The Foundation of S.F Success
(with apologies to W. S. Gilbert)

Copyright © 1954 by Fantasy House, inc.

If you ask me how to shine in the science-fiction line as a pro of luster
bright, I say, practice up the lingo of the sciences, by jingo (never mind if not
quite right). You must talk of Space and Galaxies and tesseractic
fallacies in slick and mystic style, Though the fans won't understand it, they will all the same demand it
with a softly hopeful smile.
And all the fans will say,
As you walk your spatial way,
If that young man indulges in flights through all
the Galaxy, Why, what a most imaginative type of man that type
of man must be.
So success is not a mystery, just brush up on your history,
and borrow day by day. Take an Empire that was Roman and you'll find it is at home in all the
starry Milky Way. With a drive that's hyperspatial, through the parsecs you will race, you'll
find that plotting is a breeze,
With a tiny bit of cribbin' from the works of Edward Gibbon and that Greek, Thucydides.
And all the fans will say,
As you walk your thoughtful way,
If that young man involves himself in authentic history,
Why, what a very learned kind of high IQ, his high IQ must be.
Then eschew all thoughts of passion of a man-and-woman fashion from
your hero's thoughtful mind. He must spend his time on politics, and thinking up his shady tricks, and
outside that he's blind. It's enough he's had a mother, other females are a bother, though they're
jeweled and glistery. They will just distract his dreaming and his necessary
scheming with that psychohistory.
And all the fans will say As you walk your narrow way, If all his yarns restrict themselves to masculinity, Why, what a most particularly pure young man that pure young man must be.