| Gryphons Silver, Gryphons Gold | |||||||||||||||
| An Interview With Gary Turner & Marty Halpern, Editors at Golden Gryphon Press | |||||||||||||||
| by Nick Gevers | |||||||||||||||
| February/March 2003 | |||||||||||||||
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So far, the Turner/Halpern team has issued collections by Jeffrey Ford, Andy Duncan, Paul Di Filippo, Neal Barrett, Jr., Ian Watson, Geoffrey A. Landis, Michael Bishop, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Paul Russo, Richard A. Lupoff, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kevin J. Anderson, James Patrick Kelly (a second one), George Zebrowski, and Kage Baker; a novel by Warren Rochelle; and a chapbook novella by Alastair Reynolds. Imminent are a long novella by Lucius Shepard (Louisiana Breakdown), a collection of collaborative stories by Howard Waldrop (Custer's Last Jump), and The Silver Gryphon, a big anthology of new stories by almost all of the authors mentioned above. I interviewed Gary Turner and Marty Halpern by e-mail in February/March 2003. Gary, what's it like being the publisher/editor of a "small press?" And Marty, being an editor for such a press? What are the particular pleasures and frustrations? 
Gary Turner: Well, I have nothing to really compare it to, given that I've
never been connected with anything but a small press. I believe that the attraction of any small entity is the ability to make decisions
rapidly, without having to worry about committee decisions, shareholders, presidents, and other such riffraff. It's also a treat to be
able to work closely with the authors, artists, typesetter, etc., and to be able to talk to clients individually.
Marty Halpern: Since joining Golden Gryphon in mid-1999, I've had the luxury
of being able to pick and choose the authors with whom I work and the books that I edit. I regularly keep Gary up to date on my
projects -- I have to, since he negotiates the contracts and writes the checks! -- but I have no "boss," per se, micro-managing my
activities. That kind of freedom, if you will, is rare, and truly cherished.
Gary Turner: I personally have always enjoyed short stories more than novels,
and single author collections are relatively ignored by the larger publishers. So this is a natural niche for us to fill.
Marty Halpern: Over the past year or so I've finally begun to relax more in my
capacity as editor, but certainly for the first few books I always felt that the spectre of Jim Turner was looking over my shoulder -- so I've
always strived for absolute perfection, or at least as close to perfection as is humanly possible. I'm confident that all the authors with
whom I have worked would concur. (My wife, Diane, on the other hand, would use the term "anal" as opposed to "perfection.") Jim may not have
agreed with every collection I've chosen to publish, but I would hope that he would be pleased with the quality of the finished book.
Why collections? Because, simply, that's what I've chosen to work with. I am open to considering novels as well, I just haven't received any so far worthy of publication (in my humble opinion). Most of the novel submissions I've received have been first novels, all requiring excessive work to be publishable. Gary's had all the luck when it comes to novel submissions.
Gary Turner: My perception of Jim will differ widely from anyone else's, as I knew
him from his teenage years. But I expect most people will agree that he didn't suffer fools gladly, was a meticulous scholar, and loved to
gossip. The sheer effort he would expend as an editor puts most other editors to shame. He would read everything an author had written, then
study the stories carefully, reading all reviews and references about the author that he could locate. He read every book he could find
on editing and publishing, in order to be the best possible.
Marty Halpern: I never knew Jim Turner personally, only through correspondence. I
will note though that the one thing I learned early about Jim was that he was very opinionated -- and not embarrassed to express that
opinion. And now that I've been editing for nearly four years, I see how important one's steadfast opinion is; it's a matter of survival in
this world of authors, agents, artists, editors, and competing small press publishers.
Gary Turner: My heart wasn't really in it, at first. Everything about Golden
Gryphon was Jim's, and I was unsure if I had the minimum qualifications to continue. I had no desire to soil my brother's memory with books
both he and I would be ashamed of, simply because of my inexperience and lack of publishing skills. But what drove me was the promise I had
made to Jim, made when he realized that his time was short. I had agreed to finish any outstanding books. Since this was one of the two
things he asked, I went ahead and tried my best.
Gary Turner: When Jim died, The Robot's Twilight Companion (by Tony Daniel)
was in galley proof stage, and Perpetuity Blues (by Neal Barrett, Jr.) was in manuscript stage. These were the only two books started
but not finished by Jim. He was very ill the last year of his life, so he was planning to perhaps terminate Golden Gryphon after those
two. Jim had discussed a collection with Joe Lansdale, but the stories did not arrive until two days after Jim passed on. These stories did
make it into the Lansdale collection, High Cotton.
