W. Adolphe Roberts

“ From my point of view, the most important factor in a story is characterization. If its people are real people, the things they do are pretty sure to be interesting. Next comes plot—the adroit staging of situations leading up to a denouement. ”

“ The editor worthy of the name realizes that he has a triple responsibility. In selecting manuscripts, he must please the public first of all. But he must also please the owners of his magazine and he must please himself. He cannot make a success of his job unless all three demands are satisfied in every issue. The first responsibility is obvious. The magazine public reads to be entertained. The editor is under an unwritten contract not to bore his following. ”

“ They will not get very far if they do. Fiction, to be effective, must be a form of self-expression, untrammeled by the fear that some critic would prefer to have it differently presented. But if the author is familiar with the idiosyncracies of a number of magazines, he will be able to avoid many a disappointment by sending his story first to the office where it is mostly likely to be welcomed.
A study of Ainslee's through the latter half of 1918, 1919 and 1920, the period of my editorship, would have revealed that the work of several writers was especially favored. ”

“ It is regrettable in a good many cases that the editor must please his publisher. The latter is apt to be a businessman with poor judgment where writing is concerned. He wants commercial results from a com­modity that cannot be appraised in the terms of, say, Bessemer steel. He hires an expert to get them for him, yet does not hesitate to criticize and offer inept suggestions. ”

“ They expounded some theory, in which the author doubtless took great stock, but which would be likely to bore the majority of readers. Propaganda has no place in magazine fiction. Religion and partisan poli­tics are the most dangerous topics, but all "isms" are bad. If you must have a socialist in your story, let him keep his place as an actor in the human comedy. ”

“ The 10 percent of workmanlike stories and articles by professionals constitutes the raw material which the editor tests and weighs, from which he selects and builds his magazine. I estimate that I hopefully examined for Ainslee's one thousand prose manuscripts. ”

“ The readers of the Atlantic Monthly undoubtedly chuckle over essays that would cause the readers of the Smart Set to groan with ennui, and vice versa. Each maga­zine must provide the kind of entertainment wanted. ”