The Writer’s Market 1931

Title: Writer’s Market 1931
Genre: Reference/Business
Editor: Aron M. Mathieu
Publisher: Writer’s Digest [no city of state indicated[
Series: “Writer’s Market”
Year: 1930
Pages: 272
Format: Hardback with embossed paperboard cover.
Provenance: “Jack Sowell” written in ball-point pen on front cover; “Jack Sowell His Book” written in pencil on title page.
Category Examples: Book Publishers; Copyright Information; Home and Garden Magazines; Juvenile and Young People’s Magazines; Music Trade Journals; Religious Magazines; Salesman’s Magazines; Street and Smith Publications; Travel Markets; Women’s Journals.
Opening Sentence: “The business of writing — for such indeed it is — demands the knowledge of markets as well as metaphors.”
Random Passage: “This magazine uses only swift, colorful Western fiction by writers who know what they are writing about. Published as a brother magazine to Action Stories, it is looking for the same qualities of fast action and tense drama that have made the action type of fiction popular. Open with a compelling action scene and don”t be afraid to pile up the intrigue and suspense. Keen reader interest must be sustained throughout.” (from FRONTIER STORIES, “The Way to Fiction House Market” by John F. Byrne)
Notes: The explosion in magazines and pulp fiction in the early 20th century meant a vibrant market for both fiction and fact storytelling. The annual Writer’s Market came about in 1921 to coach aspiring writers as to what sells, in addition to supplying addresses for most of the publications going at the time. This particular volume from 1930 gives a good representation of the quantity and sheer variety of what was out there (four magazines devoted exclusively to fruit, for instance).