Pulp Librarian Profile picture
May 19, 2021 21 tweets 11 min read Read on X
Today in pulp: what makes a good pulp book title?

Hmm... Image
As we all know a good title is essential if you're trying to make a potential reader pick up your book. But in the world of pulp the title has to do a little more than this. Image
First it has to confirm the genre. Pulp is very much a genre-based business and readers need to know what kind of story they're getting into. ImageImage
Secondly it has to tell the reader whether this is a character led novel or a plot led one. ImageImage
Finally it needs to signal the author's tone of voice and attitude. Is the book serious or lighthearted for instance? ImageImage
Having read several thousand pulp novels over the years (don't thank me, it's what I do) I've also noted several key words that frequently appear in the titles. Each is a sure sign that you are holding a pulp novel, rather than something long and unreadable by Jonathan Franzen. Image
Firstly does the title involve a sword? If it does then it's probably pulp. ImageImage
Is any form of storm occurring? Again, this is a sure sign you are looking at a pulp novel rather than a weather forecast. ImageImage
Is anyone or anything borne at all? Borne is a peculiar word that only appears in pulp literature or the occasional Seamus Heaney poem. Yes, those two things are different. ImageImage
Common motifs from pulp plots also appear in their titles. For example the midnight hour... ImageImage
...things being in webs... ImageImage
...and brides of various descriptions. ImageImage
Pulp titles also lean heavily on atmosphere and description. The world of pulp often involves shadows for instance. ImageImage
And any mention of Satan is a sure giveaway that you have wandered into a pulp world. ImageImageImageImage
Pulp colours are very basic. Things are either black... ImageImage
...or they're golden. ImageImage
Place names are populat in pulp titles: the more exotic the better. ImageImageImageImage
Or if it's domestic pulp you can always just set it in the gutter. ImageImage
There are of course no prizes for guessing what the most popular word is for a pulp book title... ImageImageImageImage
...but bonus pulp points if you get sex and witchcraft onto the same cover. ImageImage
The most important point is this: don't be boring! People read pulp for thrills, excitement and weird kicks, so make sure your title lets them know that's your bag.

More writing tips another time... Image

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More from @PulpLibrarian

Apr 23
Many readers have asked me over the years what my definition of pulp is. I've thought about it a lot, and the definition I keep coming back to... well it may surprise you.

Let me try and set it out. Image
There are lots of definitions of pulp out there: in books, in academic papers and on the web. And most circle back to the same three points: the medium, the story type and the method of writing. Image
Pulp is of course a type of cheap, coarse paper stock. Its use in magazine production from the 1890s onwards led to it becoming a shorthand term for the kind of fiction found in low cost story magazines. Image
Read 29 tweets
Apr 18
let's take a look at the extraordinary work of Victorian illustrator and cat lover Louis Wain! Image
Louis Wain was born in London in 1860. Although he is best known for his drawings of cats he started out as a Victorian press illustrator. His work is highly collectable. Image
Wain had a very difficult life; born with a cleft lip he was not allowed to attend school. His freelance drawing work supported his mother and sisters after his father died. Aged 23 he married his sisters' governess, Emily Richardson, 10 years his senior. Image
Read 13 tweets
Apr 15
Over the years a number of people have asked me if I have a favourite pulp film. Well I do. It's this one.

This is the story of Alphaville...
Alphaville: une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965) was Jean-Luc Godard’s ninth feature film. A heady mix of spy noir, science fiction and the Nouvelle Vague at its heart is a poetic conflict between a hard-boiled secret agent and a supercomputer’s brave new world. Image
British writer Peter Cheyney had created the fictitious American investigator Lemmy Caution in 1936. As well as appearing in 10 novels Caution featured in over a dozen post-war French films, mostly played by singer Eddie Constantine whom Godard was keen to work with. Image
Read 21 tweets
Apr 10
Al Hartley may have been famous for his work on Archie Comics, but in the 1970s he was drawn to a very different scene: God.

Today in pulp I look back at Hartley's work for Spire Christian Comics - a publisher that set out to spread the groovy gospel... Image
Spire Christian Comics was an offshoot of Spire Books, a mass-market religious paperback line launched in 1963 by the Fleming H. Revell company. The point of Spire Books was to get religious novels into secular stores, so a move into comic books in 1972 seemed a logical choice. Image
The idea was to create comic book versions of popular Spire Books like The Cross and the Switchblade; David Wilkinson's autobiographical tale of being a pastor in 1960s New York. It had already been turned into a film, but who could make it into a comic? Image
Read 14 tweets
Apr 4
Given the state of the stock market I thought I'd share my pulp guide to money. What is it? Where does it come from? And does it make us happy?

Let's take a look...
Money is just a token, like a football sticker. In itself it has no intrinsic worth. However it is desirable because, well, football!

Initially the value of all stickers is the same, because there's an abundant supply... Image
However as you fill up your sticker album the value of your existing stickers drops and the value of your missing ones rises.

This is due to scarcity: the law of supply and demand starts to determine worth and value, rather than which team you support. Image
Read 19 tweets
Apr 3
It was a phenomenon, spawning a franchise that has lasted over fifty years. It's also a story with many surprising influences.

Today in pulp I look back at a sociological science-fiction classic, released today in 1968: Planet Of The Apes! Image
Pierre Boulle is probably best known for his 1952 novel Bridge On The River Kwai, based on his wartime experiences in Indochina. So it was possibly a surprise when 11 years later he authored a science fiction novel. Image
However Boulle had been a Free French secret agent during the war. He was captured in 1943 by Vichy forces in Vietnam and sentenced to hard labour. This experience of capture would shape his novel La Planète Des Singes. Image
Read 18 tweets

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