Re: (ReacTor) When Did SFF Get Too Big?

On 9/26/2024 4:30 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
[snip]

So, should all SFF writers become government registered [snip]

How else would ISFDB editors know whether the latest "Andrew Smith" story was written by:
Andrew Smith - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179138
Andrew Smith (I) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179140
Andrew Smith (II) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179139
Andrew Smith (III) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?213355
Andrew Smith (IV) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179142
Andrew Smith (V) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179141
Andrew Smith (VI) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?261371
Andrew Smith (VII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?280123
or Andrew Smith (VIII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?309023
?!
On a more serious note, Earl Kemp's comment:
 > I knew everything that was being published and read everything
 > up until the 1940s
makes a good deal of sense. As I wrote back in March, there were only 3 stable science fiction monthlies between mid-1930 and mid-1938: *Amazing*, *Astounding* and *Wonder* (*Thrilling Wonder* after 1936.)
Things began to change in mid-1938 with the launch of *Marvel* and then the Golden Age started in 1939: *Planet Stories*, *Captain Future*, *Startling Stories*, *Dynamic*, *Famous Fantastic Mysteries*, *Science Fiction*/*Future Fiction*, *Strange Stories*, *Uncanny Tales*, *Marvel Science Stories*, *Fantastic Adventures*, *Science Fiction Quarterly*, *Super Science Stories*, *Astonishing Stories*, *Cosmic Stories*, *Fantastic Novels*, *Stirring Science Stories*, *Unknown*.
Even if you skipped the reprints (some magazines specialized in reprints), there was a significant amount of SF content being published every month.