Weeks of study of the magazine and the book de cided me to try the lowest form of writing-at least that was the way it seemed to me at the time. There were about a hundred Sunday School papers that paid from a tenth of a cent a word to a half cent. There was a hint in 1001 Places to Sell Manuscripts that sample copies of these papers could be obtained free. I bought a hundred postcards and brazenly wrote to every paper listed, ask ing for a free copy. Astonishingly, almost all of the Sunday School publishing houses sent me free copies of their publica tions! I read them thoroughly and for six months wrote Sunday School stories and mailed them to the little church papers. The stories came back with monotonous regularity. Each was accompanied by a printed rejection slip. It was an agonizing period. I was twenty three years of age. I had read Jack London's Martin Eden and thinking about it was about the only thing that kept me going. London had had just as difficult a time breaking in. But he hadn't stooped to writing the lowly Sunday School stories and if I couldn't sell even those what hope was there for me? I continued to send out the stories. I even retyped some that had become shabby from much traveling in the United States mails. I mailed them, took them out of the return envelopes and mailed them again. It be came a routine thing. And then one day I opened an envelope. It was rather thin but I had thin stories out as well as fat ones. This envelope didn't contain a rejection slip however. It had a letter and a check for three dollars and fifty cents. The United Brethren Publishing House of Dayton Ohio was accepting my story The Two Dollar Raise. I had made it.