Horrible as that sounds, Chilton’s loss was our gain. Chilton considered the publication of Dune a write-off and Lanier was fired. However, the first printing, priced at $5.95 (equivalent to $51.16 in 2021), did not sell well and was poorly received by critics as being atypical of science fiction at the time. Sterling Lanier, an editor at Chilton, had seen Herbert’s manuscript and had urged his company to take a risk in publishing the book.

The novel, Dune, was finally accepted and published in August 1965 by Chilton Books, a printing house better known for publishing auto repair manuals. The serialized version was expanded, reworked, and submitted to more than twenty publishers, each of whom rejected it. Here’s an excerpt from the publication history of Dune at Wikipedia. Unfortunately, though Dune eventually became a huge critical and commercial success, that success came too late for Lanier. That novel, Frank Herbert’s Dune, eventually became a bestseller, launching one of the most respected literary franchises of the 20th Century, and completely remaking SF publishing.ĭune first edition (Chilton, 1965). In 1965 he convinced Chilton to publish their first novel, an oversized science fiction epic that had been rejected by nearly twenty publishers due to its prodigious length.

In 1961 Lanier was hired as an editor at Chilton, a Boston publisher specializing in business magazines and automobile repair books. While he’s fondly remembered for his fiction, his greatest contribution came as a result of his keen eye, and his editorial daring. Sterling Lanier occupies a unique and honored place in science fiction history. Hiero’s Journey and sequel The Unforsaken Hiero (Del Rey, 19).

Star Rider by Doris Piserchia