Series:If

=If=

Editor Series

From Tuck's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy :

If was always of quite good quality. Declining sales in 1958 forced J. L. Quinn to take on D. Knight as editor, but this was not enough to save the magazine from temporary suspension. At one stage, L. T. Shaw was to have been editor, but he left and later edited another magazine, Infinity. Under H. L. Gold If was very similar to story material to its companion Galaxy SF, but was inclined to experiment more. The stories printed by F. Pohl were generally so good that the magazine won the Hugo for 1966, 1967 and 1968, after F&SF and Analog seemed to have monopolized this award for a number of years. A Collegiate Science Fiction Contest was run in early 1954 for short stories with new ideas; the results were given in Nov 1954 - the first prize ($1,000) was for "And Gone Tomorrow," Andy Offutt; other winners followed in later issues. For a time in early 1956 F. J. Ackerman wrote Guest Editorials. The Dec 1958 issue presented a fictionalized "Short History of Space Travel." Quinn published selections as the anthologies First World of If and Second World of If. More recently F. Pohl selected ''The If Reader of Science Fiction and The Second If Reader of Science Fiction''. The title If was originally used on an amateur magazine published by Con Perderson in 1948.

It should be noted that the original title of the magazine was If: Worlds of Science Fiction. The logo was arranged in such a way that it looked like the title was Worlds of If. In fact, there was some confusion over what the title of the magazine was in 1969 when it was sold to Universal Publishing; they had the name officially changed to Worlds of If in 1972.

Essay Series
Editorials:
 * A Chat With the Editor
 * Editor's Report
 * Editorial (If)
 * Editor's Page

Letter Columns:
 * The Postman Cometh
 * Hue and Cry
 * The Retort

Book Reviews:
 * In the Balance
 * Worlds of If
 * Reading Room

The Alien Viewpoint.

Issues
See also The Best Science Fiction from If

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Edwin M. Schaefer for the use of his collection in reconstructing this data. The data from mid-1971 thru 1974 was supplied by Michael J. Cross ([mailto:mike@mjckeh.demon.co.uk mike@mjckeh.demon.co.uk]). The Schaefer collection was the primary source for 1965-1970 data. The Dec66, Mar/Apr71, May/Jun71, Dec74, and Sep/Nov86 was supplied by User:Ahasuerus. The Mar52, Sep52, May53, Sep53, Nov53, Jan54, Apr54, Jun54, Sep54, Oct54, Jun57, and Dec57 data was supplied by [mailto:dave2003@ancestry.net Dave Kauffman]. The May52, Feb55, May55, Apr57, Oct57, Jul59, Sep60, Jul61, Jan62, May63, Jul63, Nov63, May64, Jul64, Oct64, Nov64 data was supplied by [mailto:dlee1@execulink.com Doug Lee] The May60, Nov60, Nov62, Jan63 data was supplied by [mailto:dkmjf@sprynet.com Dan Kurdilla]. The Jul52, Nov52, Jan53, Mar53, Jul53, Mar54, Jun54, Jul54, Aug54, Nov54, Dec54, Jan55, Mar55, Jun55, Aug55, Oct55, Dec55, Feb56, Jun56, Aug56, Oct56, Dec56, Aug57, Apr58, Jun58, Aug58, Oct58, Dec58, Feb59, Sep59, Nov59, Mar60, Jan61, Mar61, May61, Sep61, Nov61, Mar62, May62, Jul62, Sep62, Mar63, Jun63 data was supplied by [mailto:ahusby@testeq.com ahusby@testeq.com].