"Why Can't I Sell That Story?" THE AUTHOR WANTS TO KNOW. If the editors won't tell you, send your manuscript to me. Having, thru many years' experience, acquired the editorial point of view, I have become expert in detecting what the rejection slip or the politely vague letter of declination conceals. What editors have not time to do, are not paid to do, and so avoid doing, I will do. I do not offer instruction in authorship - only to point out what is wrong with what you have written. You must make it right; and you will, if you have it in you. The way to learn how to write is to keep on writing. ARE YOU REALLY PHOTOGRAPHY? There are many excellent photographic magazines to read. Each has something worthwhile to offer. Some have pictures, some have articles and some have pictorial inspiration which will help you to success. The extent of your interest in photography is measured by the number of photographic books and magazines which you read thoroughly. No matter how many photographic publications you have, you will always find something different in Photo-Era Magazine. Editorially and typographically it is an individual publication. Its helpful and inspirational articles, combined with the pictorial qualities called for by its three monthly prize competitions, serve to stimulate a high artistic standard in photography. Then, too, we believe in friendly and sincere co-operation in the photographic work of every reader, beginner or pictorialist. Our new Exposure-Makers' Competition is of interest to those who do not do their own photo-finishing. Ask us for a specimen copy, or better yet send $2.50 for a year's subscription in the United States. Canadian subscription $2.85, foreign $3.25. PHOTO-ERA MAGAZINE (ESTABLISHED 1898) Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, U. S. A. "THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE WITH A BIT OF HUMAN INTEREST" "A Real Treasure Chest of 'English Undefiled.' We Commend it Unreservedly." -Review of Reviews. MARCH'S THESAURUS TIONARY WORDS DETIONARY MARCH'S THESAURUS DICTIONARY gives you complete mastery over the English Language. Finds instantly the right word to express your every thought, the exact word for your desired shade of meaning, and defines these words so that you know you are using them correctly. A thesaurus, plus a dictionary, with encyclopedic information on literature, history, geography, etc. 1462 pages, 74 x 10 inches, on thin, opaque paper. Bound in handsome Buckram. INSPECT AT OUR RISK this Treasure House of Words and Knowledge. Send in the Coupon below. Use the book for ten days. Then if you do not find it most useful and valuable, you simply need return it. SEND ON APPROVAL COUPON HISTORICAL PUBLISHING CO., Dept. W-5P 1334 Cherry St., Philadelphia, Pa. Please send me (postpaid in U. S. & Canada) the new Amplified Edition of March's Thesaurus Dictionary. I will pay the postman $3.00 plus 12c postage and if I keep the book will pay you $2.00 per month for three months. If for any reason I do not wish to keep it I will return it in good condition within 10 days and you are to refund my $3.12, which includes postage. Name 50 Kraft-paper envelopes 9 x 12. For mailing manuscripts of more than six pages, without folding. 100 Labels, attractively printed on white paper, size 42 by 21⁄2 inches, with space for your name and address, and gummed all ready to place on your "out-going" envelopes. Note: These labels can be easily inserted in typewriter. A carbon of each is a record of mailing the manuscript. Envelopes can be used more than once by pasting one label over another. All for $2.00, postpaid THE WRITERS' BOOK-SHELF, HARVARD SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. Enclosed find $2.00 for 50 Kraft-paper envelopes 9 x 12, and 100 labels. MANUSCRIPTS AND GENERAL TYPING DONE In the preparation of manuscripts for publication. Criticism, revision, editing, typing. Special attention to book manuscripts. Also, complete list of text-books for writers. Correspondence invited and catalogue sent on request. 