The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-09-05

So 1t is with medicine-with other professions. The teacher, once pre- pared for that work. knows about what he has to look forward to. There is always a demand for teach CTS And it is that way with the merchant, the farmer and other pur- suits. The farmer has the privilege Of selecting good soil--soil which he knows will produce certain things % till that soil harvest and sell his crop He may not always get what he wants, but he knows he will get something. The merchant can select good location and if he carries the right class of goods ne knows he Will have customers.
 And it is true that there is al ways a demand for fiction. But the writer may labor for years and years before he is able to produce what is wanted He may never produce 1t. There are writers who have la bored half their lives, turning out story after story without selling one. Where is the lawyer who would have kept his office open that long with out ever seeing a client---or the doe tor being paid for prescription? Or the farmer who would continue tilling the soil year after year with out securing a crop? Or the mer- chant who would have long ago closed his doors?
 A writer may sell his first story. He may sell his two nundredth story And he may never sell ore. The mo ment he writes what an editor wants and gets it to the editor just when the editor wants it, he has made sale. And not before. Ana the story that editor may go wild over today he may not care for next week. The policy of many magazines is liable to change any time.
 There is something which must De in story to make it saleable. Some thing which perhaps but few can explain But those who know stories know when that something is in manuscript and when it is not. sIhe chances are that if it isn't there they will often be hard put to tell how to get it there--or what it IS that isn't there. But they know that 1t lacks something which keeps it from being what story should be-
 Once a writer finds out what that something is which must go into every story-even though he could not easily explain what it is-he is well on the road to success. And when, after thinking of the thousands who have had to toll for years to find out what that something is, it
 
 writer who not only sold his first story, but sold one to one of the lars est and best known magazines in 'Ge country. This happens only once n a mighty long time. Ordinarily those writers who. finally, after long ana discoura ging struggles, commence selling their stories. sell to the small magazines only for quite a while some of them ever reach the big fellows.
 Pettersen Marzoni, whose picture appears in this department today, IS one of the few writers of the United States who landed his first story with big magazine. He is Birmingham man of whom the city may well be proud He is one of the writers who is making this city known as liter ary center.
 In digging up information about Pete in which the readers of this de- partment might be interested. it is found that from one of the early pre- war democratic administrations until a year ago he passed a happy and care-free existence. But that time has passed. His days are now filled with delightful anticipation and un- measured dread as he awaits the postman's arrival. From this it will be gathered that just about year ago Petersen Marzoni began to wrte fiction, hoping some day to make hit with a magazine editor. That day marked the passing of his blithc- someness He will never be the me but he will never stop writing.
 Since 1913 he has been engaged In newspaper work except for two years during the war. Since his ar