Dick DeBartolo on when he sent material to MAD Magazine when he was sixteen, “I wrote a sample script (‘A TV Ad We Would Like to See’) and sent it on to them. I had read in an article that writers should always send a self-addressed stamped envelope along with a script they were submitting. That way, if the script was rejected you would get it back. Otherwise, it is just tossed out. Weeks later, I got back my own envelope. I was so disappointed. Then I figured I would open it in case it was a ‘nice try’ kind of reject. But inside my envelope was cardboard. And scribbled on the cardboard was a note from associate editor Nick Meglin. It said: ‘Ha ha, thought we rejected your script, but we bought it! Stapled to this cardboard is your check! Please call us about writing more stuff for us!’”
Dick DeBartolo on when he sent material to MAD Magazine when he was sixteen, “I wrote a sample script (‘A TV Ad We Would Like to See’) and sent it on to them. I had read in an article that writers should always send a self-addressed stamped envelope along with a script they were submitting. That way, if the script was rejected you would get it back. Otherwise, it is just tossed out. Weeks later, I got back my own envelope. I was so disappointed. Then I figured I would open it in case it was a ‘nice try’ kind of reject. But inside my envelope was cardboard. And scribbled on the cardboard was a note from associate editor Nick Meglin. It said: ‘Ha ha, thought we rejected your script, but we bought it! Stapled to this cardboard is your check! Please call us about writing more stuff for us!’”