Biography Jim Baen

1 biography

1.1 magazine editor
1.2 book publishing
1.3 anthology series
1.4 ebooks
1.5 free ebooks
1.6 stance on drm
1.7 forum participation , e-arcs
1.8 last half-decade
1.9 jim baen s universe

biography

jim baen born in pennsylvania. left stepfather s home @ age of 17 , lived on streets several months before joining united states army; served in bavaria.

after stints @ city college of new york , manager of folk music coffee shop (a basket house ) in greenwich village in 1960s, started publishing career in complaints department of ace books. in 1972, got job of assistant gothics editor.

magazine editor

baen judy-lynn del rey s replacement managing editor @ galaxy science fiction in 1973. succeeded ejler jakobsson editor of galaxy , if in 1974. while @ galaxy (which absorbed if 1975) largely revitalised it, publishing such authors jerry pournelle, charles sheffield, joanna russ, spider robinson, algis budrys, , john varley, , nominated several hugo awards.

pournelle, in 1983, described baen arguably 1 of best science-fiction editors in world. larry niven , regard him among top 2 or 3 ve ever worked . robert a. heinlein dedicated 1985 novel cat walks through walls baen , 8 of other members of citizens advisory council on national space policy.

book publishing

in 1977, returned ace head science fiction line, working publisher tom doherty. when doherty left start tor books in 1980, baen shortly followed , started sf line there.

in 1983, had opportunity start own independent company, baen books, distributed , pocket books/simon & schuster; possible in part release long-term contract friend doherty.

baen books has grown steadily since , established large readership among fans of accessible adventure sf, publishing books authors such david weber, john ringo, eric flint, david drake, lois mcmaster bujold, elizabeth moon, mercedes lackey, larry niven, , many more. according eric flint s editor s page column after baen s death, once tiny baen books had been voted second looked label among science-fiction fans – fourth in 2004 , seventh in 2003. rapid growth credited being due jim baen s electronic marketing strategy – seeming court piracy, ignoring encryption, , giving away free titles on cd-rom (see electronic marketing strategy under baen books), offering bundled bargain samplers , e-arcs – baen s e-marketing pulled in sales. people sample wares, decide liked it, , pick tangible book read – given series orientation of sf genre, translated more 1 book. in short, average small town library trimming titles carried , stocking on audio-visual media, baen took advantage of technology counteract former boost gotten libraries buying titles , keeping them around.

even more had been case @ ace , tor, jim own art director @ baen books—and directed rather viewing job 1 of coddling artists. baen books gained distinct look. book contents, covers weren t s taste—but worked.

jim had advantage on editors in knew story is. had advantage on editors in being able spot talent before else had published it. (lois bujold, eric flint, john ringo , dave weber baen discoveries whom jim promoted stardom.)

furthermore, never stopped developing new writers. week before stroke, jim bought first novel writer whom baen books had been grooming through short stories on past year.

the important thing of jim brought company personal vision. baen books didn t try everybody, true itself. in in many other ways, company mirrored jim himself.

early anthology series

baen edited several anthology series in paperback format, trying combine feeling of anthology , magazine. achieve this, numbered , dated magazine , contained many magazine features: destinies (ace, 11 issues 1978-81), far frontiers (baen, 7 issues 1985-6), , new destinies (baen, 8 issues numbered iv , vi ix 1987-90). edited several volumes of reprints galaxy , if in 1970 s.

ebooks

after hearing pournelle praise writing computer, baen purchased ibm pc in 1980s. disliking layout of ibm pc keyboard, commissioned , published magic keyboard, utility remap keys. baen started experimental web publishing business called webscriptions in late 1999. (it relaunched baen ebooks @ start of 2012.) unlike other ebook publishers, baen flatly refused use encryption or adobe s portable document format (pdf), regarding digital rights management harmful not readers authors , publishers. stance quite controversial @ time, baen book s hardcover sales numbers have soared in direct relation number of titles available inexpensive e-books, while competition s remained flat or declined in same period. measure, in comparison, e-royalties paid baen run circa 5% of hardcover royalty on same period, other publishers have paid out less 1% comparatively on average — typical period numbers difference of 4 figures 2 figures in e-royalties. critics @ time dismissed e-book market small. instead, 1 of few such enterprises regularly turn profit, breaking in first year.

