Donald M. Grant, Publisher

This article is about the publishing company. For the founder of this company, see Donald M. Grant.

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. is a fantasy and science fiction small press publisher in New Hampshire that was founded in 1964. It is notable for publishing fantasy and horror novels with lavish illustrations, most notably Stephen King's The Dark Tower series and the King/Peter Straub novel The Talisman.

History

Donald M. Grant first entered the small field back in 1945; he served as the revitalising spark for the specialty presses. He was one of the founders of Grant-Hadley Enterprises and was associated with the two other publishing imprints, The Buffalo Book Company and The Hadley Publishing Co., that grew out of the original company. After Hadley folded in 1948, Grant decided to start a new imprint with a new partner, James J. Donahue. Grant and Donahue named their new imprint The Grandon Company. Their first book was The Port of Peril by Otis Adelbert Kline. Grandon put out four other books over the next nine years before ceasing operations.

Six years later, in 1964, Grant re-entered publishing. This time he used his own name for the imprint, as Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. The first book published under the new imprint was a huge, attractively done bibliography, A Golden Anniversary Bibliography of Edgar Rice Burroughs, by Rev. Henry Hardy Heins. It was a success and sold out of its printing of 2,000 within two months of publication, providing needed capital.[1] Grant had developed a relationship with Glenn Lord, the executor of the Robert E. Howard estate. Lord suggested reprinting a new edition of Howard's incredibly rare first book, A Gent from Bear Creek, a collection of westerns. Done in an edition of only 400 copies, the book sold with appalling slowness. However,Grant went on to cautiously publish several additional works by Howard.

In 1968, his edition of Red Shadows by Howard featuring color plates by Jeff Jones sold out so quickly that Grant was forced to print a second edition. It was a turning point. Howard was beginning to sell in hardcover as the Conan books became bestsellers in paperback and comic book form. More importantly, Grant saw that there was a market for attractively done books, even at higher prices. Fans had become disenchanted with cheaply produced and poorly packaged hardcovers as issued by the major publishers. After years of books without illustrations, done on the cheapest pulp paper available, science fiction collectors were looking for something better. grant recognised this desire and offered books with interior illustrations, some even featuring tipped-in color plates, as well as good bindings and fine paper. It was the start of a trend.

Grant was approached by Stephen King, in 1981, with an offer to publish a collection of King's Gunslinger stories that had appeared in the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction. King thought the stories wouldn't appeal to his mainstream readers. Grant and King signed an agreement giving Grant exclusive hardcover rights to all the stories, including future ones.

Works published by The Grandon Company

Works published by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc.

Notes

  1. ↑ Eshbach, Lloyd Arthur (1983). Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era. Philadelphia: Oswald Train. pp. 174–175. OCLC 10489084.

References

External links

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