Devoted to home building, home furnishing, and home decoration. Uses only general articles treating of home subjects, setting length at 2,000 words. Buys photographs at a dollar apiece, and pays one cent a word for articles. Uses no fiction.

Boy's Money Maker Magazine (M), 3 West Sherman st., Hutchinson, Kansas. $1.00; 10C. Eugene Scott Randles, editor.

A real boy's magazine, featuring all that is popular with boys, using short stories, serials, jokes, and general articles. Buys matter for departments on Radio, Money-making Plans, Things for Boys to Make, and New Mechanics. Buys few photographs and prefers good, live, clean, thrilling stories that will hold a boy's interest stories of adventure, creativeness, business, thrills, radio, baseball, track, boating, automobile racing, and bicycling. Pays on ceptance, or, if needed for future issues, will hold and advise.

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Caveat (B-M), 41 Dolph Building, 625 Locust st., St. Louis, Mo. $2.00; 10c. G. E. Merrick, editor.

the

A new magazine to promote education, Americanism, progress, and enlightenment. Its chief aim is Service, and it has no political affiliations, no religious prejudices, no axe to grind, no opinions to put forth other than to urge all sane, thinking Americans to take a greater interest in our laws, our representation in local, state, and national legislative bodies, and to give greater heed to the activities of these bodies in formation of the laws that govern us; and to-use its influence in urging serious and earnest study of laws before their enactment and respect for and obedience to them afterward. Uses short stories; novelettes; little a poetry; general articles, especially in its particular field; and perhaps later some juvenile matter. Sets length limit at 5,000 words; prefers fiction that is educational or romantic, with some mystery and adventure, all of the highest order and clean; does not buy photographs, and pays on the twentieth of the month following publication. Fun on the Farm, Collegiate World Publishing Co., III North Market st., Chicago. F. D. Genest, editor.

A new magazine, first announced as Si Whiffletree- His Magazine.

Jungle (M). 859 Seventh ave., New York. Rankin Justus, editor.

Vol. I., No. 1, May, 1922. Uses short stories, general articles, verse, and jokes, but no serials, novelettes, or juvenile matter. Sets length limit at 2,500 words; buys material for departments devoted to radio and food; buys photographs; and pays one cent a word on publication. Fiction should be dramatic or humorous.

Living Arts (M), Conde Nast, 19 West 44th st.. New York. $15.00; $3.00. Lucien Vogel (Paris, France), editor.

New Student (fortnightly during the college year), 2929 Broadway, New York. $1.00 (18 issues); 7c. Amy S. Jennings, editor.

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Vol. I., No. 1. April 19, 1922. Uses general articles in any way connected with student life articles on experiments in education, especially among colleges; connection between students and labor; on student movements in SOcial, political, and industrial fields; оп fights for free speech; changes in athleties; or anything in which fair-sized groups of students are interested, ог in which unusual intellectual boldness is shown; and articles on foreign students. Sets length limit at 2,200 words, preferring articles of about 1.400 words. Buys no photographs, and does not pay for manuscripts. North Carolina Education, Box 412, Raleigh, N. C. W. F. Marshall, editor.

Does not buy manuscripts yet.

Our World (M), The Houston Publishing Co., Inc., 9 East 37th st., New York. $3.00; 25c. ($4.00 with annual membership in Institute of International Information). Herbert S. Houston, Arthur Bullard, Kenneth Andrews, editors. Vol. I., No. 1, April, 1922. Deals chiefly with events and movement affecting international relations, believing that the people of America are to a growing degree interested in the life and problems of other lands. Wants well-illustrated travel articles and intimate personal stories, provided they tend to a better understanding of intricate problems - ethnic frontiers, barriers to trade, depreciating currencies, access to the sea, zollvereins restated in human terms; articles on the internationalism of sport, the movies, the radio-telephone; articles relating to Youth growing up to responsibility; picture stories groups of from two to eight good photographs, which, with a minimum of caption, are sufficient to tell a good story; maps; pictures that mean something; and suggestions from laymen ideas to be worked out by specialists. Buys photographs; sets length limit at 3,500 words an article of 3.500 words, with space given for title, subheads, and illustrations, would run eight and one-half pages: an article of 2,000 words will run to five pages, and will always be preferred; prints no fiction; and pays on

ceptance.

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Pioneer (formerly Interstate Index) (M), San Antonio, Texas. $1.50; 15c. James Bennett Wooding, editor.

The Magazine of Texas, using biographies of prominent people in Texas, write-ups of interesting points, and short stories of human interest and romance, set in a Texas locale. Renders decisions in five days, and pays on acceptance. Radio Digest (M), Rural Publishing Co., Chicago. Vol. I., No. 1, May, 1922.

