8/22/1933 Babcock breaks in to Black Mask

August 22, 1933.  On this date Dwight V. Babcock made his first sale of  a short story.  Incredible as it may seem, he broke into Black Mask.  Sounds like starting out on top to me.  "At the Bottom of Every Mess" appeared in the January 1934 issue.  He got $100 for it; good money in the Depression.

Babcock went on to write many short stories and some popular humorous crime novels.  But let's get back to that first sale to Black Mask, home of Hammett, Chandler, Gardner, etc.  He only submitted there because Underworld Magazine, which I have never even heard of, lost the copy he sent them.  Wow.

My first sale was to Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.  Not quite so fancy.

This info came from James L. Traylor's article about Babcock in The Armchair Detective, volume 23, number 1.

6/23/1934 Dwight V. Babcock scores a Dime

June 23, 1934.  Dwight V. Babcock sold his first story in 1933, to Black Mask (it was published in January 1934).  But on this date he cracked the main competitor as well, selling "Pearls Without Publicity" to Dime Detective Weekly.  It appeared in the August 15, 1934 issue.  The story was 5,500 words long and he was paid $55, a penny a word.

Babcock is thought of one of Captain Shaw's "Black Mask Boys," but he also appeared in Private Detective Stories, Double Detective, Super Detective, and other journals with equally unimaginative titles.    His greatest success was three novels about Hannah van Doren and Joe Kirby, beginning with A Homicide For Hannah.

Source:
Traylor, James L. "Murder Up His Sleeve."  The Armchair Detective.  Winter 1990.