At the turn of the 20th century, short stories were a preferred form of entertainment in the United States. This was a boom time for magazine publishing, owing part to the developments in offset printing technology as well as to the Postal Act of 1879, which had granted magazines discounted mailing rates. Publications such as the Ladies Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Delineator, all of which published short stories, sold more than half a million copies per issue. The authors of these stories were well known at the time and often well paid.

Question

At the turn of the 20th century, short stories were a preferred form of entertainment in the United States. This was a boom time for magazine publishing, owing part to the developments in offset printing technology as well as to the Postal Act of 1879, which had granted magazines discounted mailing rates. Publications such as the Ladies Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Delineator, all of which published short stories, sold more than half a million copies per issue. The authors of these stories were well known at the time and often well paid.

From Heidi pitlor, 100 years of the best American short stories. Copyright 2015 by HMH.
(1 point)
At the turn of the 20th century, short stories were a preferred form of entertainment in the United States.
Publications such as the Ladies Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Delineator, all of which published short stories, sold more than half a million copies per issue.
The authors of these stories were well known at the time and often well paid.
This was a boom time for magazine publishing, owing part to the developments in offset printing technology as well as to the Postal Act of 1879, which had granted magazines discounted mailing rates.

Answer 1

The Postal Act of 1879 granted magazines discounted mailing rates, which contributed to a boom in magazine publishing at the turn of the 20th century. This, combined with developments in offset printing technology, made it a profitable time for publications that featured short stories such as the Ladies Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Delineator. These magazines sold over half a million copies per issue, and the authors of the short stories were well known and well paid during this period.