Anonycat
Crusader
He was a fairly prolific hack sci-fi pulp writer, but it was horrible, and no one wanted it. Remember the Chinatown Death Cloud Peril? No one does.
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He was a fairly prolific hack sci-fi pulp writer, but it was horrible, and no one wanted it. Remember the Chinatown Death Cloud Peril? No one does.
Claire Swazey
Spokeshole, fence sitter
His stuff from the pulp era (including some Westerns he wrote) seems to have ranged from fair to pretty good. Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth were quite bad. Ai Pedrito was abysmal.
Claire Swazey
Spokeshole, fence sitter
He'd have done ok, cult wise, had he not enslaved and abused and charged so much. The going after people and the prohibition of all psychology and of some medical treatment were the other significant fuck ups.
Cult leaders suck cuz they do not see that enlightenment is supposed to be for the person's betterment and that the adherents should not be viewed as cash cows or resources to be used.
I don't know. I know many sci-fi (not scientologist) fans who like both of those.
They would have been better without the laser focus obsession with psychiatry though. That probably made them read not as well as they should. I too liked some of his Westerns.
Robert Vaughn Young wrote a funny story about editing ME with Hubbard and DM overseeing:
http://www.holysmoke.org/rvy/rvy2.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/rvy/rvy2.htm
True words. I read the ME manuscript at Gilman...
Anonycat
Crusader
I am confident the books suck. From the LA Times:
Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers
( ... ) Hubbard's books apparently got an extra boost from Scientology followers and employees of the publishing firm. Showing up at major book outlets like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, they purchased armloads of Hubbard's works, according to former employees.
As a writer, Hubbard was extremely prolific. He wrote short stories. He wrote books. He wrote screenplays. And, for more than 30 years, he wrote thousands of directives and scores of personal improvement courses that form the doctrine of Scientology.
The promotion of Hubbard's books is part of a costly and calculated campaign by the movement to gain respect, influence and, ultimately, new members. In the process, Hubbard's followers hope to refurbish his controversial image and position him as one of the world's great humanitarians and thinkers.
Hubbard's writings have become a means by which to spread his name in a society that often equates celebrity with credibility. It is not with whimsy that the church often calls its spiritual father "New York Times best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard."
The church once summed up the strategy in a letter recruiting Scientologists for Hubbard's public relations team, an operation that thrives despite his death. Sign up now, the letter urged, and "make Ron the most acclaimed and widely known author of all time."
But apparently Hubbard's followers have not trusted sales of his books entirely to the fickle winds of the marketplace.
Sheldon McArthur, former manager of B. Dalton Booksellers on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, said, "Whenever the sales seem to slacken and a (Hubbard) book goes off the bestsellers list, give it a week and we'll get these people coming in buying 50 to 100 to 200 copies at a crack--cash only."
and ...
After Hubbard's first novel, a Western adventure called "Buckskin Brigades," was re-released in 1987, the book "just sat there," recalled McArthur, whose store was across from a Scientology center.
"Then, in one week, it was gone," he said. "We started getting calls asking, 'You got 'Buckskin Brigades?' " I said, 'Sure, we got them.' 'You got a hundred of them?' 'Sure,' I said, 'here's a case.' "
Gary Hamel, B. Dalton's former manager at Santa Monica Place, had similar experiences. He said that "10 people would come in at a time and buy quantities of them and they would pay cash."
Hamel also speculated that some copies of a Hubbard science fiction novel were sold more than once.
He said that while he was working at the B. Dalton in Hollywood, some books shipped by Hubbard's publishing house arrived with B. Dalton price stickers already on them. He said this indicated to him that the books had been purchased at one of the chain's outlets, then returned to the publishing house and shipped out for resale before anyone thought to remove the stickers.
"We would order more books and . . . they'd come back with our sticker as if they were bought by the publisher," Hamel said.
Hubbard's U.S. publisher is Bridge Publications Inc., founded and controlled by Scientologists--something that Bridge does not publicize. Company officials refused to be interviewed about book sales or any facet of the firm's operations.
But former employees alleged in interviews with The Times that Bridge encouraged and, at times, bankrolled the book-buying scheme.
Mike Gonzales, a non-church member who worked in accounts receivable, said one supervisor gave him hundreds of dollars for weekend forays into bookstores.
In one month alone, he said, he bought and returned to Bridge 43 books in Hubbard's "Mission Earth" science fiction series. And, according to Gonzales, he was not alone.
"We had 15 to 20 people going all over L.A.," he said.
During a shopping spree at B. Dalton in the Glendale Galleria, Gonzales said, he bumped into three Bridge co-workers.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062890-story.html
Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers
( ... ) Hubbard's books apparently got an extra boost from Scientology followers and employees of the publishing firm. Showing up at major book outlets like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, they purchased armloads of Hubbard's works, according to former employees.
As a writer, Hubbard was extremely prolific. He wrote short stories. He wrote books. He wrote screenplays. And, for more than 30 years, he wrote thousands of directives and scores of personal improvement courses that form the doctrine of Scientology.
The promotion of Hubbard's books is part of a costly and calculated campaign by the movement to gain respect, influence and, ultimately, new members. In the process, Hubbard's followers hope to refurbish his controversial image and position him as one of the world's great humanitarians and thinkers.
Hubbard's writings have become a means by which to spread his name in a society that often equates celebrity with credibility. It is not with whimsy that the church often calls its spiritual father "New York Times best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard."
The church once summed up the strategy in a letter recruiting Scientologists for Hubbard's public relations team, an operation that thrives despite his death. Sign up now, the letter urged, and "make Ron the most acclaimed and widely known author of all time."
