Tag: Genre

The Birth of Perry Mason

Perry Mason author Erle Stanley Gardner pacing the floor of his study while working out a tough plot. One of his secretaries claimed Gardner sometimes paced 100 miles per book.
Head of William Morrow and Company (later acquired by HarperCollins) since the death of its founder in 1931, Thayer Hobson searched widely for promising new authors, often traveling to Europe in pursuit of his next big title. More

1941: Avon Books is established…

Here are the NEW, Fast Sedlling Avon Pocket size Book. Photocopy of a newspaper add from 1941.
Avon Books is established by New York businessman Joseph Meyers in association with Edna B. Williams. Now renowned for widely popularizing the historical romance category, the publisher originally begins with a focus on paperback reprints. More

Magician

Magician
Bestselling epic fantasy masterpiece that launched Feist’s career and influenced a generation of modern fantasy authors. More

Flashman

Flashman
When this novel was first published, many critics mistakenly accepted it as a genuine historical memoir. More

Inventing the Western

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (1912).
Zane Grey and A. B. Guthrie Jr. were considered two of the foremost writers on the American West. More

I, Robot

I, Robot
Asimov’s science fiction masterpiece that influenced a legion of future authors. More

How Harlequin Became Romance

The Hospital in Buwambo by Anne Vinton, Harlequin’s first reprint (1957) of a Mills & Boon romance.
When Richard H.G. Bonnycastle, a former Arctic explorer with the Hudson Bay Company, launched Harlequin Books in Winnipeg in 1948, he had little interest in building a publishing empire around romance novels. More

George R. R. Martin

The Collectors’ Preview Edition of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire.
It was in 1993 that George R. R. Martin–already an acclaimed author of science fiction and horror novels, and well known for his work in Hollywood as a screenwriter on The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast–decided he needed a broader outlet for his creativity and conceived of A Song of Ice and Fire, a truly monumental fantasy series. More

The Woman in White

The Woman in White
One of the earliest works of detective fiction, this story caused a sensation with readers at the time. More

Bleak House

Bleak House
Dickens’s tenth novel, often considered his finest; significantly influenced the development of mystery novels. More

The Exorcist

The Exorcist
The first horror story to reach number one on the New York Times bestseller list. More

Howl’s Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle
This popular novel stars one of the most beloved and charismatic characters in children’s literature. More

Crime & Mystery At HarperCollins

The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner (William Morrow, 1933) and The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas by R. A. J. Walling (Avon Books, 1941).
In 1860, Harper & Brothers had paid Wilkie Collins £750 for The Woman in White, which heralded the publisher’s entry into the crime and mystery genre. More