Magazine Averages
October, 1920, to September, 1921
The following table includes the averages of American periodicals published from October, 1920, to September, 1921, inclusive. One two, three asterisks are employed to indicate relative distinction. “Three-asterisk stories” are of somewhat permanent literary value. The list excludes reprints.
| Periodicals (Oct.-Sept.) | No. of Stories Published | No. of Distinctive Stories Published | Percentage of Distinctive Stories Published | ||||
| * | ** | *** | * | ** | *** | ||
| All’s Well | 14 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 21 | 14 |
| Asia | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 9 | 0 |
| Atlantic Monthly | 20 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 65 | 35 | 15 |
| Century | 50 | 35 | 15 | 5 | 70 | 30 | 10 |
| Chicago Tribune | 52 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 4 | 2 |
| Collier’s Weekly | 106 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Cosmopolitan | 83 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 2 |
| Dial | 16 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 100 | 88 | 69 |
| Everybody’s Magazine | 91 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 8 | 1 |
| Good Housekeeping | 46 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 28 | 9 | 2 |
| Harper’s Bazar | 32 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 3 | 0 |
| Harper’s Magazine | 53 | 39 | 24 | 10 | 74 | 45 | 19 |
| Hearst’s International | 79 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 4 | 0 |
| Ladies’ Home Journal | 52 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| McCall’s Magazine | 48 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 0 |
| McClure’s Magazine | 46 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 2 |
| Metropolitan | 74 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 24 | 12 | 4 |
| Midland | 15 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 93 | 53 | 20 |
| New York Tribune | |||||||
| Pictorial Review | 65 | 46 | 31 | 21 | 71 | 48 | 32 |
| Red Book Magazine | 116 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Saturday Evening Post | 221 | 32 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
| Scribner’s Magazine | 46 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 52 | 17 | 9 |
| Smart Set | 115 | 29 | 8 | 4 | 25 | 7 | 4 |
The following tables indicate the rank, during the period between October, 1920, and September, 1921, inclusive, by number and percentage of distinctive stories published, of the twenty-three periodicals coming within the scope of my examination which have published an average of 15 per cent in stories of distinction. The lists exclude reprints but not translations.
By Percentage of Distinctive Stories
| 1. Dial | 100% |
| 2. Midland | 93% |
| 3. Asia | 90% |
| 4. Harper’s Magazine | 74% |
| 5. Pictorial Review | 71% |
| 6. Century | 70% |
| 7. Atlantic Monthly | 65% |
| 8. Scribner’s Magazine | 52% |
| 9. All’s Well | 43% |
| 10. Harper’s Bazar | 38% |
| 11. Good Housekeeping | 28% |
| 12. Smart Set | 25% |
| 13. Metropolitan | 24% |
| 14. Hearst’s International | 23% |
| 15. Chicago Tribune | 22% |
| 16. Red Book Magazine | 20% |
| 17. McCall’s Magazine | 19% |
| 18. Everybody’s Magazine | 18% |
| 19. Cosmopolitan | 18% |
| 20. McClure’s Magazine | 17% |
| 21. Saturday Evening Post | 15% |
| 22. Ladies’ Home Journal | 15% |
| 23. Collier’s Weekly | 12% |
By Number of Distinctive Stories
| 1. Pictorial Review | 46 |
| 2. Harper’s Magazine | 39 |
| 3. Century | 35 |
| 4. Saturday Evening Post | 32 |
| 5. Smart Set | 29 |
| 6. Scribner’s Magazine | 24 |
| 7. Red Book Magazine | 23 |
| 8. Metropolitan | 18 |
| 9. Hearst’s International | 18 |
| 10. Dial | 16 |
| 11. Everybody’s Magazine | 16 |
| 12. Cosmopolitan | 15 |
| 13. Midland | 14 |
| 14. Atlantic Monthly | 13 |
| 15. Good Housekeeping | 13 |
| 16. Harper’s Bazar | 12 |
| 17. Collier’s Weekly | 12 |
| 18. Chicago Tribune | 11 |
| 19. Asia | 10 |
| 20. McCall’s Magazine | 9 |
| 21. McClure’s Magazine | 8 |
| 22. Ladies’ Home Journal | 8 |
| 23. All’s Well | 6 |
The following periodicals have published during the same period ten or more “two-asterisk stories.” The list excludes reprints, but not translations. Periodicals represented in this list during 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, and 1920 are represented by the prefixed letters a, b, c, d, e, and f respectively.
| 1. | bcdef | Pictorial Review | 31 |
| 2. | abcdef | Harper’s Magazine | 24 |
| 3. | abcdef | Century | 15 |
| 4. | f | Dial | 14 |
The following periodicals have published during the same period five or more “three-asterisk stories.” The list excludes reprints, but not translations. The same signs are used as prefixes as in the previous list.
| 1. | bcdef | Pictorial Review | 21 |
| 2. | f | Dial | 11 |
| 3. | abcdef | Harper’s Magazine | 10 |
| 4. | abcdef | Century | 5 |
Ties in the above lists have been decided by taking relative rank in other lists into account.