Countdown for Publishers

In midsummer 1957 I was told that there were seventeen different book manuscripts ready in manuscript or even in type, all of them dealing with Project Vanguard and all of them to be released at the time the first Vanguard rocket put the first artificial satellite into the sky. To the writers of these manuscripts and to their prospective publishers the appearance of Sputnik No. 1 on October 4, 1957, must have been as much of a blow as the complete failure of the first Vanguard rocket on December 6. I did not mention Sputnik No. 2 in this sentence because everybody was still so numb because of No. 1 that the appearance of No. 2 did not make much difference. All this, of course, happily changed with the successful Vanguard launching on March 17 (see the exuberant publishers’ advertising since), and most happily for Dutton who were able to hit the nail right on the head with a new pitch for Martin Caidin’s Vanguard! ($3.95).

I don’t know whether the figure of seventeen manuscripts that was quoted to me was correct or not. But about half that number have made their appearance by now. In some cases the authors had the bad luck that their books were being distributed in anticipation of the Vanguard shot just about the time Sputnik took up its orbit around the earth. Other manuscripts were still in page proof at the moment, which gave their authors a chance to tack on a quick chapter on Sputnik; unfortunately they could not go over the rest of the book and remove what was evidently obsolete. David O. Woodbury’s Around the World in 90 Minutes (Harcourt, $5.75) falls into this category.

WL

About the Author

Willy Ley

Featured Tags

In midsummer 1957 I was told that there were seventeen different book manuscripts ready in manuscript or even in type, all of them dealing with Project Vanguard and all of them to be released at the time the first Vanguard rocket put the first artificial satellite into the sky. To the writers of these manuscripts and to their prospective publishers the appearance of Sputnik No. 1 on October 4, 1957, must have been as much of a blow as the complete failure of the first Vanguard rocket on December 6. I did not mention Sputnik No. 2 in this sentence because everybody was still so numb because of No. 1 that the appearance of No. 2 did not make much difference. All this, of course, happily changed with the successful Vanguard launching on March 17 (see the exuberant publishers’ advertising since), and most happily for Dutton who were able to hit the nail right on the head with a new pitch for Martin Caidin’s Vanguard! ($3.95).

I don’t know whether the figure of seventeen manuscripts that was quoted to me was correct or not. But about half that number have made their appearance by now. In some cases the authors had the bad luck that their books were being distributed in anticipation of the Vanguard shot just about the time Sputnik took up its orbit around the earth. Other manuscripts were still in page proof at the moment, which gave their authors a chance to tack on a quick chapter on Sputnik; unfortunately they could not go over the rest of the book and remove what was evidently obsolete. David O. Woodbury’s Around the World in 90 Minutes (Harcourt, $5.75) falls into this category.