Mid-1960s
In 1964, science fiction author Terry Carr joined the company, and in 1968, he initiated the Ace Science Fiction Specials line, publishing critically acclaimed original novels by such authors as Alexei Panshin, R. A. Lafferty, Joanna Russ and Ursula K. Le Guin. During the mid-to-late 1960s, Ace also obtained licenses to publish original novels based on several popular television series of the day, most notably some two-dozen The Man from U.N.C.L.E. volumes and a trilogy based on The Prisoner.
Carr and Wollheim also co-edited an annual Year's Best Science Fiction anthology series; and Carr also edited Universe, a well-received original anthology series. Universe was initially published by Ace, although when Carr left in 1971 the series moved elsewhere.
In 1965, Wollheim argued that there was a copyright loophole in the American edition of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The Houghton Mifflin edition had been bound using pages printed in the United Kingdom for the George Allen & Unwin edition, and as a result, U.S. copyright law might not protect the text. Based on this view, Ace Books published the first-ever paperback edition of Tolkien's work, featuring cover art and hand-drawn title pages by Jack Gaughan. After considerable controversy and the release of a competitive authorized (and revised) edition by Ballantine Books (the back covers of which included a message from Tolkien urging consumers to buy the Ballantine edition and boycott any "unauthorized" versions – referring directly to the Ace editions), Ace agreed to pay royalties to Tolkien and let its still-popular edition go out of print.
Wyn died in 1967, and the company grew financially overextended, failing to pay its authors reliably. Without money to pay the signing bonus, Wollheim was unwilling to send signed contracts to authors. On at least one occasion, a book without a valid contract went to the printer, and Wollheim later found out that the author, who was owed $3,000 by Ace, was reduced to picking fruit for a living.
Both Wollheim and Carr left Ace in 1971. Wollheim had made plans to launch a separate paperback house, and in cooperation with New American Library, he proceeded to set up DAW Books. Carr became a freelance editor; both Carr and Wollheim went on to edit competing Year's Best Science Fiction anthology series.
Read more about this topic: Ace Books