But apparently Hubbard's followers have not trusted sales of his books entirely to the fickle winds of the marketplace.
Sheldon McArthur, former manager of B. Dalton Booksellers on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, said, "Whenever the sales seem to slacken and a (Hubbard) book goes off the bestsellers list, give it a week and we'll get these people coming in buying 50 to 100 to 200 copies at a crack--cash only."
and ...
After Hubbard's first novel, a Western adventure called "Buckskin Brigades," was re-released in 1987, the book "just sat there," recalled McArthur, whose store was across from a Scientology center.
"Then, in one week, it was gone," he said. "We started getting calls asking, 'You got 'Buckskin Brigades?' " I said, 'Sure, we got them.' 'You got a hundred of them?' 'Sure,' I said, 'here's a case.' "
Gary Hamel, B. Dalton's former manager at Santa Monica Place, had similar experiences. He said that "10 people would come in at a time and buy quantities of them and they would pay cash."
Hamel also speculated that some copies of a Hubbard science fiction novel were sold more than once.
He said that while he was working at the B. Dalton in Hollywood, some books shipped by Hubbard's publishing house arrived with B. Dalton price stickers already on them. He said this indicated to him that the books had been purchased at one of the chain's outlets, then returned to the publishing house and shipped out for resale before anyone thought to remove the stickers.
"We would order more books and . . . they'd come back with our sticker as if they were bought by the publisher," Hamel said.
Hubbard's U.S. publisher is Bridge Publications Inc., founded and controlled by Scientologists--something that Bridge does not publicize. Company officials refused to be interviewed about book sales or any facet of the firm's operations.
But former employees alleged in interviews with The Times that Bridge encouraged and, at times, bankrolled the book-buying scheme.
Mike Gonzales, a non-church member who worked in accounts receivable, said one supervisor gave him hundreds of dollars for weekend forays into bookstores.
In one month alone, he said, he bought and returned to Bridge 43 books in Hubbard's "Mission Earth" science fiction series. And, according to Gonzales, he was not alone.
"We had 15 to 20 people going all over L.A.," he said.
During a shopping spree at B. Dalton in the Glendale Galleria, Gonzales said, he bumped into three Bridge co-workers.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-scientology062890-story.html
eldritch cuckoo
brainslugged reptilian
years ago i met a person who actually liked "mission earth". fairly. this person was not a scientologist, actually, i had to tell him/her who hubbard was. and i have been quite inquisitive about this, since i was working with this person - and already reading about scientology... the thought that he/she might be one of them hence suddenly praising (this) hubbard books made me quite paranoid for a short time. so, initially, we were talking about a secret agent serial (not bond) which seems to share some of the crappy, funny, chaotic style, then ME was mentioned, and actually described aptly as how nuts and perverse it is. about his (official *g*) fiction i didn't know all too much or at last didn't remember, and he/she didn't remember the author's name, so i looked it up right there. "OMG!" 
what i've read of excerpts since only made me curious, these books especially seem to be literally unbearable, but often i do not seek the common, erhm, "joys".
actually i'm still curious and would like to read the whole cycle (or at last look into it), i do think that it could be fun in a, hum, aberrated way. but ofcourse i'd like to do so without sponsoring organized crime. it's not on the top of my list but eventually i'll snatch them from an angry defrocked apostate via ebay orso. (btw., i don't have a proper ebook reading device, aka tablet, so i do need/want the "hardware".)
what i've read of excerpts since only made me curious, these books especially seem to be literally unbearable, but often i do not seek the common, erhm, "joys".
actually i'm still curious and would like to read the whole cycle (or at last look into it), i do think that it could be fun in a, hum, aberrated way. but ofcourse i'd like to do so without sponsoring organized crime. it's not on the top of my list but eventually i'll snatch them from an angry defrocked apostate via ebay orso. (btw., i don't have a proper ebook reading device, aka tablet, so i do need/want the "hardware".)
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years ago i met a person who actually liked "mission earth". fairly. this person was not a scientologist, actually, i had to tell him/her who hubbard was. and i have been quite inquisitive about this, since i was working with this person - and already reading about scientology... the thought that he/she might be one of them since suddenly praising (this) hubbard books made me quite paranoid for a short time. so, initially, we were talking about a secret agent serial (not bond) which seems to share some of the crappy, funny, chaotic style, then ME was mentioned, and actually described aptly as how nuts and perverse it is. about his (official *g*) fiction i didn't know all too much or at last didn't remember, and he/she didn't remember the author's name, so i looked it up right there. "OMG!"
what i've read of excerpts since only made me curious, these books especially seem to be literally unbearable, but often i do not seek the common, erhm, "joys".
I think even Jamie Thewolf liked some of his great grandfathers work when he was a kid.
Lermanet_com
Gold Meritorious Patron
years ago i met a person who actually liked "mission earth". fairly. this person was not a scientologist, actually, i had to tell him/her who hubbard was. and i have been quite inquisitive about this, since i was working with this person - and already reading about scientology... the thought that he/she might be one of them hence suddenly praising (this) hubbard books made me quite paranoid for a short time. so, initially, we were talking about a secret agent serial (not bond) which seems to share some of the crappy, funny, chaotic style, then ME was mentioned, and actually described aptly as how nuts and perverse it is. about his (official *g*) fiction i didn't know all too much or at last didn't remember, and he/she didn't remember the author's name, so i looked it up right there. "OMG!"
what i've read of excerpts since only made me curious, these books especially seem to be literally unbearable, but often i do not seek the common, erhm, "joys".
I did quite like some of the Mission Earth books.... when I was 10 years old.
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