"An Apology for the Devil: It must be remembered that we have only heard one side of the case. God has written all the books." – Samuel Butler (1835-1902)
The above epigraph perhaps serves best to summarize the science fiction community's current hostility to L. Ron Hubbard's publishers, in the wake of Conspiracy '87. SF fandom has always enjoyed a lively feud, and here it appears to have one of its own making, based on innuendo and ignorance.
I come neither to bury these publishers, nor to praise them; but instead I find myself in the unenviable role of moderator, attempting to present the facts – as I know them – in a concise and unprejudiced manner.
Possibly more than anyone else in the SF field, I was personally involved with the roles played by New Era and Bridge Publications throughout the 45th World Science Fiction Convention. For three months up to and including the Brighton gathering, I was employed by New Era as a freelance promotion and publicity consultant, and much of their high-profile presence at the convention was a direct result of my knowledge and suggestions. The work I did for New Era is no different to what I do for any other publisher, and I believe the resultant bad feeling generated can be blamed equally on the Bridge representatives and the Conspiracy steering committee.
But before I discuss the convention, let me briefly outline my attitude and earlier involvement with New Era: For several years now I have been readily accepting advertising from this publisher on a wide range of magazines I've been involved with. I am not naive, nor do I consider myself stupid: Like many of you, I assume that if you check deeply enough, you'll discover that the publishers of Hubbard's Mission Earth dekalogy and sponsors of the Writers of the Future contest are financed by the controversial Church of Scientology. I do not know this for a fact, but I take it for granted. I am also aware of how evil this cult is portrayed in America, and the stories surrounding them are often both unpleasant and frightening (ask L. Sprague and Catherine de Camp or even Toby Roxburgh sometime about their experiences at the hands of Scientologists....)
Scientology, like any other cult or fanatical religion, can be a dangerous influence, and if you are willing to shake hands with the Devil, then you must be prepared to accept the consequences.... I decided to take their money. They have plenty of it, and if it can be used to support a magazine, enhance a convention, or give impetus to a writer's career, then I believe that is money well spent. Of course this is ultimately a moral decision, and I can justifiably be accused of complacency; however, you don't have to buy the books or drink the free wine – that is always the choice of the individual.
I have little respect for Hubbard's space-opera novels (although they are perennial best-sellers, as a glance at any Locus list will testify), but the Writers of the Future contest remains a worthwhile endeavour that deserves the continued support of the entire SF community.
Hubbard apparently said that the contest was his legacy to the field that had nurtured him as a young pulp writer during the late 1930s and early '40s. There is no denying that it is a brilliant concept, and to date it has been phenomenally successful, with a new generation of SF and fantasy writers emerging from its ranks – Karen Joy Fowler, Leonard Carpenter, Dean Wesley Smith, Martha Soukup, Kim Antieau and Doug Beason, to name only a few.
And there are others who share my enthusiasm for the Writers of the Future contest: Hubbard specified that all the judges had to be professional writers, and these have included Algis Budrys, Robert Silverberg, Gene Wolfe, Anne McCaffrey, Frederik Pohl and Ramsey Campbell amongst others – all people I know and respect, and who no doubt had to make their own moral judgement when asked to support the contest.
Earlier this year I was asked by New Era's Robert Springall to help organize a short publicity tour for Gene Wolfe, who was here to promote Writers of the Future. I readily agreed. Despite the very short notice, we set up a series of interviews, a signing at Forbidden Planet and a small reception. Gene enjoyed his stay, nobody complained, and Robert seemed pleased with the results.
I was therefore not too surprised when he approached me again a couple of months later for help and advice in creating a strong profile for the Writers of the Future contest at Conspiracy. It turned out to be an interesting challenge: New Era and Bridge had a reasonably large budget but, despite popular belief, they did not possess unlimited funds with which to buy respectability from SF fandom. They also realize that it has to be earned.
The first promotional idea I came up with was enthusiastically received but later had to be abandoned as being too grandiose for the time and money available. Consequently, we decided to extend the Writers of the Future workshops to Britain in 1988. Robert Springall and I initially discussed the basic problems involved in organizing such gatherings, and then I approached Lisa Tuttle (whose experience and expertise with writers' workshops was well-known to me) and asked her to oversee the entire programme on behalf of new Era.
Here was an opportunity for the Writers of the Future contest to make a significant contribution to British science fiction, to develop and nurture the skills of young writers in this country into the 1990s and beyond. It was an audacious concept, and Lisa needed convincing. But finally, in return for a promise that she would control the syllabus and choose the professionals she wanted to work with her, Lisa agreed to become involved.
With the idea of British workshops successfully launched, we next had to decide how to promote them at Conspiracy: New Era and Bridge were already one of the convention's largest sponsors, but Robert wanted original and effective methods of getting their name across to more than 5000 members.
Firstly, we designed a Writers of the Future stand; a closed-in environment where, throughout the convention, fans and especially would-be authors could meet professional writers at set times and discuss techniques and story ideas in comfortable surroundings. In conjunction with the stand, we created a Writers Starter Pack – a useful free folder, containing an introductory press release, an essay on how to lay-out manuscripts by Lisa, articles on writing fiction by Algis Budrys and L. Ron Hubbard, information about the contest and forthcoming workshops, and a comprehensive market report listing magazine and book publishers both here and in America.
After moving from a near-deserted exhibition area to a more central concourse, the stand proved to be a remarkable success, with hundreds of people discussing their work with published writers and taking away Starter Packs. Media attention was also extensive, and I don't believe that anyone was particularly offended by this worthwhile attempt to develop the skills of budding authors.