these innovations earned him respect in technological community, , increasing disbelief in publishing trade perhaps best comment of all – others began mimic him, or place e-titles webscriptions themselves. 1 such title offered webscriptions using despised (by j. baen) adobe pdf format, @ publishers insistence. webscriptions considered both first e-books-for-money service product lacks encryption (in fact, webscriptions makes each book available in wide range of openly readable formats) , 1 of first e-book publishing services become profitable. (indeed, broke in first year , profitable such service). in words of david drake, writer more fifty books published:

the 2 books jim remembered formative influences fire-hunter jim kjelgaard , against fall of night arthur c clarke. theme of both short novels youth decaying culture escapes trap of accepted wisdom , saves people despite themselves. fair description of jim s life in sf: own man, maverick, , brilliantly successful because didn t listen other people thought.

for example, traditional model of electronic publishing required works encrypted. jim thought made hard people read books, worst mistake publisher make. e-texts clear , in variety of common formats.

while e-publishing has been costly waste of effort others, baen books began earning more electronic sales did canada. time of jim s death, figure had risen ten times that.

free ebooks

along webscriptions, baen created baen free library, authors can make books available free of charge in hope of attracting new readers. though scoffed @ idea of free library, giving away ebooks turned out increase sales.

stance on drm

baen s e-books did not use encryption or digital rights management (drm). baen outspoken opponent of drm, regarding harmful publishers , authors readers.

with death, many other publishers have come agree methods , principles. stance on drm considered still have been extreme among mainstream publishers, has grown in credibility on time. eric flint, has been called baen s bulldog on drm/copy protection controversy believes jim baen s legacy impact on drm issue, , baen have saved society rapaciousness of big corporations because jim baen had courage of convictions spit in face of encryption, , moreover, prove non-encrypted, non-drm-protected intellectual materials give sales boost—exactly opposite of conventional wisdom.

forum participation , e-arcs

jim baen active on web forum of baen website, called baen s bar, started in may 1997; interests included evolutionary biology, space technology, politics, military history, , puns.

baen s activity on forums led john ringo becoming published novelist. ringo longtime participant in baen s bar , had gotten know baen discussing topics aquatic ape hypothesis. although novel hymn before battle had been rejected, mentioned had submitted , had been rejected when baen told him manuscript had been lost. baen took @ manuscript, fired reader had rejected it, , told ringo if made edits, baen buy it.

another result of such interaction barflies, customers frequenting site talked jim baen charging more e-book variation on publishing trades advance reading copy — (sampler packages of 5 books) house offering called e-arcs ( advanced reader copies , emphasis on benefit reader ). jim baen have been glad break on e-biz, firmly convinced increased exposure lead increased sales, , took 3 years prove beyond doubt, , long before competition no longer deny successes.

the last half-decade

in 2000, baen editor guest of honor @ chicon 2000, year s worldcon. interest shown in flint s 1632 series, set second talk forum new writer, 1 specialized buzz of 1632-verse called 1632 tech manual. fans wanted sequel, yesterday , research daunting, advised fledgling writer open universe, make shared universe long before normal point in fictional universe life-cycle; flint willing gamble, , result ring of fire, in meantime baen had paired best selling author david weber emerging mid-list author flint in five-book contract , resulting 1633 created new cycle of buzz , interest.

flint suggested creating e-zine carry of fan fiction submitted ring of fire or created subsequently. baen took risk, adapting e-arc system , webscriptions magazine format. result grantville gazettes. baen books subsequently published of stories hardcopy anthologies; fourth of volumes last book baen bought flint.

jim baen s universe

jim baen s universe logo

in late 2005 baen announced plans bimonthly online science fiction magazine, named baen s astounding stories. after concerns on trademark infringement dell magazines (publisher of analog science fiction , fact, titled astounding stories), renamed jim baen s universe. magazine, edited eric flint, published first issue in june 2006, authors contracted including david drake , timothy zahn.

in august 2009, baen s universe announced closing down magazine due financial issues, stating never able , retain enough subscribers put on sales plateau allow continue publishing . [1]

jim baen had 2 daughters, jessica (1977) wife of sixteen years, madeline gleich, , katherine (1992) toni weisskopf. apparently had premonition of own death , suffered massive bilateral thalamus stroke on june 12, 2006. died on june 28 @ raleigh, north carolina, without again regaining consciousness.

according flint, did see first issue of magazine before passing.