Authors Making Money: Fanny Fern

FANNY FERN WAS A STAR

If Fanny Fern was writing today, she’d have the most popular Substack in the world. I really believe that. I enjoyed researching her so much because she didn’t just understand writing, she understood marketing and wasn’t afraid of some controversy.

So who was Fanny Fern? How much money did she make and what kind of impact did she have when she was alive?

Who was Fanny Fern?

The first thing you should know about Fanny Fern is that her real name was Sarah Willis Parton. Fanny Fern was the Pen Name used by Sarah starting in the 1850s. It was actually one of several pen name’s Fern would use, but not in the way you think (more on that later).

Fanny Fern’s writing career took off in 1851. She was married three times. He first husband passed away, she left her second husband because he was abusive (which was a borderline revolutionary act back then), and found her third husband working as an editor for the magazine her brother owned, the same brother who refused to publish Fanny.

Fanny Fern remained a popular writer throughout her career, up until her passing in 1872.

How much money was Fanny making?

That’s the big question here, right? How many dollars was Fanny Fern wracking up?

The first publications to accept Fanny’s sketches (sketches are what they termed columns back then) were Olive Branch and the True Flag. Those were two Boston area papers, which was essentially where Fanny called home (she was born in Portland, Maine in 1811).

Fern earned $5/submission during this time. For context, that’s about $200 today. That wasn’t bad at all. After Fanny started getting popular, she tried demanding more for each submission. When neither of the papers paid her price, she signed an exclusive contract with a paper called the New York Ledger where she became the highest earning columnist in America, raking in $100/week.

In today’s money, that’s $4,000/week. That means Fern was making approximately $16,000 every month just from her column. Imagine your Substack making that kind of money!

CLICK TO PREORDER MY NOVEL

As impressive as Fanny’s column earnings were, she also wrote two novels and a series of collections. Her first collection came out in 1853 and was titled Fern Leaves from Fanny’s Portfolio. It became an instant bestseller when it sold 70,000 copies in its first year of publication.

I’ve found some research to suggest her most popular novel, Ruth Hall, also sold tens of thousands of copies, but I can’t confirm the number. Ruth Hall’s impact goes beyond sales, though, which is a good transition into Fern’s true impact in the publishing industry.

What was Fanny Fern’s Impact?

The first story that stood out to me was Fanny Fern wearing her husband’s clothes outside in protest to the arrest of another woman for the same crime. Fanny Fern was someone who stood for woman’s rights and equality and used her writing as a form of activism.

She wrote for middle class families and was political in her commentary. She used witty and clever writing to speak about gender roles and about Blackwell Island, the prison specially designated for prostitutes, but really meant for poor, downcast, and misunderstood women in general. Fern just wasn’t afraid, or at least she still acted in the presence of fear.

Another genius aspect of Fern’s career was her ability to market. I spoke about her having different pen names. Well, Fern didn’t just use her pen names to write different sketches, she took a completely unique approach. She would write response letters to Fanny Fern (yes, to herself) to either complain or stir up some kind of controversy. These letters included marriage proposals from men or disparaging letters from angry or concerned readers upset about the content of one of Fern’s sketches. Fern would then write a response to those letters and round and round she went.

Fanny Fern became so popular that it became common for editors to steal her name and use it for their own publications. It was a practice called "exchange printing.” The copyright laws weren’t as robust as they are now, and when Fern started becoming popular, these reproductions with the use of her name became more egregious.

Fern didn’t just sit by and let this happen, though. She’d publicly ridicule these editors and when one Philadelphia editor created a cookbook called Fanny Fern’s Family Cookbook, Fern sued. And she won! Here’s a piece of her writing for the New York Ledger after her victory:

“Listen! All you who wear (blue) bonnets, and down on your grateful knees to me, for unfurling the banner of Women’s (scribblers) Rights. Know, henceforth, that Violet Velvet, is as much your name, (for purposes of copyright and other rights,) as Julia Parker, if you choose to make it so.”

This is why I say that Fern would have excelled in today’s publishing environment. She didn’t just understand the writing, she thrived at the business of writing. She knew how to provoke readers and command attention. She wasn’t afraid of controversy and stood by her values. Before Mark Twain, Fanny Fern was the most popular American persona.

Ruth Hall is still sited today as a pioneering feminist resource. It was a fictional autobiography of Fern’s life that referenced her experiences as a woman in the nineteenth century.

Throughout my research, I got the feeling that Fanny Fern was a bit of a bad ass. More practically, she didn’t follow all the rules or settle for her expected position in life. She had a skill and a passion and with very little support, found a way to become a star.

---

Porche, Amy S., "The Fashioning of Fanny Fern: A Study of Sara Willis Parton's Early Career, 1851-1854." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2010. doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1392806

Homestead, Melissa J., “Every Body Sees the Theft": Fanny Fern and Literary Proprietorship in Antebellum” America" (2001). Faculty Publications -- Department of English. 51. doi

Lunt, Catherine, "Generational Revolt and the Spirit of Capitalism : Fanny Fern's Confrontation with Calvinism, Class, and Gender Ideology in Ruth Hall" (1998). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1539624381. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-qprw-m209

Ben Railton, Considering History: Fanny Fern, American Original and Women’s History Month Icon, Saturday Evening Post, March 14, 2018

Betz, Have a Drink with: Fanny Fern - September 6, 2018