Gary Turner: I had decided to finish the two books in production, and then end
Golden Gryphon, as I didn't expect anyone would want the press to continue under Turner the Lessor. But Marty, first of many, convinced me
that Golden Gryphon should continue, and offered his assistance. He has skills and knowledge that I lacked, so this seemed to be exactly
what the Gryphon needed. So he was right there from the beginning of the "new" Golden Gryphon, and was the editor of the first "non-Jim"
book we published.
Marty Halpern: I was absolutely shocked when I learned that Jim Turner had
passed away. As I said, having not known him personally, I wasn't aware that he was ill -- and since our correspondence was irregular, it
wasn't unusual for months to go by without any communication from either of us. But I felt that what Jim had started with Golden Gryphon
Press was special and needed to continue. I wrote to a few Golden Gryphon authors and thus tracked down Gary's name and address. Then the
question became: how soon after Jim's passing do I write to this Gary Turner? If I write too soon, my communication might be construed as
inconsiderate and infringing on the family's privacy; but if I wait too long, I was worried that the Turners would either dissolve or sell
the Press. I obviously timed my letter just right.
Gary Turner: We receive many suggestions for collections, from readers,
reviewers, and the authors themselves. And, of course, we spend as much time as possible reading the short fiction in F&SF,
Asimov's, Analog, Weird Tales, etc., and reading various anthologies, especially the
Year's Best. It seems that our problem is not finding a collection that we feel would make a good book, but rather finding
the time to publish all the collections that we like.
Marty Halpern: I select the authors whom I enjoy reading (with a bit of the
gryphon's eye, as you say, toward commercial viability), and then hopefully everything falls into place from there. Most of the authors I
have edited, I have approached myself, but a couple have contacted me.
Gary Turner: The satisfaction of a new story is always that of the author and
the reader, not the editor or publisher. I generally believe that it adds to the collection to have a new story in it, but we certainly
don't insist on a new story.
Marty Halpern: I undoubtedly encourage authors to include new fiction in their
collections, more so than Gary does. A new story, especially one written exclusively for the book, adds a special touch to the collection;
the author has to get more involved and thus the book becomes something more than just a gathering of reprint stories. Certainly not all
of the collections I edit contain original stories, but the new stories that have transpired have turned out to be some of the authors' best work.
Marty Halpern: Well, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a purist when
it comes to reprint fiction. If I read a story and discover a logic hole, or come upon a grammatically incorrect sentence, or a sentence
that could use some revision to give it more strength, then I will suggest the edit/revision to the author. The bottom line is, nothing's
sacred in my book, so to speak. But the story is ultimately the author's -- and s/he has to decide whether or not to make that change or
leave the story as is. In three-plus years with Golden Gryphon I've never argued my case for an edit/revision with an author -- at least
not yet. On the other hand, many authors take this opportunity to rework stories, to correct text that previous editors tweaked without
permission, etc., thus making the collection the definitive version of the stories contained therein.
I've made a suggestion or two for new stories -- and provided encouragement when necessary -- but other than that I try to stay out of the author's way during the creative process. The Muse can be a lover or a trickster, and the author certainly doesn't need my interference!
Marty Halpern: Every author has his/her own individual nuances and thus presents
a unique challenge. And, in fact, I have my own quirks as an editor as well. So my initial responsibility is to smooth out that transition
until we learn how to work together. Hopefully, we both have the same goal at hand -- to produce the highest quality book possible. What
makes the editing process such a joy is all that I have learned from the authors with whom I have worked. I would hope that each author can
say the same about having worked with me.
Gary Turner: No way I'm touching this one!
Marty Halpern: It's been a wonderful experience for me working with each of
these authors. Again, I've certainly learned something from each one which has helped make me what I hope is a better editor. I'm more
attuned to individual nuances than when I began this adventure. And believe it or not, I don't really have any tall tales to tell... well,
maybe just one!
Gary Turner: We try to match the artist with the book (e.g., Bob Eggleton with
dinosaurs, Jeff Potter with heads on stakes), give them a suggestion or two, and let them do their thing. I'm not a believer in trying to
teach the horse how to eat grass.
Marty Halpern: Occasionally the author has a particular cover artist in mind,
but typically I try to match the author's tone and content with an artist's style. And then, as Gary says, we just let the artist do
his/her thing. At the 2002 Worldcon in San José we had our first tables in a dealers' room, and it was such a gratifying experience to
see twenty-two books spread across these two tables. The cover art really is impressive, if I have to say so myself. Our books all feature
wraparound cover art with no blurbs, no text whatsoever other than the title and author's name -- and I think because each artist knows
that his/her work is going to be used as is, in all its glory, they give each piece that extra "something" so that it rises above the masses.
