This past weekend I had the chance to spend some time with Mr. Steve Saffel of Del Rey to talk about Conan, Howard, and other subjects.

For those of you who do not know who he is Mr. Saffel is an executive editor at Del Rey and the man responsible for getting the tradepaper collections of Conan, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mac Morn out to the public.

He was one of the speakers at the Marcon convention and I want to thank him for taking the time to speak with me.

When I first saw Mr. Saffel he was doing something that would have terrorized me if I was in his position. He was holding the attenation of close to a dozen children and keeping them entertained. You see, he was hosting a panel for children about how to create, and design, their own superheros. And doing a very good job of it.
Later, when I got the chance to actually speak with him I could understand how he was able to do this.

Mr. Saffel is a very open and honest person. During our entire conversation I never once got the feeling that he was just waiting to jump in and direct the course or change the subject. And if he was just being kind till he could get away, I never realized it. I have to admit that al of this helped to put me at ease during the time we talked.

One thing that became clear very early is that he is a fan of the fantasy genre. During the conversation he mentioned writers and characters that only someone who is very familar with the material of the past 30 years would know. Not in the sense that these are needed for his job, but rather that he has read the stories and enjoyed them for his own personal reasons. He has taken that love for the material and made it his job.

One of those loves is Robert E. Howard. During our talk he mentioned titles that I was not aware of untill I joined this forum. He talked about reading them and what, in his opinion, made Howard such a great writer. We talked about Howard's life and how he was able to transfer his feelings about the world around him to his writing. And how, as a working writer getting paid by the story, he was different then todays writers and how this showed in his style and characters. It was obvious that this was a man who had read REH and, like most of us, was trying to get a better insight about him. BTW, thanks for not cutting me off on my theory about The Queen of the Black Coast.

In addition we talk about current authors. He feels that Gemmel is one of the few authors who is close to Howard in feel and style.

One of the topics was the sales of the current trades. Seems that while the first Conan book sold very well that cannot be said for the later books. The second Conan and Solomon Kane have sold a 3rd less. So while it sounds cliched, we do need to do our part to help get the word out.

You see, Mr. Saffel would like to get more of Howard's stories out in tradepaper editions. However publishing is a business. If the sales are not there it is hard for him to convince his bosses to put the money into it. More on this later. One other matter is the degree he downplays his involvement in getting Howard published. He's quick to praise Rusty Burke and Wandering Star for getting the material put together. Also, he wanted to make sure that we know that a lot of people spend a great deal of effort in making sure the trades were the best that they could be. While he only mentioned one by name he wanted us to know that it really is a team effort. So thank you to everyone who worked on these books and thanks to Erin. She's the one who made sure that the transfer of the original color artwork to black and white was the best that it could be. As to his own involvement. He says that his job was little more then spelling checks and and getting the names right. I suspect that it was much more then that.

Now here's the part you have been waiting for. What new material is coming out in the future?

I can't tell you.

Now hold on. Yes, characters, titles, and authors were mentioned but before you start posting nasty replys let me explain. I promised that no mention would be made of forth coming books unless he agreed to it. Because publishing is a business, people don't like rumours or leaks before all the contracts are signed. I would not like to be the person who killed a deal because of a post that I made. Besides, Mr. Saffel is the individual who is putting the effort into getting these things brought into print. I feel that it is only right that he should have the pleasure of telling us when any new books might be getting released.
However, I will pass along a question that was asked of me.

"What other Howard stories would you like to see published?"

Mr. Saffel would like to get more Howard out to us. The problem is that REH produced a large amount of material. So please, think about what you would like to see back in print and reply. It just might help fuuture choices. It also brings us back to the subject of sales.

If the money is not there, there is little Mr. Saffel can do to convince people that there is a profit in printing more Howard. So please do what you can to spread the word. Post on other boards, convince your friends that this is an author that they want to read. Talk to your local booksellers about putting up displays. We both agreed that this is area where the fans can have a direct input. It literally is up to us to keep Howard in print.

That pretty much covers all the high points. Again I would like to thank Mr. Saffel for taking the time to talk with me. In addition I would like him to pass on my thanks to all those who work and effort allowed; Conan, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mac Morn to once again become part of my life. And I hope that Mr. Saffel will continue to post here, as time permits, and keep us updated on any forthcoming projects.

Great post Kane! Sounds like you had a great time interviewing Mr. Saffel. I got your message loud and clear and will do my part to help sales! This last weekend my brother went and purchased both of the Conan reprints. Now to get him to purchase Soloman Kane. I was going to bypass the Bran Mak Morn book since I have the hardcover but I'll add it to my list and hope we can continue seeing more Howard by Del Rey.

