Sol Cohen was an American publisher who worked mostly in the science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 field.

Cohen started his long association with Avon Publications in 1947, working as an editor for their comics division from 1947–1956. During this same period, from 1947–1949, Cohen was the circulation director and business manager of EC Comics

EC Comics

Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...

. Also during this period, Cohen became associated with Golden Age comics

Golden Age of Comic Books

The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...

 financier Harry Donenfeld

Harry Donenfeld

Harry Donenfeld was an American publisher who is known primarily for being the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributed Detective Comics and Action Comics, the originator publications for the superhero characters Batman and Superman...

; in 1949 the two men helped found the publisher Youthful Magazines.

Cohen edited Avon magazines, including Avon Science Fiction & Fantasy Reader, through most of the 1950s, eventually became an Avon Books vice-president. When Cohen's stock gains from that job enabled him to retire in the early 1960s, he decided to continue working in publishing, and joined Robert Guinn at Galaxy Science Fiction

Galaxy Science Fiction

Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...

.

Cohen left Galaxy in 1965, and bought Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...

and Fantastic

Fantastic (magazine)

Fantastic was an American digest-size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff-Davis as a fantasy companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff-Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, and to cease...

from Ziff-Davis, forming a new publishing company, Ultimate Publishing, to do so. Cohen's tenure as publisher of Amazing Stories and Fantastic

Fantastic (magazine)

Fantastic was an American digest-size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff-Davis as a fantasy companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff-Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, and to cease...

was filled with conflicts with his editors, contributors, and the Science Fiction Writers of America.

In 1977, Cohen sold his half of the business to his partner, Arthur Bernhard, and moved to Fort Lauderdale. He died in July 1988.