RARA-AVIS: 1933 markets

From: Moorich2@aol.com
Date: 31 May 2002


In a message dated 5/31/2002 11:50:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time, owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca writes:

<<
 Speaking of reissues of forgotten stuff, I recently found
 _The Red Right Hand_ by Joel Townsley Rogers (on Blue
 Murder), a very good suspense novel that. Are there other
 Rogers titles worth reissuing?
 
 Regards,
 
 MrT >>

THE STOPPED CLOCK (1958) by Rogers might be of interest. The British edition was called NEVER LEAVE MY BED. Thinking of that book, reminded me of the undeservedly forgotten Stanley Ellin's MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL (1972), which won the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere. "Mirror" most certainly deserves reprinting.

Preparing to move this summer has me digging through boxes, even though the move is only a couple of miles. All sorts of things are turning up. The other day I found ten or so novels by Chandler's old buddy Cleve F. Adams. As I consider myself an accumulator rather than a collector, I have over the decades found and held onto all sorts of things. The other day I came upon some 1933 issues of "The Author & Journalist" magazine. It's of the
"Writer's Digest" format but seems to be more geared toward the true professional than sometimes wannabe feel of today's WD. Anyway, it has a market list in its September 1933 issue.

In that market list, there is a "List A" described as "General periodicals, standard, literary, household, popular and non-technical, which ordinarily pay on acceptance at rates of about 1 cent a word." This list includes mainstream magazines such as "Esquire" (5c on acc.) and The New Yorker (Good rates on acc.). Of more interest to us is the listing for "Black Mask" which I will quote in full:

Black Mask (Warner) 578 Madison Ave, New York, (M-20) Action detective short stories 4000 to 6000, without the usual crime and solution motivation, novelettes up to 15,000. Action, characterization, plausibility emphasized. Joseph T. Shaw. Good rates. Acc.

The "M-20" means it was a monthly that cost 20 cents an issue. A few other detective pulps made the list with the dividing line being at least 1 cent a word and especially payment on acceptance rather than publication.

Here is another:

Detective Fiction Weekly, (Munsey) 280 Broadway, New York. (W-10) Detective, crime, underworld, mystery short-stories 2000 to 8000, novelettes 12,000 to 20,000. Howard Bloomfield. Good rates, Acc. (New Writers, Pub.)

Another was Street & Smith's "Clues"

Clues (S&S) 79 7th Ave, New York (M) Rapid action detective fiction, horror and weird elements, woman's interest. Short stories up to 7,500; novelettes 10,000 to 15,000. F. Orlin Tremaine. 1c Acc.

"List B" had this definition: "General periodicals which (a) pay on publication or (b) pay less than 1 cent a word, or (c) are chronically overstocked, or (d) offer a very limited market, or (e) concerning which our information is indefinite."

Here is where we find:

Dime Detective Magazine, (Popular) 205 E. 42nd St., New York. (M-10) Mystery and action short-stories 5000 emphasizing menace and horror; novelettes 10,000 to 15,000. Harry Steeger 1c up. Pub.

And the long-lived magazine that published Hammett's first story in it's November, 1922 issue:

10 Story Book, 529 S. Clark St. Chicago, (M-25) Iconoclastic, frank, sex short-stories, satires, odd stories, playlets. Harry Stephen Keeler, $6 a story, Pub. (Slow.)

The magazine also featured a regular column "Gossip from our New York representative" Ed Bodin. Readers of Frank Gruber's fascinating memoir THE PULP JUNGLE will recognize Bodin's name. In fact it was only a few months after this issue came out that Gruber moved to New York determined to make it as a writer.

Richard Moore

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