Vision Entertainment is hard at work, striving to reach as many fans of Gor as possible and give them the exclusive first look at the world of Gor as seen through the eyes of its creator, John Norman.

To confound the censors and bring the pure, unadulterated work of John Norman to his fans, Vision has decided to offer the initial printing of the new GOR Magazine exclusively through direct subscription.

That means these first collectable limited edition issues of the magazine will be available exclusively to our advance subscribers. Vision is accepting direct subscriptions through the order form in place upon this website, as well as via regular mail for those who would rather pay by check or money order.

The -only- way to obtain the first lavishly illustrated, graphic collector's editions of John Norman's work is by direct subscription. Vision's goal is to defeat the haze of censorship that clouds the magazine market - to build a solid base of supporters from which to launch an attack on hesitant newsstand distributors, showing them the existing interest in the series. By subscribing directly, you will be assuring that it will not be necessary to alter the magnificent fantasy world that is John Norman's Counter-Earth.

The proceeds from this initial subscription run will be used to launch Vision's new line of official Gorean merchandise and publications, including the eagerly anticipated, lavishly illustrated 1,000+ page 26th installment to the Chronicles of Counter-Earth, Witness of Gor, currently scheduled for publication late in 1998. Vision is also accepting advance orders for the first print edition of the new Gor novel. Advance copies of this book can be reserved and pre-paid either through the order form on this website, or via regular mail as described above.

Vision Entertainment's stand against censorship in the publishing industry is a tough one. By supporting GOR Magazine, you lend your strength to their stand, and allow John Norman the necessary freedom to return to sharing his creation, the Counter-Earth, Gor, with his fans around the world. With your help, John Norman can expand and develop the world of Gor through GOR Magazine and through the future publication of further installments in the Gor book series. You can help make this possible.

The latest Gor novels sold around 350,000 copies per book in the USA alone. There are hundreds of thousands of fans of Gor out there. Many of them, unfortunately, are not aware of Gor Magazine or the upcoming new Gor novels. Despite a growing presence on the Internet, it is impossible for we at Vision to reach all of the Gor fans out there. However, you, the reader, can help. You can help by spreading the word - by talking to your friends and associates about Gor and the upcoming effort... by publishing and linking to the Gor Web Site. You can become a part of the solution which will bring John Norman and his incredible work back from ten long years of literary black-listing, back into the hands of his longtime fans and readers. If enough readers join in the effort, John Norman will be able to roundly silence the censors and bring the amazing world of Gor to its fullest flower, in book and graphic form.

A few words from Vision's C.E.O., Darrell Benvenuto
GOR Magazine News Update Digital Mailing List

June 17th, 1998

Background:

Conceived of and funded by Darrell Benvenuto, the CEO of Vision Entertainment, GOR Magazine is a full color graphic magazine similar to Heavy Metal, based on the world of GOR, as written by author John Norman. In 1997, Darrell Benvenuto, working directly with the author, launched the production of the magazine, beginning the series with the independent book, Dancer of GOR, #22 in the series. Working directly with the author in Vision's New York offices, a 400+ page project bible was created by the team of artists, detailing creatures, architecture, harnesses, garb and more, with John Norman personally revising and approving each and every design. It had to be exactly his vision, not some poor caricature, as were the feature films. Work began on the magazines. Issue #1 was completed, lettered and digitally colored. Work commenced on Issue #2.

Distribution Problems:

Problems began in the review process of the newsstand distributors. Slaves on the world of GOR wear slave collars. The presence of collars and/or the tying of the hands of unclothed women connotates "bondage" in the eyes of the newsstand distribution system. The unpleasant situation this creates is twofold:

1. Canada is closed entirely as a market. They do not allow publications with "bondage" in them across the border.

2. The book would have to be slotted with hard-core pornography in Mom 'n Pop adult shops, next to Puritan, Hustler and the like. Folks browsing hard-core porn racks aren't going to buy GOR Magazine; it's erotica, not porn. And GOR fans aren't (for the most part) looking there.

Obviously, this was, and is, a serious situation. For the magazine to be a success, GOR Magazine would have to sell a minimum of 50,000 to 75,000 copies on the newsstands. Losing the Canadian market would make this rather difficult.