Salesology (M), 53 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago. $2.00; 25c. Joseph P. Wilson, editor. Not buying anything at present.

School Days (B-M), 220 Broadway, New York. 60c.; 3c. H. A. Harrison, editor.

A new magazine for boys and girls, of from seven to eighteen. At the present time is buying only photographs, paying immediately. Treat 'Em Square (M), 33 Union Square, New York. $2.00; 25c. Robert Haines, editor.

A magazine for ex-service men. Uses short stories, novelettes; poetry ; humorous verse: jokes; and general articles. Sets length limit at 500 words; occasionally buys photographs; and pays upon publication.

World Fiction (M), The Houston Publishing Co., Inc., 9 East 37th st., New York. $3.00; 25c. Harriett V. Wishnieff, editor; Harold Toksvig, associate editor.

Vol. I., No. 1, June, 1922. Contains translations of the best current work of foreign authors significant and typical stories, characteristic of each nation.

Younger Set (formerly the Débutante Calendar) (M), The Younger Set, Inc.. 18 Beekman pl. New York. Anton N. Busch, Jr., assistant editor. Vol. I., No. 1, March, 1922. Uses articles, fiction, and poetry having cleverness and a certain degree of sophistication,

VOL. XXXIV.

Procrastination sometimes pays. It is n't always profitable to take time by the forelock. The proverb tells us that the early bird catches the worm, but if that is so, the early worm is caught by the bird.

I have just had an interesting experience which illustrates the disadvantages of being an early worm.

In the March number of THE WRITER was printed an article in which Brander Matthews had something to say about "The Wonder Book for Writers" and "the new System of Story and Playwriting" that it advertises. Mr. Matthews might have said considerably more. He quotes part of the first "followup letter received by those who answer the seductive advertisement offering the "Wonder Book for Writers" absolutely free but who

No. 6.

unaccountably fail to send at once the paltry ten dollars to get the "System." This letter, I have found, is followed by others, all together making a most remarkable epistolary series. Mr. Matthews does not quote the "Wonder Book" itself, which opens with the portentous warning that its entire contents are protected by copyright and that any one reprinting any portion of the book will be vigorously prosecuted. In the face of such a frightful prohibition, no one, of course, would dare to quote directly from the book, but perhaps it may not be an infringement of copyright to give some description of it.

The "Wonder Book" is a beautifully printed pamphlet, adorned with a lovely picture on the cover, showing an alleged author sitting in his magnificent study at a richly carved desk examining a manuscript, with typewriter, telephone, leaded glass bookcase, a lofty lamp, an ormolu clock, and other luxurious appointments, not to mention an exciting vista through the palace window of a garden, with a pergola and flowers in bloom and other commonplaces of the very rich. This picture alone, showing the possibilities of authorship, is well worth to any ambitious writer the price of the book, which is absolutely free not to mention the value of the almost equally exciting pictures inside the book, one showing Rupert Hughes, "one of the highest paid writers in the world," going over a manuscript in the workroom of his luxurious summer home, and the other showing Julius Street sitting in a carved chair examining a book by the soft light of a shaded lamp in his palatial library. The suggestion of these pictures to the fortunate recipient of the "Wonder Book" is obvious, but it is

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stressed in the print below the cuts. If Mr. Hughes can earn big money writing in his own home, surrounded with comfort and luxuries, why can't anybody do the same? As for Mr. Street, why would n't anybody like to cruise around in limousines, have elegant country homes and town houses, and live and move in the highest social circle? Successful writers are honored guests of Kings and Presidents. Everything is open to any writer who succeeds. No matter what you are now, there is scarcely a limit to your rise if you master the correct principles of writing.

That seems to be the key-note of the "Wonder Book." I get from it the idea that everybody can be successful. A world of endless opportunities is open to every one. The beautiful profession of writing is a princely occupation. Anybody can write clerks, salesmen, typewriters, barbers, waiters, school teachers. If some are successful, why can't every one succeed? The thing is to begin. Editors are aching to buy manuscripts from new writers. Some prominent story writers get as much as fifty cents a word. One girl, a comparatively new writer, earns fifty thousand dollars a year writing photoplays. Many writers make from five thousand to fifty thousand dollars a year. [Why mention the depressing fact that many others don't?]

