Between 1947 and 1951 he was editor at the pioneering paperback publisher Avon Books, where he made available highly affordable editions of the works of A. Merritt, H. P. Lovecraft, and C. S. Lewis' "Silent Planet" space trilogy, bringing these previously little known authors a wide readership. During this period he also edited eighteen issues of the influential "Avon Fantasy Reader" as well as three of the "Avon Science Fiction Reader". These periodicals contained mostly reprints and a few original stories.