Right around the start of the Civil War, Erastus and Irwin Beadle published a new series of cheap paperbacks entitled Beadle’s Dime Novels. Thanks to increased literacy rates among the American people during this time, and the inexpensive price (yes, they truly did cost a dime), these thin, paper-bound books met with huge success. Their debut novel – Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter, by Ann Stephens (a woman – hooray!) sold more than 65,000 copies within the first few months of its publication. Those are the kind of numbers even today’s authors would get excited about – believe me! The book released on June 9, 1860 and was basically a reprint of a serialized story that had appeared in the Ladies’ Companion magazine back in 1839.
Dime novels varied in size and thickness, but the tended to be about 100 pages in length, about the equivalent to today’s novella. At first, dime novel covers had no cover art beyond the fancy title script. But it didn’t take long for the Beadles to move to illustrated covers, better designed to grab a browsing customer’s attention.
![The riflemen of the Miami Ellis, Edward Sylvester, 1840-1916. Publisher: Beadle and Company, Pub date: [1866] Pages: 98, [2] p. ; Item info: 1 copy available at Special Collections. 1 copy total in all locations. Holdings Special Collections Copies Material Location PS1589 .E3 R53 1866 1 RAREBOOK Special Collections SC-BARR-ST](https://i0.wp.com/inspiredbylifeandfiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dime-Novel-Covers-2.jpg?resize=190%2C297)
![Alapaha, the squaw, or, The renegades of the border Gerstäcker, Friedrich, 1816-1872. Publisher: Beadle and Company, Pub date: c1870. Pages: [5]-98 p. ; Item info: 1 copy available at Special Collections. 1 copy total in all locations. Holdings Special Collections Copies Material Location PT1885 .G7 R4214 1870 1 RAREBOOK Special Collections SC-STKS](https://i0.wp.com/inspiredbylifeandfiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dime-novel-Covers-1.jpg?resize=190%2C290)
If you saw a homicidal squaw about to tomahawk a frontiersman, wouldn’t that grab your attention? The next one is slightly less blatant with the rifleman helping a young woman escape danger, but there is certainly still an element of adventure and the breathless question of “What will happen next?”
Dime novels were famous for lurid, often melodramatic tales of the frontier. Heroes were larger than life and typically had exaggerated strength and skill. Not that the readers cared. The more jaw-dropping the story, the more fun it was to read. Hence the birth of genre paperback fiction.
In my most recent novella, The Husband Maneuver in the collection With This Ring, I had a lot of fun playing with the dime novel genre. The hero of the story – Daniel Barrett – was once a famous bounty hunter and has been immortalized for the masses as Dead-Eye Dan in a series of dime novels. He hates the novels, claiming they are blown out of proportion and even pure fiction in places. He wants to leave that old life behind and just train his mules. Marietta Hawkins, the daughter Daniel’s boss, on the other hand, is in love with Daniel and devours the dime novels as a way to feel closer to the real-life man who is determined to keep his distance.
Click cover to order.
I started each chapter of the novella with a scene from a Dead-Eye Dan novel. They were such a hoot to write. They quickly became my favorite scenes. In the end, you end up with two stories in one: Dead-Eye Dan and the Outlaws of Devil’s Canyon and the actual love story playing out between Daniel Barrett and Marietta Hawkins.
Here’s the opening dime novel scene:
Dead-Eye Dan climbed the tall oak with the skill of a cougar. Jaw tight, he scaled the tree hand-over-hand, his gaze locked on the v-shaped branch above his head. He had one chance to slow his prey. One chance to gain the upper hand. He wouldn’t squander it.
When he reached the branch he sought, Dan positioned himself in the cradle, bracing his legs against the sturdy trunk. In a single, smooth motion, he slid his Remington long range rifle from the custom holster on his back and lifted the Vernier peep sight into position with a flick of his thumb. The walnut stock fit against his shoulder as if it were an extension of his body.
Dan leaned forward and rested the barrel against the branch in front of him, notching it against a broken twig’s stub to keep it steady. He located his target. Four horses, 750 yards ahead. Four thieves and a woman. His woman. Taken when the desperados left the bank. They thought to use her as a shield to keep him at bay. A fatal error. The moment they touched Mary Ellen Watkins, they’d signed their death warrants.
–from Dead-Eye Dan and the Outlaws of Devil’s Canyon
- Do you like your fictional heroes larger than life? Or do you prefer more realistic story lines?
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Those old dime novel covers were so terrific! I love the idea for your novella, Karen! Reminds me of the opening scenes of that movie, Romancing the Stone. 🙂
I loved that movie, Deb! So over the top and fun. 🙂
Karen, I absolutely loved the Dead-Eye Dan story–a wonderful novella.And I had to smile about the dime novels. In the 1960’s, mass market paperback racks had their own version of that entertainment–really inexpensive paperbacks selling for little more. I enjoyed every one I purchased. Just as I enjoy every one of your stories.
Thanks, Beth! Sometimes cheap entertainment can be the most fun. 🙂
In all my books, one of my two characters (usually the hero) is larger than life. I find it fascinating to delve into the life and mind of someone who’s extraordinary in some way. The dime store novels probably would have been right up my alley! 🙂
Hi, Becky! There’s something about those larger-than-life heroes that really draw us in. I think we may give out heroes more latitude than our heroines because they are the main fantasy element. We want the heroines to be like us, but we want the heroes to be better than reality.
Larger than life heroes
They are just fun, aren’t they? 🙂 Thanks, Sheila.
I have to have those larger than life heroes, but I have to TRY to remember that they are fictional! Dead-Eye Dan made me swoon. 🙂
So glad you had fun with Dead-Eye Dan, Rosie! He was a hoot to write about. Even showing the difference between the dime novel version and the “real” version was fun. Even then, he’s still fictional. 🙂
I love them both. I mean it really depends on my mood at the moment. =) Either way, I find them irresistible. Love the dime novels, and how you have that in a Worthy Pursuit and The Husband Maneuver (With This Ring?)!!
Thanks, Annie. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed that element. It was so much fun to write.
I prefer my characters to be more realistic.
I hear you, Nancy. Many readers feel this way. That’s why I don’t write dime novel heroes all the time. 🙂
Thank You so much,Karen for this fun and interesting history of Dime Novels ! I had heard about them,but it’s great to know the actual history.Looking forward to reading The Husband Maneuver,I love that you gave the story a Dime Novel touch.As for your question I would have to say I like my characters to be realistic,but to be in bigger than life adventures.
Oh, I like that description! Realistic characters in bigger than life adventures. That’s perfect! I think that’s what I actually prefer as well. Thanks, Lynne!
I love the concept. I recently read another Historical Romance novel that did something similar [can’t remember the author…my apologies to her]. As you say, you get two stories in one. And it’s a great way to deepen the protagonist[s]. Great fun for the reader. More work for the writer. But the results would be very rewarding.
Thanks for the history lesson.
Sometimes I like a larger than life hero, but mostly I like to read about a hero that is truly believable.