Whatever the publication to which an author desires to contribute, he should consider first, last, and all the time, its readers—­their surroundings, their education, their income, their ambitions, their amusements, their prejudices—­in short, he must see them as they really are.

The necessity of understanding the reader and his point of view has been well brought out by Mr. John M. Siddall, editor of the American Magazine, in the following excerpt from an editorial in that periodical: 

    The man who refuses to use his imagination to enable him to look at
    things from the other fellow’s point of view simply cannot exercise
    wide influence.  He cannot reach people.

Underneath it, somehow, lies a great law, the law of service.  You can’t expect to attract people unless you do something for them.  The business man who has something to sell must have something useful to sell, and he must talk about it from the point of view of the people to whom he wants to sell his goods.  In the same way, the journalist, the preacher, and the politician must look at things from the point of view of those they would reach.  They must feel the needs of others and then reach out and meet those needs.  They can never have a large following unless they give something.  The same law runs into the human relation.  How we abhor the man who talks only about himself—­the man who never inquires about our troubles, our problems; the man who never puts himself in our place, but unimaginatively and unsympathetically goes on and on, egotistically hammering away on the only subject that interests him—­namely himself.

STUDYING NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES.  Since every successful publication may be assumed to be satisfying its readers to a considerable degree, the best way to determine what kind of readers it has, and what they are interested in, is to study the contents carefully.  No writer should send an article to a publication before he has examined critically several of its latest issues.  In fact, no writer should prepare an article before deciding to just what periodical he wishes to submit it.  The more familiar he is with the periodical the better are his chances of having his contribution accepted.

In analyzing a newspaper or magazine in order to determine the type of reader to which it appeals, the writer should consider the character of the subjects in its recent issues, and the point of view from which these subjects are presented.  Every successful periodical has a distinct individuality, which may be regarded as an expression of the editor’s idea of what his readers expect of his publication.  To become a successful contributor to a periodical, a writer must catch the spirit that pervades its fiction and its editorials, as well as its special articles.