Direct subscription offered an answer. If GOR Magazine could garner a mere 10,000 direct subscribers, it could go to press immediately, bypassing the newsstand distribution system entirely.

Internet Promotion -- Unsuccessful:

There is a large fan base of the Gorean epics on the Internet. It was originally thought that this fan base would be sufficient to provide the necessary base of 10,000 subscribers. The GOR Magazine Web Site was born, filled with news and information about the project, the author and more, including subscription information.

Note: At [ http://vision.nais.com/Gor ] the FORUM has been updated, and also now contains an excerpt from Book 26, Witness of GOR!

Unfortunately, despite quite a bit of spreading-the-word to the various newsgroups, chat rooms and Web Sites, only 10 or so subscribers took advantage of this mail-in offer. Ten. Not quite the response desired, despite the apparently highly-targeted audience presented in these groups and chat rooms. Obviously, the Internet was not the answer as a primary marketing channel, though it might serve as a secondary one, once the magazine was out and selling.

GOR Magazine needed to have the word spread to hundreds of thousands of people that would be inclined to purchase a graphic, erotic science-fiction/fantasy magazine. Production, which was half-way through the second issue, was temporarily stopped until the matter could be resolved and the distribution arrangements settled.

Promotion:

Through his associate, Howard Jurofsky, the vice-president of Heavy Metal Magazine, Darrell Benvenuto sought arrangements to promote GOR Magazine. In Heavy Metal, Mr. Benvenuto saw the perfect venue for promotion -- a graphic science-fiction/fantasy magazine, the very virtue of its existence indicating that the reader was willing to buy such a product. Heavy Metal is a well-established international publication, selling over 230,000 copies of each issue through the newsstands. Mr. Benvenuto's plan was to have Heavy Metal feature a 10-20 page excerpt (carefully tailored to be newsstand-censor-safe) from GOR Magazine, followed by direct subscription information. Mr. Jurofsky at Heavy Metal was agreeable, and so work has recently begun on illustrating, lettering and coloring this Heavy Metal segment.

New GOR Novels:

One of the other projects the company has been working on is the publication of the long-awaited Book 26 in the Gorean Epic, Witness of GOR. This 1,000+ page book would truly be a proper return of the author to the book market. An excerpt from this book has been placed upon the Vision Web Site, in the new, updated Forum area.

Risk:

Although the series had been selling in the 300,000+ copy range when it was cancelled by the daughter of Don Wollheim following his unfortunate death in 1988, it has been out of print for ten years.

The fan base that existed then, and every year sought out the next copy at the bookstores, has grown out of the practice. Such sales levels are not to be expected; indeed, the name of John Norman draws a blank in the bulk of today's book-buyers. It was hoped that GOR Magazine would provide a cross-market platform, from the newsstand-buying public to the book-buying public and vice-versa, helping to spread the word about the release of Book #26 and see a speedy return to its former sales level. Releasing such an expensive book (over 1,000 pages) into a ten-year-cold market without the magazine to serve as a promotional channel is too risky.

In Closing:

That's how things stand at the moment. Once the Heavy Metal segment is finished and slotted, the subscription process can begin in earnest. With GOR Magazine to serve as promotion for the launch of Witness of GOR to the Book Market, it too will be released. With a little luck and the support of its fans, GOR will flourish anew!

Questions or comments not answered by material on the Web Site can be directed to the following addresses. Please restrict questions to a minimum; the GOR Magazine staff is overworked enough as it is, and will likely remain so until the magazine comes out and sufficient funds exist to hire more staff specifically for the magazine.

Mail: GOR Magazine
Vision Entertainment, Ltd.
Post Office Box 580009
Flushing NY 11358-0009

E-mail:
contact@vision.nais.com

We are in the process of setting up an on-line credit card subscription service, as some folks have expressed a preference for the ease of credit cards as opposed to mail-in subscriptions. The information is up on the Public Boards at:
We also just posted an excerpt from Book 26, Witness of Gor, in the Forum, the first new Gorean work from John Norman seen in a decade. Enjoy!
We only need a few thousand direct subscribers to set the presses rolling.
Darrell Benvenuto, C.E.O.
Vision Entertainment