“I don’t know,” replied the publisher.  “We had great hopes for it, but somehow or other the public has not responded to it.”

“Are you sure you are telling the public about it in the right way?” ventured Bok.

The Scribner advertising had by this time attracted the attention of the publishing world, and this publisher was entirely ready to listen to a suggestion from his youthful caller.

“I wish we published it,” said Bok.  “I think I could make it a go.  It’s all in the book.”

“How would you advertise it?” asked the publisher.

Bok promised the publisher he would let him know.  He carried with him a copy of the book, wrote some advertisements for it, prepared an attractive “broadside” of extracts, to which the book easily lent itself, wrote some literary notes about it, and sent the whole collection to the publisher.  Every particle of “copy” which Bok had prepared was used, the book began to sell, and within three months it was the most discussed book of the day.

The book was Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward.

Meanwhile, Mr. Beecher’s weekly newspaper “syndicate” letter was not only successful in itself, it made liberal money for the writer and for its two young publishers, but it served to introduce Edward Bok’s proposed agency to the newspapers under the most favorable conditions.  With one stroke, the attention of newspaper editors had been attracted, and Edward concluded to take quick advantage of it.  He organized the Bok Syndicate Press, with offices in New York, and his brother, William J. Bok, as partner and active manager.

Edward’s attention was now turned, for the first time, to women and their reading habits.  He became interested in the fact that the American woman was not a newspaper reader.  He tried to find out the psychology of this, and finally reached the conclusion, on looking over the newspapers, that the absence of any distinctive material for women was a factor.  He talked the matter over with several prominent New York editors, who frankly acknowledged that they would like nothing better than to interest women, and make them readers of their papers.  But they were equally frank in confessing that they were ignorant both of what women wanted, and, even if they knew, of where such material was to be had.  Edward at once saw that here was an open field.  It was a productive field, since, as woman was the purchasing power, it would benefit the newspaper enormously in its advertising if it could offer a feminine clientele.

There was a bright letter of New York gossip published in the New York Star, called “Bab’s Babble.”  Edward had read it, and saw the possibility of syndicating this item as a woman’s letter from New York.  He instinctively realized that women all over the country would read it.  He sought out the author, made arrangements with her and with former Governor Dorscheimer, owner of the paper, and the letter was sent out to a group of papers.  It was an instantaneous success, and a syndicate of ninety newspapers was quickly organized.