The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Boucher became interested in the idea of a fantasy companion to "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine", and spoke to Dannay about it. Dannay was interested in the idea, but paper was scarce because of World War II. The following year Boucher and McComas suggested that the new magazine could use the Ellery Queen name, but Dannay knew little about fantasy and suggested instead that they approach Lawrence Spivak, the owner of Mercury Press, which published "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine". In January 1946, Boucher and McComas went to New York and met with Spivak, who let them know later in the
Hack writer Hack writer A hack writer is a pejorative term for a writer who is paid to write low-quality, rushed articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In a fiction-writing a hack writer is paid to quickly write sensational, "pulp" fiction such as "true crime" novels or "bodice ripping" paperbacks. In journalism, a hack writer is deemed to operate as a "mercenary" or "pen for hire", expressing their client's political opinions in pamphlets or newspaper articles. Hack writers are usually paid by the number of words in their book or article; as a result, hack writing has a