AustLit

Pulp magazine that ran from 1952 until 1959.

The only professional science-fiction magazine published in Scotland, Nebula published the first science-fiction stories by such authors as Robert Silverberg and Brian Aldiss, but also frequently published original stories by American and Australian authors.

Nebula was founded, edited, and originally self-financed by Peter Hamilton; the latter fact, combined with the fact that the magazine was printed by the then teenaged Hamilton's parents' printing company in between their other printing jobs, led to the extremely irregular release of early issues. Nevertheless, the magazine developed a strong following among both writers and readers. According to Mike Ashley, 'Hamilton's love for good science fiction, his determination to produce a good-quality magazine and his willingness to work with writers all contributed towards Nebula rapidly establishing itself' (Transformations: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1950 to 1970, Liverpool University Press, 2005, p.87).

The magazine's international circulation (with only a quarter of its sales in the United Kingdom) ultimately led to its closure, when the import contorls imposed on foreign magazines by Australia and South Africa, combined with the UK's excise duties, put the magazine under intolerable financial strain in the late 1950s.