Midwood Books
| Parent company | Tower Publications |
|---|---|
| Status | defunct 1968 |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Founder | Harry Shorten |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | 505 Eighth Avenue New York City |
| Key people | Paul Rader, Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Robert Silverberg, Richard E. Geis |
| Publication types | Paperback books, pulp fiction |
| Fiction genres | Romance, Erotic literature |
Midwood Books was an American publishing house active from 1957 to 1968. Its strategy focused on the male readers' market, competing with other publishers such as Beacon Books. The covers of many Midwood Books featured works by prolific illustrators of the era, including Paul Rader.
Novels from Midwood Books were written by many well-known authors, most writing under pseudonyms. Among these were Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, Robert Silverberg, and Richard E. Geis.
Harry Shorten was a writer and editor who had worked for MLJ Comics, publisher of Archie, for most of the 1940s and 1950s. He had made his fortune with partner Al Fagaly, by creating a syndicated gag cartoon called There Oughta Be a Law! Shorten provided the scripts, Fagaly the art.
Looking for an investment in the financial results of his comics, Shorten decided to become an editor of paperbacks. He wanted to follow the example of publishers Beacon Books and Universal Distributing, which specialized in publishing cheap, lightweight books telling dramatic or erotic romances, with suggestive covers, for a male audience. Thus he created in 1957 the publishing house Midwood Books, named after his neighborhood in Brooklyn. At the time, the publishing house address was 505 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.
Unlike other New York publishers such as Bennett Cerf at Random House, Shorten did not have extensive knowledge of quality literature. But he knew what would entice the average American reader. His books were bright, colorful, and eye-catching. Midwood's first publications were paperback collections of the There Oughta Be a Law! strips and an unnumbered book series in the same style as Beacon Books. With the 1958 release of Midwood 007 — Love Nest, by Robert Silverberg, writing as "Loren Beauchamp" — began the emergence of authors and artists recognized later as appurtenant to Midwood. Shorten quickly began soliciting manuscripts from the Scott Meredith Literary Agency (which also provided manuscripts for fellow pulp publisher Nightstand Books).
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