Background
Burroughs began work on A Princess of Mars in the summer of 1911 when he was 35.[6] He wrote most of the first half of the novel while working for his brother in a stationery company, penning the words on scratch pads produced by the business.[7] He had been struggling for some time to establish himself as a businessman, so far with little success, and with a wife and two children to support, turned to writing in desperate need of income. Despite failure in his business affairs, he had accumulated a wealth of unusual experiences from working in a variety of jobs which had brought him into contact with miners, soldiers, cowboys, and Native Americans.[6]
Initial drafting
While writing A Princess of Mars, Burroughs initiated what soon became a regular writing tool: maintaining worksheets relating to the piece he was completing. The sheets included start and end dates of writing, titles of chapters, and characters.[8] By August 11, 1911, he had completed a large section of the novel. He was apprehensive about revealing what he was working on, and told only his wife that he was doing so. He still hoped to find business success, and thought the tale to be indicative of a childish nature, and so outlandish that potential business contacts would think him ungrounded if they discovered what he was working on. At this point he had already decided to adopt the pen name of "Normal Bean", an attempt to suggest that despite the incredible nature of his story, he was still a sane, reliable character. He struggled to find an appropriate title for the novel: My First Adventure of Mars, The Green Martians, and Dejah Thoris, Martian Princess were all early attempts to solve this problem.[9]
Submission for publication
Before completing the novel, he considered options for publishing, and realized he knew little about this world or how to submit a story. Because he liked and was familiar with The All-Story magazine, he submitted 43,000 words to the editor under the title "Dejah Thoris, Martian Princess". His cover letter explained that he thought he could produce another two parts of similar length. The Managing Editor of the magazine, Thomas Newell Metcalf, wrote back on August 24, 1911, to offer some criticisms of the pacing and focus of the tale, and suggested omitting the chapter "Sola Tells Me Her Story" (it was restored in the novel); he suggested that if Burroughs could finish the novel at under 70,000 words, he (Metcalf) would consider publishing it.[10]
After further work on the novel, and further correspondence with Metcalf, which included suggestions for plot devices and structural changes, Burroughs submitted the finished novel. On November 4, 1911, Burroughs received an acceptance letter from Metcalf, offering US$400 for the serialization rights (equivalent to $13,080 in 2023), with the request to change the title and further edit the opening section of the novel.[11]
