‍October 21, 2026

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‍MIDNIGHT-TO-THREE PUBLISHING LAUNCHES SCRIPTA AMISSA PROJECT

‍CHAPBOOK FOR LOST WRITING LEADS WITH BEAUMONT, PORTIS   

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‍Aloha, OR—Midnight-to-Three Publishing, an Oregon-based independent publisher, announces the launch its Scripta Amissa Project, a run of chapbooks presenting overlooked or forgotten short works by a variety of well-known 20th-century writers.

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‍The series launches on November 9, 2026 with the release of Charles Beaumont: Driven Interests, pairing a forgotten racing short story and a comic book industry essay by the legendary writer best known today for his contributions to the original Twilight Zone series. It will be followed in December by Charles Portis: Curio Cabinet, gathering three early short works by the highly regarded True Grit author, and in January 2027 by Tom Reamy: Origin Stories, reprinting five early fanzine tales charting the development of the late sf writer, artist, and publisher. The initial volumes will each run 48 pages. Scripta Amissa volumes will be available through most major online booksellers, as well as for order through local independent book stores.

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‍“We want volumes that encourage exploration of the writer, that round out their available body of work, or shine light on aspects of their careers that aren’t as well-remembered,” explains Scripta Amissa Project editor Doug Lane. “We’re most interested in finding pieces by writers—whether widely known today or who’ve faded, become niche or ‘cult’ writers—that haven’t seen print in decades, and making them available again.” 

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‍The series will deal solely with work in the public domain. Lane acknowledges there are publishers who have for years been mining sf and mystery magazines for recognizable names to reprint, but says Scripta Amissa is different. “If you look, you’ll find three, four, five different publishers all repackaging the same stories, sometimes in bulk. We’re aiming for a more considered product: doing deeper dives, cross-referencing bibliographies and contents lists and multiple older resources to identify work that doesn't turn up on lists or has flat-out fallen through the cracks.” 

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‍Each Scripta Amissa volume will provide newly written historical context for the pieces included, and document the copyright research performed. “In developing each title, we’re verifying copyright renewals to avoid protected work,” Lane explains. “If we have any doubt about rights ownership, we eliminate a piece from consideration. For what we do reprint, we’re showing our work at the back of each release. To me, simply saying something was ‘extensively’ researched is so much talk if you don’t say what that entailed.” 

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‍Lane says the series will run at least six volumes, and reader response will dictate if Scripta Amissa continues beyond that. “We’re roughing out issues 7-12, but whether we go there depends on the audience. If they don’t show up, if there’s no interest, then we’ll just move on to other things. There’s no shortage of projects we could working on.” 

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‍The additional planned volumes for 2027 include early newspaper and small-magazine publications by David R. Bunch, a collection of slick-magazine sports features by Gerald Kersh, and a selection of overlooked fiction and non-fiction work by sf luminary Alfred Bester.