Startling information is given about the immense earnings of story and photoplay writers. It should be interesting to the collectors of the income tax.] To one who has read the glowing figures, what could be more encouraging than to be told that writing is open to men and women of all ages in all the walks of life? Any one who goes to see the moving pictures, or reads magazines, ought to know just what is required; all that is necessary is to produce it. It is not essential to have genius to be successful as a writer; all that is required is willingness and work. It is helpful, however, to have the guidance of a "System" and here comes the golden message of the "Wonder Book." Mr. James Irving has hit upon a new method of writing stories and photoplays, superior to anything ever before produced. Naturally the "Wonder Book" is enthusiastic about its merits

it could not be more enthusiastic if Mr. Irving had written the eulogies himself. The warning against infringement of copyright, of course, makes it impossible to reproduce here the glowing tributes to the excellence of the "System," but given the "System," a typewriter, and a ream of paper, there seems to be no reason why anybody cannot win wealth and fame and writing is a much more agreeable occupation than truck driving, as any truck driver will admit. The wide world. of success is open, it appears, to the happy possessor of the " System," and what is the a mere matter of ten dollars, although it was originally intended to sell the "System" for thirty dollars until Mr. Irving protested that he wanted it brought within the reach of all. Besides, the purchase price includes payment for complete service on three manuscripts in the Advisory Bureau and Manuscript Sales department of the Authors' Press. Why hesitate?

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Why hesitate?

That is the key-note of the "follow-up" letters that the favored recipient of the 'Wonder Book" will get (assuming always that his experience is the same as mine), if he does n't send his ten dollars right away. To appreciate them fully it should be borne in mind that while they have the appearance of being individual letters, they are really produced by some duplicating process, so that the friendly, intimate "you" means any one of an indefinite number of persons who have become known to the writer of the letters by sending a postal card asking for a copy of "The Wonder Book." The first letter begins :

You have n't answered our recent letter. You have n't sent for the New Irving System of Story and Play Writing. Your name is not enrolled in our Bureau of Personal Help and Manuscript Sales Department. Naturally we wonder why, knowing as we do that you are so deeply, intensely interested in Writing! The thought occurs to us that our former letter and THE WONDER BOOK FOR WRITERS- may not have reached you. Or you may have been out of town or otherwise so busily engaged that you just could n't get time to answer.

But you simply can't afford to delay longer or neglect your chance,

for the world of story and play writers is no longer the improvident, ragged-elbowed, starve

in-a-garret fraternity of old. No, indeed! Many of the story kings these days cruise around in big limousines, have elegant country homes or town houses, live in the highest social sphere in America! You know that as well as we. And why should n't they? What a g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s thing to have "the child of your brain " producing handsome cash royalties that come in regularly for years.

WHY, THINK WHAT YOUR FAMILY WILL SAY, IF AFTER GETTING THE IRVING SYSTEM, YOU SUDDENLY BLOSSOM OUT AS A REAL AUTHOR OR A RECOGNIZED SCENARIO WRITER. All the world will pat you on the back if you make good! The world does n't seem to care HOW you make good - just so you DO! Everybody applauds the successful man ог woman-sometimes even one's ENEMIES! This is strange, but true.

And here is the big thing - a truly marvelous thing about being a successful writer. You don't have to keep an expensive office or costly place of business. You can earn big money right from your cwn home, writing in your leisure hours, with all the comforts and pleasures of your home environment -you don't have to get down to business at a certain hour - you have no one to boss you no other's ideas or instructions to which you must conform — you are perfectly free and independent, comfortable, supremely happy - with the knowledge that a mere pencil and paper are all the tools you need to bring in crisp checks of magazine editors or handsome royalties eagerly paid by motion picture concerns! You can live the ideal, independent life that others enjoy in this dignified and wonderful profession - you can bid farewell to all the humiliations and false hopes of the other mediocre ways of making a living!

Then you are informed that this easy-roadto-success" SYSTEM" will be sent to you post-paid for ten dollars, and the letter closes with the paragraph quoted by Mr. Matthews in the March WRITER. Later, if you procrastinate, comes a second letter beginning :

come true in your case as it has come true in the case of many other writers and playwrights, WHERE THEY WENT TO WORK UPON THE CORRECT PRINCIPLES OF WRIT ING.

And here is our gentle warning to you: So many orders are coming in daily that our present supply is getting dangerously low. We do not say this to hurry you, but the actual truth is that, if you do not buy now, it is very likely that we might be out of the System within a very short time; and, owing to the high cost of all material used in the publishing business, it is almost a certainty that the present edition is the last that will ever be sold at the present price. It is quite probable that we will be com. pelled to increase the price of the next edition to $15.

You want your readers to grow fond of your stories and plays. You want them to greet every fresh narrative from your pen with that eager, warm, deep pleasure that glowing inward anticipation of happy hours to be spent with the characters you create the dear children of your brain amid the scenes you will learn to skillfully upon the reader's Picture Fancy? You want them to love and sympathize with your heroines and heroes. You want to move them to laughter, tears even hatred ! You want them to follow breathlessly the stirring adventures and sweet romance of the lives you picture!

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Yet with all these yearnings in your breast, you have not sent for the New Irving System. Mark Anthony said: " AMBITION SHOULD BE MADE OF STERNER STUFF."

