ALS: Saturday, September 13, 1919

Sept. 13, 1919
Provincetown, Mass.

My dear Madden:

I'm in a quandary where your advice and assistance will be a boon and a blessing. The editor of Shadowland -- F. J. Smith -- wrote asking me to submit a one-act play for his magazine. I sent him one, "Honor Among The Bradleys". He said he would be able to meet my terms. I did not commit myself when I sent the play -- simply asked how much he would give. Now he comes back with an offer of fifty dollars. This is ridiculous, don't you think? The publishers of Shadowland -- The M. P. Publishing Co. of Brooklyn -- also get out the M. P. Classic and The Motion Picture Magazine. They boast of 650,000 circulation and must have the dough to pay for what they want.

Perhaps you know how much these people ought to be made to pay for stuff like mine. Do you care to handle this business for me (on our regular commission basis, of course). Kindly let me know at once. In the meantime, I will write Smith and remind him that although I may have sold two of my one-act plays to a literary magazine like the Smart Set for a cheap price, at that time I was unknown and anxious to break into print at any cost. It's a very different matter now. If he wants my name and my play for his movie rag he's got to pay for it. I'll tell him to communicate with you if he has further terms to offer.

I'll postpone discussion of the T.B. novel proposition until I see you. Let's hope -- John Williams willing! -- that will be in the near future.

Very sincerely yours,

Eugene O'Neill.