Editing Galaxy Science Fiction (section)

===Early years===
Gold intended ''Galaxy'' to publish stories of sufficient literary quality to attract readers of the slick magazines, as well as those who came to ''Galaxy'' already familiar with genre science fiction.<ref name=AshleyV3_57>Ashley, ''History of SF Magazine Vol. 3'', p.&nbsp;57</ref>  His editorial policy was broader than that of [[John W. Campbell, Jr.|John W. Campbell]], the editor of the leading magazine in the field, ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'': Gold was interested in sociology, psychology, and other "soft" sciences, and was also willing to publish humorous and satirical stories.<ref name=Nicholls_462>Malcolm Edwards & Peter Nicholls, "Galaxy Science Fiction", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (1993), pp.&nbsp;462–464</ref>  Gold managed to persuade the publisher to let him offer three to four cents a word, which exceeded the highest rates paid in the field at that time.<ref name=Nicholls_462/>{{refn|Initially the rate was three cents on acceptance; ''Astounding'' sometimes paid three cents a word, but only as a bonus rate.   By 1953 the rate went as high as four cents a word for writers who appeared regularly.<ref name=TM_24/><ref name=SFH_115>de Camp, ''Science-Fiction Handbook'', p.&nbsp;115.</ref> ''Astounding'' soon matched ''Galaxy''{{'s}} rates.<ref name=TA_293>Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines'', p.&nbsp;293</ref>|group=notes}}  In addition to the high rates, ''Galaxy'' was an attractive market for writers because Gold bought only first magazine rights, unlike the other leading magazines.<ref name=TA_293/> ''Galaxy'' was quickly established as one of the three leading science fiction magazines, along with Campbell's ''Astounding'' and ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' (usually abbreviated to ''F&SF'').<ref name=TA_290-309/>  Campbell had been enormously influential over the previous decade, but the appearance of ''Galaxy'' and ''F&SF'', launched just a year before, marked the end of his dominance of the genre.<ref name=Nicholls_188>Malcolm Edwards, "John Wood Campbell, Jr.", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (1993), pp.&nbsp;187–188</ref>

[[Image:GalaxyOct50rearcover.jpg|thumb|left|Rear cover of first issue]]

The cover for the first issue was by David Stone, depicting a scene from Simak's ''Time Quarry''. The image was muted, in contrast to the sensational art typically found on the covers of the sf pulps; the intention was that ''Galaxy'' should look like an sf  magazine, but one "that you were not embarrassed to hold", in the words of Mike Ashley.<ref name=TM_24/>  The early artwork was generally unremarkable, though [[Ed Emshwiller]]'s humorous cover for the June 1951 issue, his first professional sale as an artist, was a positive sign. "Emsh", as he was known to science fiction readers, soon became a regular contributor.<ref name=Nicholls_462/><ref name=Ortiz_31>Ortiz, ''Emshwiller'', p.&nbsp;31</ref>  The relatively expensive production processes that Gold had insisted on enabled more sophisticated internal artwork, which could be integrated with type in ways not possible with cheaper [[letterpress printing]].<ref name=G30_xiv>Frederik Pohl, "Introduction", in Pohl, Greenberg & Olander, ''Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction'', p.&nbsp;xiv.</ref>

On the rear cover of the first issue, Gold ran a feature called "You'll Never See It In ''Galaxy''!",  with two paragraphs side by side&mdash;one a parody of the introduction to a space western, the other the same story translated to become a true western, with spaceships replaced by horses.  A sample: "He cut out his super-hyper-drive for the landing ... and at that point, a tall, lean spaceman stepped out of the tail assembly, proton gun-blaster in a space-tanned hand" became "He spurred hard for a low overhang of rimrock ... and at that point a tall, lean wrangler stepped out from behind a high boulder, six-shooter in a sun-tanned hand".<ref name=issues/>  The feature drew much attention, though [[James Blish]] commented that ''Galaxy'' did not always avoid printing the kind of fiction it parodied.<ref name=GDLY_9>Rosheim, ''Galaxy Magazine'', p.&nbsp;9.</ref><ref name=MIAH_111>Blish, ''More Issues At Hand'', p.&nbsp;111.</ref>

In the first issue, Gold asked for reader feedback on what should be included in the magazine—letters, editorials, book reviews, or other features.  The response was against a letter column,{{refn|According to Gold, there were 6,000 letters from readers, 85 percent of which were against a letter column.<ref name=G30_5>H. L. Gold, "Gold on Galaxy", in Pohl, Greenberg & Olander, ''Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction'', p.&nbsp;5.</ref>|group=notes}} but the readers wanted editorials, and short book reviews with recommendations that would help them identify what books to buy, as opposed to in-depth criticism.<ref name=TM_27>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;27.</ref>  Gold was also concerned that harsh critical reviews would scare away new authors who might otherwise submit their work.<ref name=MIAH_19>Atheling, ''More Issues At Hand'', p.&nbsp;19.</ref> Groff Conklin began a book review column, called "''Galaxy''{{'s}} Five Star Shelf", in the first issue;{{refn|Conklin's column appeared in every issue until October 1955 except those of March 1951 and April and August 1955.<ref name=issues/>|group=notes}}<ref name=Tuck_565-567/> Floyd Gale took it over with the November 1955 issue—Gale was in fact Gold's brother, using a slightly modified surname.<ref name=Rosheim_77-8>Rosheim, ''Galaxy Magazine'', pp.&nbsp;77–78.</ref> The inaugural issue also included a competition for readers to explain UFOs in under 200 words, the first of many contests Gold would run.<ref name=THSFM3_57>Ashley, ''History of the SF Magazine Vol. 3'', p.&nbsp;57.</ref>

The first six issues contained stories by well-known authors, including some that became highly regarded such as Fritz Leiber's "Coming Attraction", [[Damon Knight]]'s "[[To Serve Man (short story)|To Serve Man]]", and [[Ray Bradbury]]'s "The Fireman", later expanded as ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]''.<ref name=Nicholls_462/> Gold considered these early issues exploratory, and some of the material by major names was clearly lesser work.<ref name=TA_294-5>Tymn & Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines'', pp.&nbsp;294–295.</ref> With its second volume, beginning in April 1951, ''Galaxy'' achieved consistently high quality, with virtually every issue featuring a story that would have a lasting reputation, including [[Cyril M. Kornbluth|C. M. Kornbluth]]'s "[[The Marching Morons]]", [[Wyman Guin]]'s "Beyond Bedlam", and [[Robert Heinlein]]'s ''[[The Puppet Masters]]'', whose serialization overlapped volumes 2 and 3.<ref name=Nicholls_462/><ref name=TA_294-5/><ref>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;30.</ref> Early feedback from readers had been opposed to serialized novels, but here Gold did not follow their opinion, and ''Galaxy'' is remembered for featuring some very successful serials.<ref name=TA_292/> A contemporary anthology of science fiction stories, [[E. F. Bleiler]] and [[T. E. Dikty]]'s ''The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1951'', commented in an editorial that Gold's work "will succeed in placing science-fiction on an equal basis with any other field of modern literature".<ref>Quoted in Rosheim, ''Galaxy Magazine'', p.&nbsp;32.</ref>  With a circulation of over 100,000 in its second year, ''Galaxy'' surpassed ''Astounding''.<ref name=TM_32-3>Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp.&nbsp;32–33.</ref>