Eugene T. Sawyer

Who was Eugene T. Sawyer?

Eugene Taylor Sawyer was a newspaper editor and author of dime novels, particularly for the Nick Carter series. In an interview given in 1902, he confessed to having written over 75 examples of that genre, most anonymously. The New York Times referred to him as "The Prince of Dime Novelists" and the Washington Post as the "King of Dime Novelists", though others were actually more prolific. Still, Sawyer claimed to having written three 50,000-word novels in the space of one month, and on another occasion, finished a 60,000-word novel in just two days.

Sawyer is one of four authors most commonly associated with the Nick Carter series. As Time magazine noted in Sawyer's obituary, these particular four died within the space of a single two-year period. Given that Dey committed suicide and Harbaugh died penniless, Sawyer is notable for having been seemingly buoyed rather than crushed by the experience, and for balancing the serial novel-writing with newspaper work and other more ordinary creative pursuits.