SHASTA PUBLISHERS

   Chicago-based US specialist publisher founded by T.E. DIKTY, Erle Melvin Korshak and Mark Reinsberg (who soon dropped out), originally to publish books about fantasy and sf. Its first title was E.F. BLEILER's The Checklist of Fantastic Literature (1948). The company soon expanded intofiction publishing with such titles as John W. CAMPBELL Jr's Who Goes There? (coll 1948), L. Sprague DE CAMP's The Wheels of If (coll 1949) andL. Ron HUBBARD's Slaves of Sleep (1948); it turned down a Hubbard book on DIANETICS. All these early titles featured jackets by Hannes BOK. Subsequent publications include the first 3 vols of Robert A. HEINLEIN's Future History series and Alfred BESTER's THE DEMOLISHED MAN (1953). In 1953 Shasta sponsored a novel competition in conjunction with the paperback publisher Pocket Books. This was won by Philip Jose FARMER with I Owe for the Flesh. By this time the company was in financialdifficulties; the book was never published and the prize money never paid. (The novel later formed the basis of Farmer's Riverworld series.) Shastaproduced one or two further titles, then expired in 1957.

   MJE

   See also: SMALL PRESSES AND LIMITED EDITIONS.