' … a seminal study for newspaper, publishing and literary history.' Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin

• Acknowledgements; Introduction; Newspaper syndicates of the late nineteenth century: overlooked forces in the American literary marketplace; 1. Preparing the way for the syndicates: a revolution in American fiction production, distribution, and readership, 1860–1900; 2. The pioneers: readyprint, plate service, and early galley-proof syndicates; 3. The heyday of American fiction syndication: Irvin Bacheller, S. S. McClure and other independent syndicators; 4. What literary syndicates represented to authors: saviours, doctors, or something in between?; 5. What price must authors pay? The negotiations between galley-proof syndicates and authors; 6. Pleasing the customers: the balance of power between syndicates and newspaper editors; 7. Readers' experiences with syndicated fiction; 8. The decline of the literary syndicates; Notes; Bibliography.