25 years as writer, editor, publisher. JAMES KNAPP REEVE, (Founder and former editor of "The Editor"), Box 496, FRANKLIN, Оню. THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF 613 pages, seven short stories analyzed, articles on modern poetry, essay, drama, fiction; a wealth of valuable information, including Writer's directory of markets. Bound in maroon buckram, gold stamped, $5.00 postpaid THE WRITER For Professional Writers HARPERS SELECTED REFERENCE BOOKSHELF LITERARY Contemporary Short Stories by GORDON H. GEROULD and CHARLES BAYLY, JR. Twenty of the best modern short stories. Among the authors included are Sherwood Anderson, Ring Lardner, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield and Wilbur Daniel Steele. $2.50 Harper's Anthology - Prose by F. A. MANCHESTER and W. F. GIESE The selections contained in this volume are more numerous and varied than in any other anthology, ranging from Old Testament narrative to modern fiction. It is well arranged and easy to read. $8.50 Prose Preferences by SIDNEY COX and EDWARD L. FREEMAN Prose readings selected from the works of Sherwood Anderson, Katherine Mansfield, Havelock Ellis, Anatole France and many others. Invaluable examples of prose literary style. $2.50 Harpers' Anthology - Poetry by F. A. MANCHESTER and W. F. GIESE This new anthology is even more comprehensive than the Oxford Book of English Verse and other collections, in that it is not limited to English literature. $3.50 The Development of the American Short Story by FRED L. PATTEE A valuable history of the evolution of the most important form in modern American literature. $2.50 TECHNICAL The Commercial Side of Literature by MICHAEL JOSEPH How to get a novel published; find the best markets for short stories; dispose of biographies and technical books; get a play produced; know when a literary agent is or is not of value, secure the satisfactory film, dramatic and serial rights. Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms by F. STURGIS ALLEN This is one of the most up-to-date and complete books of its kind. It should have an important place in the library of every professional writer. $3.00 Leatherette, Thumb Index, $3.75 A Review of English Grammar by JOHN E. UHLER Answers all the questions and solves all the knotty problems that continually arise in writing. $.90 Chats on Feature Writing $2.50 Practical information on the preparation of special feature articles. Also advice on the marketing of manuscripts with a list of publications in which feature articles appear. $2.75 Advertising Copy by GEORGE BURTON HOTCHKISS How to write advertising messages that combine literary merit and business dialect. How to increase their effectiveness by better diction and other technical details of expression. Detailed information about any of these books on request. $3.50 HARPER & BROTHERS, 49 East 33d St., New York, N. Y. THE WRITER'S DIRECTORY OF PERIODICALS (Continued) TRIPLE-X (M), Robbinsdale, Minn. $2.50; 25c. Roscoe Fawcett and Jack Smalley, editors. Prefers red-blooded adventure stories of the West, with cowboy settings, stories of the North woods, and South Seas tales. Uses short stories, novelettes, serials, and poetry. Sets length limit for short stories at 6,000 words; for novelettes, 15,000 words; and for serials, 45,000 words, does not buy photographs; and pays, at a minimum rate of one and one-half cents a word, on acceptance. TRUE CONFESSIONS (M), Robbinsdale, Minn. $2.50; 25c. Roscoe Fawcett and Jack Smalley, editors. Buys only stories told in the first person, preferably by girls, dealing with romance, marriage, divorce, or girls' problems. Uses short stories, poetry, and jokes. Sets length limit at 5,000 words, buys photographs of actresses, and pays, at a minimum rate of two cents a word, on acceptance. TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES (M), Macfadden Publications, 1926 Broadway, New York. $3.00; 25c. Uses true stories of investigation of crime, told in the first person, by detectives who handled the cases, newspaper men who worked on them, or non-professional persons who were first-hand observers. Material should be written in story form, as opposed to histories of investigation. Sets length limit at 5,000 words, and pays, at a minimum rate of two cents a word, on acceptance. TRUE EXPERIENCES (M), Macfadden Publications, 1926 Broadway, New York. $3.00; 25c. Uses confessional stories told in the first person. Sets length limit at from 3,000 to 6,500 words, and pays, at a minimum rate of two cents a word, on acceptance. TRUE MARRIAGE STORIES (M), Dell Publishing Company, 97 Fifth ave., New York. $2.00; 20c. Elizabeth Sharp, editor. Desires stories of married life, emotional rather than plot suspense; everyday situations such as appear in the tabloids, told in the first person, and confessional in nature, but must not overstep conventional code. Uses short stories, and serials, but no poetry, and no jokes. Sets length limit for short stories at from 5,000 to 6,000 words, and for serials at 25,000 words, does not buy photographs, and pays, at a minimum rate of one cent a word, on