editor donald a. wollheim was working at avon books in 1952, but disliked his job. while looking for other work, he tried to persuade a. a. wyn to begin a new paperback publishing company. wyn was already a well-established publisher of books and pulp magazines under the name a. a. wyn's magazine publishers. his magazines included "ace mystery" and "ace sports." ace books may have got its name from these magazines. wyn liked wollheim's idea but waited for several months; meanwhile, wollheim was applying for other jobs, including assistant editor at pyramid books. pyramid mistakenly called wyn's wife rose for a reference, thinking wollheim had worked for her. when rose told her husband that wollheim was applying for another job, wyn made up his mind: he hired wollheim immediately as an editor.