Sentence:  The fledgling comics business was a sweatshop trade for creative hopefuls too inexperienced, too socially ill-equipped, or, more often, too minimally talented for the established avenues of hackdom, the <WSD>pulps</WSD> and commercial art. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper.