Z File Books Takes a Break
Z File Books, which has been packaging and producing books and graphic novels since 2006, is now on hiatus, and has been for some period of time. There are no new projects in the pipeline, nor am I soliciting new assignments from Z File’s publishers.
But almost all the volumes we have produced are still in print and available, with new editions of Fahrenheit 451 licensed just this past year in French and Chinese, and new European editions of The Stuff of Life and Evolution as well.
I am currently working on outlining a memoir about my time in publishing, and collating my fairly extensive (4,000+) comic book collection. Anyone interested in my future editorial services, or has questions about any existing Z File books may contact me at howardzim@gmail.com.
Thank you for your ongoing interest, support, time and attention. It has been both a humbling and rewarding experience. We will see what the future brings, and if it’s of note, I will certainly let you know.
Howard Zimmerman
June 16, 2023
Another Honoree
Army Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha was awarded the Medal of Honor this week and, thankfully, it was not a posthumous award. For more than half a century, the Medal was not awarded to a living serviceman. Now, during President Obama’s term in office, that trend seems...
Human Origins. Part One.
When did human civilization begin? If we look at this as a scientific investigation (and not a quiz of Biblical stories), the best answer, based on current knowledge, is sometime during the last Ice Age—between 40,000 and 30,00 years ago—in Europe and Asia, by...
REAL MAGIC
Tom Cross, Brian Froud, and Howard Zimmerman Today is the fourth anniversary of the death of my dear friend Tom Cross. At fifty-four, having never smoked a day in his life, he died of lung cancer. He was an artist, an environmentalist, a writer, a visionary, a...
Over, But Just Beginning
The elections are over and President Obama has won an historic second term. The Affordable Care Act—yes, Obamacare—is here to stay, even if some Republican lawmakers are still in denial. The Affordable Care Act is a huge, sprawling, encompassing piece of legislation...
NY Comic Con 2012
The elections are over and President Obama has won an historic second term. The Affordable Care Act—yes, Obamacare—is here to stay, even if some Republican lawmakers are still in denial. The Affordable Care Act is a huge, sprawling, encompassing piece of legislation...
BRADBURY LANDING
We just can’t get enough of Mars! NASA saw its largest, most sophisticated robotic explorer yet, the Curiosity Rover, successfully land in a highly complex maneuver in mid-August. The damned thing is so large and so heavy that they needed to remotely lower it...
A Sad Season
The end of summer is always a bittersweet time. This year there’s overt sadness as well, as we’ve lost three talented men whom I (and the world) have long admired: Joe Kubert, Harry Harrison, and Neil Armstrong. I grew up on Kubert’s version of Tarzan and his war...
New Editor, Nice Plug
Recently, Publishers Weekly’s ace graphic novels reporter Calvin Reid did a column on the changing of the guard at Hill & Wang’s Novel Graphics Imprint. The founding publisher of the imprint, Thomas LeBien, has moved on and is now with Simon & Schuster, his...
The Hammer and the Anvil: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the End of Slavery in America
A hundred and fifty years ago, the nation was ripped asunder by the bloodiest conflict it has ever known, the American Civil War. The Confederate and Union armies battled in Virginia, with Lee leading his troops to victory and then threatening to sweep through...
What’s in a Name?
Chief Justice Roberts did the right thing for America. It came as a pleasant surprise to supporters of the Affordable Care Act, who were gearing up for the incredible chaos that would have followed an unfavorable ruling, as portions of the bill have already been in...
San Diego: ComicCon, Part One
Brooklyn-born Phil Seuling was the first independent national distributor of comic books. If not for Phil’s early work in the field, there would be no Diamond Comic Distributors today. Back in the 1970s, Phil hosted comic cons at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan....
The Story Behind the Title
Of all the books I’ve worked on, one I’m most proud of is Evolution: the Story of Life on Earth. When I worked for Byron Preiss Visual Publications, we tried for over a decade to sell a young-adult book on evolutionary science. But we were told it had...