acceptance. TRUE ROMANCES (M), Macfadden Publications, 1926 Broadway, New York. $3.00; 25c. A companion to the True Story Magazine. Uses fiction of the confessional type, written in the first person. Sets length limit at from 3,000 to 6,000 words, and pays, at a minimum rate of two cents a word, on acceptance. TRUE STORY MAGAZINE (M), Macfadden Publications, 1926 Broadway, New York. $3.00; 25c. A magazine based on the saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction." Features fiction based on incidents in life which can be substantiated by the writer, all written in the first person. Sets no length limit, and pays, at a minimum rate of two cents a word, on acceptance. TWO WORLDS (Q), 500 Fifth ave., New York. $10; $3. Samuel Roth, editor. Uses short stories, novelettes, plays, and poetry. Fiction must be sound, with an unusual sex interest, and be well written, and not suitable for commercial magazine needs. Sets no length limit, does not buy photographs, and pays, at a minimum rate of $25 an article, on publication. U. S. AIR SERVICES (M), Star Building, Washington, D. C. $3.00; 30c. Earl N. Findley, formerly Captain A. S., editor. Uses constructive aeronautical articles by technical or practical students of the problems to be solved, and, very rarely, fiction with an aeronautical flavor. Sets length limit at from 1,000 to 3,000 words, buys photographs, and pays, at a minimum rate of one cent a word. ADDITIONS AND CHANGES AUTOCAR MESSENGER (M), Autocar Company, Ardmore, Penn. Robert F. Wood, editor. A business publication, going to truck owners in all fields of business. Uses material relative to the truck industry and of interest to truck owners. Sets length limit at from 800 to 1,000 words, buys photographs, at from $3 to $6 each, and pays on acceptance. CLASS & INDUSTRIAL MARKETING (M), 537 S. Dearborn st., Chicago, Ill. $2.00; 20c. G. D. Crain, Jr., editor. Prints assigned articles dealing with special phases of advertising. Most articles are ordered. Prints no fiction, buys photographs only to go with articles, or on special order, and pays on publication. The third printing of this Directory was begun in THE WRITER for March, 1917. Back numbers can be supplied. A set of the numbers from January, 1921, to December, 1926, giving the Directory complete, with additions and changes bringing everything up to date, and much other valuable matter, will be sent for five dollars; with a year's subscription added for eight dollars. 1. What do the thousand leading editors of the country wish to buy from free-lance writers? (Answered on Pages 249-395) What magazines are most hospitable to the work of new writers? (See Pages 32-36) 3. What is the value of correspondence schools, literary bureaus, manuscript critics, etc.? (See Pages 3-14) 4. How can a playwright get his play on Broadway? (See Pages 129-133) 5. How does Mary Roberts Rinehart construct a detective story? (See Pages 67-70) 6. Will a literary agent help you sell your work? (See Pages 214-222) 7. How can you make contacts with editors? (See Pages 14-22) 8. What does the modern American reader want in a short-story? (See Pages 40-61) 9. What sort of a note-book should a writer keep? (Pages 229-235) 10. How to write: Book Reviews? (Pages 169-189); Juvenile Stories? (Pages 89-96); Greeting Card Verses? (Pages 165-169); Novels? (Pages 36-40); Poems? (Pages 157-169); Radio Plays? (Pages 138-144); Plays for the Amateur Stage? (Pages 133-138); Adventure Stories? (Pages 75-81) etc. Answers To These-And Countless Other Questions—Are In THE FREE LANCE WRITER'S HANDBOOK THE EXPERTS SAY The Bookman: "I do not know of any question with which a young writer- or an old oneplagues the editor that it does not answer satisfactorily. Here the great esoteric world of writing is thoroughly revealed." The Saturday Review of Literature: "With the great increase in advertising, the business of publishing - magazines, newspapers, books — has become one of enormous extent, and as a result more and more people are turning to writing as a means of livelihood. This book is a successful attempt to aid such people by showing them how to write salable matter and how to place such matter successfully when written." The New York Times: "The candid, sometimes brutal, and always well-written counsel of such writers as Ben Ames Williams, Henry Seidel Canby, Katharine Fullerton Gerould, and Augustus Thomas. The force of example counts for as much as the sound suggestion." $5.00 at Your Bookseller. Free Descriptive Material from WRITER PUBLISHING CO., Harvard Sq., Cambridge, Mass. |