Harry Bates (author)

Harry Bates (1900-1981) was an American science fiction editor.

Bates began working for William Clayton in the 1920s as the editor of adventure pulp magazines. When Clayton proposed a period adventure magazine, Bates suggested several alternatives that he felt would be easier to edit and Astounding Science Fiction was the result. Bates, who was not a fan of science fiction, edited the magazine from its inception in January 1930 until March 1933 when Clayton went bankrupt and the magazine was sold to Street and Smith . During that time, he edited other magazines for Clayton, including Strange Tales, which was meants as a rival to Weird Tales. Clayton was willing to pay four times what its rival, Amazing Stories paid.

Bates had a different view of science fiction than Hugo Gernsback. Bates felt that the science needed to be excited, but not necessarily accurate, and that story and pacing were more important than inspiration for the readers.

In addition to editing the magazine, Bates also wrote stories, often in collaboration with Desmond W. Hall . The men usually used pseudonyms. Their most popular series were the "Hawk Carse" stories. Bates continued to write science fiction, often under various pseudonyms. His most famous story is "Farewell to the Master" (1940), which was filmed as "The Day the Earth Stood Still"