You must not let your noble dreams go to waste to wilt, to die to end in defeat and failure. You must the take heart and have courage of your convictions, the determination that CONQUERS ALL! You must have resolution enough to GO RIGHT AHEAD. You

must have WILL enough to send for The Irv ing System IMMEDIATELY!

The price we ask for this New Easy Method is insignificant. Surely you are not letting THAT stand in the way. It is a trivial amount to stand between you and the thing you so DEEPLY DESIRE! Who would let a mere might [sic] of money stand between him and his divine ambition - his highest purpose, his greatest aim in life? If you have n't the boundless faith in your future that over-balances a little thing like a PALTRY PIECE OF SILVER-if Success and Fame are not worth the price we ask for this wonderful System - then you're not made of the metal that turns out successful writers and enrolls their names in the hearts and minds of the world's fiction lovers.

Why, the cost of this Easy System is not a big matter. It's a little thing-A VERY LITTLE THING. You should feel a real joy in sending it - other writers say the System is worth FAR MORE than we ask for it. Sending for it may be the crucial act of your life - it may mean the fulfillment of every hope it may even mean a real regret that you hesitated as long as you did!

You must not be one of those who think : "Oh, I never could do it. I'd never make good, as the others have done. They are lucky or they simply had the Knack, that's all. No use MY trying-". THAT kind of thinking is foolish and weak. It is n't for YOU. Not for a MOMENT. You know better. Who can say that YOU have n't as much chance as ANY. BODY! We will work with you shoulder to shoulder; we may make it much easier for you than you ever DREAMED it would be!

Ah, it is a thing that grows on you! "It is your vision in the night, your dream 'tis in the day." The power of putting your thoughts and fancies into words! It gets easier and easier and easier the words flow from your pen in an endless stream. You are dazed, dumbfounded, delighted. Thoughts, ideas, crowd upon each other; gaiety, gloom, pathos, envy, jealousy, anger, remorse - all the wonderful things that spring into being upon the great Stage of Life, the Film of Reality.

scenes

Don't wait and wish and want the things that might as well be YOURS. Lose no more time! Pin your money to the enclosed Guarantee, insert in an envelope, and hurry them to us in the very next mail. Put on your hat, take your letter and post it yourself WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!

Don't let anything or anybody interfere with this important step! IT MAY BE THE TURNING POINT IN YOUR WHOLE CAREER!

Perhaps it seems impossible that you could resist this unselfish appeal, but if you should, look for another form letter in imitation typewriting, full of friendly, personal interest, which says:

This morning when they told me we have received no reply to our last letter to you, I made up my mind to sit right down and talk it over with you frankly. I said to myself well, I'll tell you exactly what I said:

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Now, here is an ambitious person who really wants to carve out a literary career. Here is one who has dreamed all the dreams that are dear to writers. Here is one who has visualized the triumphs of authorship - either in stories or plays. Here is one who feels just exactly as I did years ago when I began to write-all the uncertainties, perplexities, perhaps hesitancy and lack of confidence. And all the while we have right here in The Irving System all the methods, ideas, hints, helps and suggestions- everything necessary to help this writer succeed. Are we going to emulate that miserable human trait of greed and selfishness which impels people to demand the eternal PRICE before they lend a hand? NO," I said and, unconsciously, I came down hard on my desk with my fist"I'll be blest if we do! I'm going to write our ambitious friend and make the PAYMENT end of it so easy that it will be taking all diffi culties out of this writer's way."

Then comes the offer, from which

you will know once and for all that The Authors' Press is not a cold-blooded, soulless corporation, whose main idea is to get your money. You will know that we, who are writers ourselves, have the warm fraternal spark in our hearts that sympathizes with every difficulty besetting men and women who write. The full price of the System is $10. It is worth $10,000 to any aspir ant for authorship, in our opinion. But if you don't feel disposed to send the $10 to-day for this complete System of instruction, I have left word at our audit desk that SHOULD YOUR ORDER COME IN, ACCOMPANIED BY A CHECK FOR $5 in partial payment for this course, it will be all right, the Irving System will be sent to you at once and you can send the remaining $5 within 30 days.

But this manifold individual offer is not the end. Later, if you still procrastinate, you may expect a letter saying: :

We hope we are not stingy or "small." So where we have, right here in our possession, an Easy System of Writing that means so much to you, the strong impulse strikes us that WE OUGHT TO SEND IT TO YOU AND BE DONE WITH IT!

You see, we are interested in you as we are in EVERY writer. We deeply sympathize with your hopes of becoming a money-making writer and WE WILL PROCEED TO PROVE IT. We will prove it perhaps in a way you little suspect. At least you will not say that our proof is not genuine.

Although you have not responded to our recent letters, you displayed a real desire to learn all the secrets of writing when you recently sent