However, problems had already arisen regarding the proposed British workshops. From what I can gather, representatives from the American-based Bridge Publications approached Lisa Tuttle and began to detail, in no uncertain terms, how she should organize an "official" Writers of the Future workshop and the various doctrines that should be employed. As this approach directly contradicted everything New Era had promised her, Lisa consequently resigned from the programme, as did a number of her professional colleagues. However, the British workshops are still set to start in 1988 with, I believe, Algis Budrys now in charge.
There were also problems with New Era's more commercially-orientated projects: Following consultations with the convention committee, the publisher agreed to "sponsor" the Conspiracy '87 Pocket Programme. In return for covering the print and design costs, New Era could use the booklet exclusively to advertise the Writers of the Future contest, exhibition stand and planned UK workshops. For the full-colour cover I suggested they reprint the beautiful wrap-around painting of the "butterfly woman" by Frank Frazetta, used as the cover for Writers of the Future, Volume III. This is Frazetta's first science fiction painting for many years, and Robert Springall had already organized the colour separations when the convention committee decided to ban the painting, under the pretext that it was "sexist". This decision was clearly ludicrous in light of some of the masquerade costumes and paintings in the art show, and the Frazetta illustration itself was used to maximum effect on the exhibition stand; however, I have been told that at least a couple of the committee members threatened to resign if the painting appeared on the cover of the booklet.
Given a limited deadline, New Era was forced to acquiesce to the demands of the committee, and the compromise agreed on by both parties depicted the Earth in the grip of a studded, militaristic fist – surely an offensive and potentially inflammatory image that could hardly be considered an improvement?
The committee also slighted New Era and Bridge representatives when they arrived for the masquerade (an event to which they had donated a great deal of money) only to discover that no seating had been reserved for them – a situation which was swiftly rectified by the organizers.
Yet, undoubtedly, the convention committee's biggest blunder was to allow Algis Budrys to speak at the beginning of the Hugo Awards ceremony; I was as offended as the rest of the audience by Budrys's ill-judged, blatantly opportunistic speech, ostensibly designed to introduce Ramsey Campbell as the latest Writers of the Future judge, but which carried on as a rallying cry for L. Ron Hubbard and his ideology. No wonder that master of ceremonies Peter Nicholls was upset and angered by this outburst.
According to convention chairman Malcolm Edwards, the committee had agreed to allow Budrys to say a few words, but had also given the writer certain instructions which he chose to ignore. However, as no other publisher was allowed to make a promotional address as part of the Hugo ceremony, why did the organizers feel justified in extending this special prerogative to Budrys?
Following the awards presentation, New Era and Bridge had agreed to host the "official" Winners Party against the backdrop of the fireworks display. With the committee's agreement, they set up an attractive photographic area in the Brighton Centre's Skyline Restaurant, and invitations were distributed amongst attending professionals, journalists and photographers. Champagne was available for the winners, with free wine and food for the other guests.
This party was a great success, with the room soon filled to overflowing. After the fans had taken their photographs downstairs, the Hugo winners were ushered into the restaurant, where they posed for photographers and waited to be interviewed. Once again, despite rumours to the contrary, the photographic area had a neutral backdrop and no journalists were turned away at the door. There were certainly no complaints to the press room the following day.
Sometime around the middle of the weekend I became aware of a small, but growing, anti-Hubbard/Scientology movement within the convention. The booing during the Hugo ceremony when Black Genesis was nominated was perhaps expected (although Gene Wolfe's comment "Shame on you" was precisely the right response), but even more offensive was a piece of poorly-photocopied propaganda circulated on toilet walls. Not only did the individuals responsible appear to have access to unlimited xerox facilities, but their spelling was terrible!
I wasn't around for the now well-publicized wine-throwing fracas between Dave Langford and Bridge's Fred Harris, but even from the conflicting reports from eye-witnesses, such behaviour does neither individual much credit.
With disproportionate stories circulating on both sides of the Atlantic, both New Era and Bridge are justifiably perplexed at the acrimony their presence at Conspiracy seems to have provoked amongst some sections of the SF community. There is little doubt in my mind that the American publishers misjudged their approach to individuals and tarnished the image they had created for themselves, while the convention committee showed a total lack of responsibility in the level of sponsorship they courted from Hubbard's publishers. Perhaps even sadder for me is the way that some individuals, initially willing to align themselves with the Writers of the Future workshops, have been at the forefront of those casting the first stones...
If the SF field wants to stem the growing influence of New Era and Bridge (as has been suggested to me), then it must come up with a viable alternative – simply ignoring them would not achieve any real effect. It's time that the major British genre publishing houses – Futura, Grafton, Gollancz, Transworld, etc. – worked together to give a small part of their profits back to the science fiction community, rather than squandering money on lavish publicity parties for a select few, such as they did at Conspiracy.
Whatever your opinion of L. Ron Hubbard's talent, the worth of the Writers of the Future contest, or the suspected links with Scientology, you cannot deny that New Era and Bridge Publications attempted – quite successfully in my opinion – to make Conspiracy '87 a more enjoyable convention for everyone concerned. That can't be a bad thing. And remember, if they had really wanted to buy a Hugo Award for Black Genesis with multiple voting ballots, they easily could have...
In the final analysis, we must all consult our own conscience in our dealings with these publishers. Yet, for the time being at least, I'll continue to drink their wine and support their endeavours to bring talented new people into the field. However, to mis-quote George Bernard Shaw:
"Is the Devil to have all the best writers as well as all the good tunes?"
Think about it...