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Reissuing the Works of R. V. Cassill – An Interview with Orin Cassill

R. V. Cassill
A few years ago, Orin Cassill, son of novelist and short story writer R. V. Cassill, contacted me after I began writing about the pulp novels his father wrote back in the 1950s and early 1960s. At the time, he was working to reissue some of his father’s novels and short story collections–a project that has now resulted in the publication of two dozen books, including a previously unreleased novel, Jack Horner in Love and War. It’s a tribute to the possibilities of today’s publication mechanism (as well as some smart copyright management). Recently, Orin agreed to do a short interview to catch up on the reissue of his father’s work and to plug a few of his own candidates for rediscovery.

Editor: How did you come to decide to undertake the republication of a substantial portion of your father’s novels and short story collections?

I knew that people were publishing and re-publishing books as ebooks on Amazon and had been thinking about looking into it for a couple years.

In 2014, we were contacted by Open Road Media about re-publishing five of my father’s books (3 novels and 2 short-story collections).

After they published those, my brother Jesse and I looked into the process and realized it was relatively easy to create and publish an ebook directly, so he published several more of the novels and also my mother’s book on Twins which she had originally published in the 1980s.

Last year I discovered that Amazon was also offering POD (print-on-demand) paperbacks as well as ebook versions. Although ebooks seem to be the wave of the future, this interested me as I still prefer to read a physical book rather than an ebook.

Did the rise of electronic publishing make the process any easier?

Definitely. Without the option of ebooks and print-on-demand books, we would have had to go the old-fashioned route of printing, warehousing, marketing, distributing, etc. which would have been far too expensive and complicated.

With electronic publishing there are still some costs involved in scanning and proofreading, etc. but the costs are much smaller than the traditional publishing model.

Republishing through the electronic platforms essentially puts a book ‘back in print’ indefinitely.

Previously, if someone wanted to read one of his books, they would have to find an old copy on Amazon or eBay or go to the library.

Now they are (or will be) conveniently available in one place.

It was also fun designing new covers for the books. We have used a number of my mother’s paintings for several covers and are using several of my father’s paintings as covers for the old “paperback originals.”

Covers from reissues of R. V. Cassill's books

We were also able to publish a previously unpublished novel: Jack Horner in Love and War; and last fall an artist’s notebook by my mother called We’ll Always Have Paris: Paintings and Sketches.

Were there any challenges you ran into getting the rights to reissue the works you have?

No. Luckily my mother had spent a lot of time and effort renewing all the copyrights back in the 1980s.

What has been the response from readers so far? Would you say that he’s being rediscovered by people who had known his work in the past or that’s it’s more of a new audience?

It’s hard to say exactly. Amazon only provides sales figures based on country, so unless someone leaves a review we can’t tell who they are.

There have been several sales internationally but mostly in the U.S.

I would guess that many of the sales so far are to people who might recognize the name from the past. Open Road Media has done some promotion through their website, so that may be reaching newer audiences.

For me personally, republishing all the books has been very educational since there are books (mostly the earlier ones) that I never read, and the ones that I have read I hadn’t read in quite a while.

Are there any more plans to reissue other books?

We are still finishing up the last of the 1950s paperbacks – hopefully that will be completed soon.

My goal is to get everything republished by his 100th birthday in May 2019.

We are also putting together a book of his artwork. He was a painter as well as a writer and produced a large body of oil and watercolor paintings, drawings, and sculptures during his life. A small portion of it has been displayed at various times, but putting a portion of it together in a book will be rewarding.

Did the fact that your father was a writer make an impression on you as a kid? Was it intimidating or inspirational or just what your dad did when he went off to work?

A little of both. I wrote some fiction and poetry in high school and college and was editor of the literary magazine at Boston College my senior year, although I didn’t continue writing after graduation.

A remarkable number of fine writers passed through your father’s classes in the years that he taught at Iowa, Purdue, and Brown. Are there any you think deserve the same kind of republishing and rediscovery as your father? Or any personal favorites you’d like to recommend to other fans of neglected books?

All of them, really! As you know, not every ‘neglected’ book is a classic, but lots of them are interesting enough to be made available, even if the prospective audience is small.

But to narrow it down a little bit, I would mention Irvin Faust (who I think you have already covered), William Harrison, James Crumley, James P. White, Wirt Williams, Mark Costello, James Whitehead, David Slavitt, and Hilary Masters.

Other books by non-students I would mention are:
Poison Pen by George Garrett
The Bridge by D. Keith Mano

You can learn more about R. V. Cassill and his books at www.rvcassill.com

1 thought on “Reissuing the Works of R. V. Cassill – An Interview with Orin Cassill”

  1. James Crumley is hardly a neglected writer; nearly all his books are in print, though at the moment, curiously, his most acclaimed and popular novel The Last Good Kiss is out of print in this country.

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