Writing for Periodicals

Harriet Martineau's career provides a good example of how a woman writer might use periodical writing to promulgate her views, create a voice in the public sphere, and eventually earn a substantial income from her efforts. Martineau followed a common pattern, beginning with anonymous publication in the Monthly Repository; establishing a continuing relationship with that periodical, including professional advice from its editor; and developing a similar relationship with a book publisher, on whom she could count to place her longer manuscripts. When George Bentley retired and sold out to Alexander Macmillan, she lost this relationship—including the opportunity for advance serialization in a popular magazine—and had to seek a new publisher for what turned out to be her best work, Red Pottage. The professional man or woman of letters would invariably write for periodicals. By the end of the nineteenth century, writing for periodicals and signing one's work had become a standard feature of professional authorship.