magazine'' with the September 1958 issue, commenting that the term ''science fiction'' "scares many people away from buying".  ''Galaxy''{{'s}} circulation, at about 90,000, was the highest of the science fiction magazines, but Guinn decided to cut costs, and in 1959 raised the cover price and changed the magazine to a bimonthly schedule, while increasing the page count.  Guinn also cut the rates paid to authors from three (and occasionally four) cents a word to one and a half cents a word.  These changes saved ''Galaxy'' over $12,000 a year.  The result was a fall in circulation to about 80,000 within two years, but this was sustainable because of the savings from the fiction budget.<ref name=TM_198-200>Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp.&nbsp;198–200.</ref>{{refn|According to critic and author [[Kingsley Amis]], in his survey of science fiction published in 1960, ''Galaxy'' had a circulation of 125,000 at the time he was writing, which does not match Ashley's figures. Amis gives no source for his number.<ref name=NMOH_48>Amis, ''New Maps of Hell'', p.&nbsp;48.</ref>|group=notes}}