Great post Kane. I would like to thank all involved with the project as well. They're doing an absolutely stand-up job. The books look fantastic, feel very durable and well made, and contain everything a Howard fan could want.

I've been trying to get a lot of my friends who enjoy the fantasy genre to give Howards writing a try. One way I've achieved this is by buying the books for them as birthday and christmas gifts. It's a great way to further the cause of getting Howards work out there, at the same time I get to further my own ends a little by seeing the local book store have to reorder the Del Reys. Keeps the interest flowing.

Kane writes- "What other Howard stories would you like to see published?"
Mr. Saffel would like to get more Howard out to us. The problem is that REH produced a large amount of material. So please, think about what you would like to see back in print and reply. It just might help fuuture choices.


I think Ballantine is doing great-- just keep doing it. Obviously, I would love to see the third and final Conan volume. After that I have heard that Wandering Star is going to do King Kull next year, so Ballantine should definitely do that one too. Bison Books seems to have beaten Ballantine to some of the other Howard series with their recent release of five Howard volumes. But the one thing that has never been done is a really comprehensive, scholarly collection of Howard's complete miscellaneous Weird stories. I don't think you could even get them all into one book-- there is about fifty of them, might take two or three volumes.

But if Ballantine can come out with Conan, Kane, Bran, and Kull, they will be doing really great in my opinion. So far I have bought not only the Wandering Star editions, but also the Ballantine paperbacks as well as the Sci-fi book club hardbacks too. And I also have given them to friends for Christmas, etc. I have tried to spread the word about these Del Rey Howard books, as THE literary event of the year, at least in the science fantasy genre.

The sales are disappointing , hopefully the 3rd Conan volume will do better though I imagine Bran will possibly be the least popular . What does this bode for the future ?

Well so far we just have the first Del Rey Conan Hardcover announced . That's on my list certainly . I just hope that the sales justify DR carrying on with the others.

I hope that , at least , DR do a deal with WS to reprint the Kull book in the same format . My worry is that this will be the final " known " character . If the sales are slipping will DR want to take a risk on other works , especially with books from Bison and Wildside in the market.

If DR don't do a deal with WS will that put pressure on WS to look at what they are doing in the future . I'm sure some of the books they have planned won't sell as well as their other books. By the sound of it Steve wants to get more books out there . Perhaps a formal tie-up with WS to come up with an overall strategy for the future planning wise so that DR aren't just tagging along on WS's coat-tails ?

What can we do ? Well spread the word everyone . I'll be copying this to the other forums I'm on .

But do DR need to look at the format of the books . I , and I'm sure most here , think they are terrific . But we are the converted . For " Mr Average Fantasy Reader " are they too nice and classy looking ? Would we be better with a more barbaric looking Conan cover ala Frazetta or Nord ? The Gollancz Conan Chronicles covers , although poorly drawn , IMO , are possibly more what readers expect a Conan cover to look like . Should the Solomon Kane cover look more like a rip-off of Jackman/Van Helsing ? Should the books be normal paperback size ? Just a few thoughts , the contents are right of course , is the presentation ?

I also think that , however good a job Steve Jones did on the Chronicles , as well as others who helped him at times , that it's about time a deal was struck between CPI , WS , DR and Gollancz to get the DR books on bookshelves _world-wide_.

Terry

I wonder if Del Rey has been seriously pushing these books. I am very surprised that "The bloody crown of Conan" is not available at all from Amazon.ca. Granted, that is just a small market; but if the book isn't mentioned there, where else might it pass under the radar?

Great post btw, Kane.


Cheers!

- Ben

Terry writes-But do DR need to look at the format of the books . I , and I'm sure most here , think they are terrific . But we are the converted . For " Mr Average Fantasy Reader " are they too nice and classy looking ? Would we be better with a more barbaric looking Conan cover ala Frazetta or Nord ?


They were originally going to put Frazetta on the covers, since they didn't have the rights to the WS cover paintings. Maybe they should go back to that idea, and come out with an alternate cover edition of the two Conan books. That way most of us would feel compelled to buy them yet again!

I have a feeling the books would sell a lot better if they were regular paperback sized, contained only the prose and miscellanea, and no additional sketches etc. I think that by doing that they could reduce the cost to produce the book thereby selling them at regular pb prices. I think that would go over better with Joe Public.

Guys like us however, who love everything on Howard and as much art as we can get our hands on, well, keep them coming as is. Maybe down the road DR could release a cheaper version to make a better profit.

PB books may sell better.

How about Breckenridge Elkins stories? Really funny comedy. And it may lead to REH's other Western stuff.

I'm collecting comments from around and will post here in a few days . Hopefully Steve will " pop in " and have a look.

Terry