Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films are made-the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures to satisfy the curious, soul-stirringpictures of city affairs, life in the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes.
Victor Appleton was used as a pseudonym by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books. Created by Edward Stratemeyer, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager to have its books aimed at children, rather than adults. The Syndicate was so successful that at one time it was believed that the overwhelming majority of the books children read were from the Stratemeyer Syndicate.
Stratemeyer's business acumen was in realizing that there was a huge, untapped market for children's books. At a time when most children's books were aimed at moral instruction, the Syndicate specialized in producing books that were meant primarily to be entertaining. In founding the Stratemeyer Syndicate, Edward Stratemeyer aimed to produce books in an efficient, assembly-line fashion and to write them in such a way as to maximize their popularity, which they did with great success.