Lancer Books

Lancer Books was a publisher of paperback books founded by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius that operated from 1961 through 1973. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularly its 12 book series of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian tales, the first publication of many in paperback format. It published the controversial novel Candy by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg, and Ted Mark's ribald series The Man from O.R.G.Y. Lancer paperbacks had a distinctive appearance, many bearing mauve or green page edging.

The company filed for bankruptcy in September 1973. In 1974, Zacharius and Roberta Bender Grossman co-founded Kensington Books (with the Zebra Books and Pinnacle Books imprints following shortly). Kensington was initially known mostly for romance novels.