Gary Turner: Anyone will get stale if they do the same thing, year in, year
out. So Marty and I need to do other projects aside from collections, simply to keep fresh. Since the number of details in a novel is
far greater than is found in a short story, I find I have to make pages and pages of notes, so I can cross-reference details. So a
novel is more difficult to check for consistency of detail, although this is offset by having only one set of protagonists in the
novel. A whole new cast is introduced for each short story!
Marty Halpern: The limited edition novella was actually my idea. We can spend
as much as a year or more on a collection (or novel) from its inception through to publication. I wanted a forum where we could
bring "hot" authors to market in a much shorter period of time. The novella-length story is alive and well, but there is such a hesitancy
for the SF/fantasy magazines to publish these stories because of their length. So we're now providing another outlet for the
novella. Turquoise Days took only about four months to produce, and that includes Al Reynolds's writing time, too. I actually
thought I would be inundated with novella submissions once this first book was published, but that hasn't been the case -- yet.
Gary Turner: As you'd expect, in general the books that sold best were those
from authors with established fan bases. I know no one will believe this, and accuse me of leaving triangular footprints, but each book
has its own merits, its own joys, and I really can't pick a favourite. Every time I try, I drive myself nuts.
Marty Halpern: Of course I'm still partial to the first book I edited for
Golden Gryphon -- the "first born," as it were, but each book I've edited since is special in its own right/write.
Gary Turner: Well, I think Howard Waldrop says it best: the best way to
make a small fortune in publishing is to start with a large fortune. We're doing a bit better than that! But like anything else
worthwhile, it all takes time. In the last three years, Golden Gryphon has gone from being a large tax shelter to being mildly profitable.
Gary Turner: The Silver Gryphon is a celebration of our twenty-fifth
book, a milestone of sorts. And this gives me occasion to make one of those statements that drives Marty nuts (Am I serious, or not?): The
fiftieth book will be The Golden Gryphon, the seventy-fifth will be The Platinum Gryphon, and the hundredth
will be The Tired Gryphon. Then I'll retire and read all the books I've been missing.
We split the editorial duties for The Silver Gryphon, where Marty did half the stories, I the other.
Marty Halpern: Well, when Gary first proposed the idea for
The Silver Gryphon, he was talking retirement by book number seventy-five. Now I read here that he's upped that retirement by another
twenty-five books -- so I guess we'll be around for a while yet!
As Gary said, we split the contributing authors between us based on who we had each previously edited, our thinking being that the editing process would go more smoothly if we worked with authors whose style and nuances we were already familiar with. For the two authors with whom neither of us had worked before (Jim Turner's authors) -- Robert Reed and R. Garcia y Robertson -- we each selected one and that worked out quite well too. However, at the proof stage, Gary and I each reviewed and edited the complete anthology -- twice!
Marty Halpern: I don't know that there is a "witpunk" sub-genre, per se. This
anthology came about as a result of a discussion on an electronic forum, called fictionmags. Someone posed the question: "When did
reading SF/fantasy stop being fun?" -- to which Claude took exception, and the anthology just sort of sprang forward from there. The
title Witpunk was our poking fun at the other "punk" sub-genres: cyberpunk, splatterpunk, steampunk, and cowpunk. Did I overlook any others?
I believe every author has the potential to write witty, sardonic, in-your-face fiction. In fact, I think reviewers and readers alike will find some surprises amongst these twenty-four contributing authors. Of the stories in Witpunk, approximately half are original to the anthology, and the other half are reprints, with the earliest story originally appearing in 1983. Actually, I would have to say that "witpunk" is more a state of mind, rather than a sub-genre.
Gary Turner: It's a humbling assortment of talent, for a small press like
Golden Gryphon. Books by Howard Waldrop, Lucius Shepard, Michael Bishop, Nancy Kress, George Alec Effinger, Ian Watson, Dale Bailey,
Charles Stross, Jeff VanderMeer, Pamela Sargent, Ian R. MacLeod, Joe Lansdale, Neal Barrett, Jr., and others. Marty and I plan to keep busy.
Nick Gevers, an editor at Cosmos Books, writes extensively on SF for a wide variety of publications. He produces two monthly columns for Locus, and his reviews and interviews have also recently appeared in The Washington Post Book World, Interzone (the March 2002 issue of which he co-edited), Locus Online, Foundation, and Infinity Plus. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa. |
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Louisiana Breakdown by Lucius Shepard (Novella, April 2003)
 
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