Midwood Tower Publications

Midwood Tower Publications

1957 - 1982

New York, NY

Midwood

Midwood-Tower

Midwood was founded in 1957 by Harry Shorten whose background was in writing and editing comic books. He also founded Tower Books in 1960. In 1964, Midwood joined with Tower Books to form the Midwood-Tower Line. From their inception, Midwood and Tower aimed their marketing at a male audience with an interest in sex and sensation.

Midwood acquired its sensationalized cover art from the Art Balcourt Service. Midwood worked with the Scott Meredith Literary Agency which provided content on demand.  These works were often published under house names which could become the pseudonym for any number of authors. Book collector Lynn Munroe reports that the first 40 Midwood books were written by five men under a host of pen names. Some of its editors were also asked to author lesbian pulp fiction for the company. These included Joan Ellis (writing as Joan Ellis), Elaine Williams, (writing as Sloan Britton / Sloane Britain), and John Plunkett, (writing as Jason Hytes).  In the late 1960s, the Tower imprint focused on science fiction and fantasy while Midwood Books published only erotica. The company was liquidated in 1982.

Bartter, Martha A. "Tower Publications." Amerian Literary publishing Houses 1900-1980: Trade and Paperback, edited by Peter Dzwonkoski, Gale Research Company, 1986, p361.

Munroe, Lynn. "Midwood Books and Isaac Paul Rader." Sin-A-Rama: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties, edited by Brittany A. Daley, Hedi El Khoti, Earl Kemp, Miriam Linna, and Adam Parfrey, Feral House, Los Angeles, CA, 2005.

Munroe, Lynn. "Midwood." Lynn Munroe Books, http://lynn-munroe-books.com/list55/midwood.htm

Denyse Rodrigues

Terrence Paris