Chapter 21: Literary Merit and Commercial Appeal (Please Add to Your Favorites!)

Fanny stood at the office door, smoothing her dress and hair while mentally rehearsing her pitch for the novel.

Knock, knock.

A moment later, a voice, oily and cold, drifted out: "Come in."

Fanny pushed the door open and entered.

The editor-in-chief, Oscar Orland, was a stout, mustachioed middle-aged man. His white shirt and waistcoat struggled to contain his rolls of fat; with every movement, one could almost hear the cotton threads at the seams letting out a dying groan.

Oscar Orland glanced up at Fanny, then proceeded to light his pipe with unhurried deliberation before clamping it between his teeth. "This had better be important. I have dinner with an advertiser in an hour."

Hearing this, Fanny Ellison frowned, a flicker of revulsion crossing her mind. Since Oscar Orland had taken over as editor-in-chief, *Black Mask* magazine had begun running vulgar advertisements that were completely at odds with the publication's established style. As a Black woman, however, her voice carried little weight, and she was in no position to offer suggestions.

The thought brought to mind the editor she admired most: Joseph Shaw.

From 1926 to 1936, Joseph Shaw had served as editor-in-chief of *Black Mask* for ten full years, ushering in a "Golden Age" that kept the magazine’s circulation steadily at 150,000 copies. While this figure could not compete with top-tier mass-market magazines, among the various pulp magazines of the era, it was undeniably a mark of high-tier quality. It is worth noting that the first work published by the now-famed hardboiled detective writer Raymond Chandler, *Blackmailers Don't Shoot*, was edited and published under the guidance of Joseph Shaw. One could say that Shaw was a legendary editor, the absolute helmsman of *Black Mask’s* golden era.

Yet, such a brilliant editor was fired in April 1936 by Eldin Caldwell, the president of the publishing house, for refusing to print a vulgar tobacco advertisement that he deemed contrary to the "hardboiled spirit" of the magazine. Caldwell used the flimsy excuse of "declining sales"—despite the fact that at the time, *Black Mask* maintained a minimum circulation of over 100,000 copies per issue.

After Shaw’s dismissal, the writers who held him in high regard collectively launched a protest. The magazine’s pillars of strength revolted: Raymond Chandler withdrew his pending manuscript, *The Curtain*, and Dashiell Hammett publicly voiced his support. The remaining editors lacked the prestige to take over Shaw’s duties and organize the content. Chandler even openly paid tribute to Shaw in his fiction: "*Black Mask* is the only magazine that gives those of us who write trash a sense of dignity—because Shaw made us believe that roses could grow in the muck."

These events paralyzed the editorial department, rendering it unable to function.

It was during this crisis that Eldin Caldwell set his sights on Fanny Ellison. Because Fanny had assisted Joseph Shaw with many tasks and possessed high literary standards and professional competence—not to mention her strong rapport with writers like Raymond Chandler—she was the perfect choice. Furthermore, by appointing a Black woman instead of a new white male editor, Caldwell could find a pretext to "prove" that the blame for the magazine's issues lay with Joseph Shaw’s incompetence.

Thus, after accepting various inequitable terms in her contract, Fanny Ellison became a Black female editor-in-chief—a rarity not only for *Black Mask* but for the entire magazine industry in 1936. Within half a month of taking office, she stabilized the anger of the core writers and restored the magazine to operation. Yet, her tenure as editor-in-chief lasted only one year.

Upon taking the helm, she immediately began soliciting manuscripts based on her own editorial criteria. She valued not only commercial viability but, like Joseph Shaw, placed great importance on the literary quality and innovation of the submissions. Naturally, she found the inclusion of vulgar advertisements absolutely unacceptable.

She also resisted Caldwell’s stance against "racist" themes. She not only assisted Raymond Chandler in changing a line in the original draft of *The Goldfish*—where detective Philip Marlowe’s remark about Mexicans and Black people being three times more likely to be beaten by police than white people had been deleted—to a metaphorical "some people are just naturally favored by the nightstick," but she also proposed introducing Black writers to the magazine. She attempted to feature the debut of Black detective novelist Chester Himes, *The Hammett Bullets*, which told the story of a Black police detective.

The result? A unanimous rejection by the board, citing that "our readers aren't ready for a Black hero."

Following these series of innovative actions, Eldin Caldwell could no longer allow her to "run amok" in the publishing house. After just one year as a puppet editor-in-chief, she was demoted to a regular editor.

When *Black Mask* needed literary capital to survive a crisis, her professional expertise was squeezed dry. When she touched upon the values of white supremacy, her authority evaporated in an instant.

Whenever Fanny Ellison thought of these things, she felt an indescribable anger. The discrimination was secondary; what mattered most was that she knew exactly how to operate *Black Mask* as a higher-quality magazine, yet she possessed no decision-making power.

Want to offer suggestions or make decisions? Look at the fate of Joseph Shaw—and he was a white man!

Fanny’s slight frown was immediately captured by Oscar Orland, a man who lacked literary taste but was adept at social maneuvering. He tapped his pipe and said unpleasantly, "My dear Fanny Ellison, do you have more innovative opinions? Or are you finally able to provide the same commercial value to the publishing house as I do?"

Fanny lowered her head, forced to reply respectfully, "Sir, I was just thinking of something else. About the war."

Oscar Orland gave a cold laugh. "What? Do you people think you’re going to fight in the war and save the world?"

At this stage, the war had not yet intensified, and soldiers from African colonies were not being deployed as combatants on the European front. It was considered unacceptable at the time for Black men to kill white men. While there were no official rules of segregation in the military, it did not stop Churchill from using "administrative means" to prevent Black men from enlisting.

Fanny pressed her lips together, suppressing the rage in her heart.

A subtle, mocking curve appeared on Oscar Orland's lips. He had always despised people like Fanny Ellison and Joseph Shaw—people who pretended to have high literary standards and then dared to look down on others. In his eyes, what was the difference between chasing literature in a pulp magazine and a prostitute setting up a memorial arch for her chastity?

Fanny did not want to endure Oscar Orland’s sarcastic smile any longer. Wasting no more time, she placed *A Bronx Tale* on his desk.

"Sir, please take a look at this manuscript," she said, struggling through the honorific.