Otis Adelbert Kline

Otis Adelbert Kline was a well-known adventure novelist and literary agent who rose to fame during the pulp era. Many of his works were featured in the magazine Weird Tales, which showcased pulp fiction. Kline's writings were popular among readers, and he became a significant figure in the pulp fiction community.

Kline is particularly remembered for his rivalry with Edgar Rice Burroughs, another prominent pulp fiction author. Kline wrote "Planet of Peril" and two other novels set on Venus, using a narrative style similar to Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series. This led Burroughs to write his own stories set on Venus, sparking a creative feud between the two authors. In response, Kline wrote two novels set on Mars and several jungle adventure stories that bore a resemblance to Burroughs' Tarzan.

In the mid-1930s, Kline shifted his focus away from writing and began working as a literary agent. He became most famous for representing Robert E. Howard, the pioneering sword and sorcery writer and creator of Conan the Barbarian. Kline served as Howard's literary agent from the spring of 1933 until Howard's death in 1936. Afterward, Kline continued to act as the literary agent for Howard's estate, further solidifying his reputation in the literary world.