Editing Ayn Rand (section)

=== Early fiction ===
{{see also|Night of January 16th|We the Living|Anthem (novella)}}

[[File:Night of January 16th jury flyer front.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Poster for the play Night of January 16th|Rand's play ''[[Night of January 16th]]'' opened on Broadway in 1935.]]
In 1932, Rand's first literary success was the sale of her screenplay ''[[Red Pawn]]'' to [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]], although it was never produced.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=40, 42}}{{efn|It was later published in ''[[The Early Ayn Rand]]'' along with other screenplays, plays, and short stories that were not produced or published during her lifetime.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=22}}}} Her courtroom drama ''[[Night of January 16th]]'', first staged in Hollywood in 1934, reopened successfully on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1935. Each night, a jury was selected from members of the audience. Based on its vote, one of two different endings would be performed.{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=76, 92}}{{efn|In 1941, [[Paramount Pictures]] produced a [[The Night of January 16th (film)|movie loosely based on the play]]. Rand did not participate in the production and was highly critical of the result.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=78}}{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=87}}}} In December 1934, Rand and O'Connor moved to New York City so she could handle revisions for the Broadway production.{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=82}}

In 1936, her first novel was published, the semi-autobiographical{{sfn|Rand|1995|p=xviii}} ''[[We the Living]]''. Set in [[Soviet Russia]], it focuses on the struggle between the individual and the state. Initial sales were slow, and the American publisher let it go out of print;{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=13}} however, European editions continued to sell.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|p=141}}.</ref> She adapted the story as [[The Unconquered (1940 play)|a stage play]], but the Broadway production closed in less than a week.<ref>Britting, Jeff. "Adapting ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|p=164}}.</ref>{{efn|In 1942, the novel was adapted without permission into a pair of Italian films, ''Noi vivi'' and ''Addio, Kira''. After Rand's post-war legal claims over the piracy were settled, the films were re-edited with her approval and released as ''[[We the Living (film)|We the Living]]'' in 1986.<ref>Britting, Jeff. "Adapting ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|pp=167–176}}.</ref>}} After the success of her later novels, Rand released a revised version in 1959 that has sold over three million copies.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''We the Living''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2004|p=143}}.</ref>

In December 1935, Rand started her next major novel, ''[[The Fountainhead]]'',{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=98}} but took a break from it in 1937 to write her novella ''[[Anthem (novella)|Anthem]]''.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=54–55}} The novella presents a [[dystopian]] future world in which [[totalitarian]] collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that the word ''I'' has been forgotten and replaced with ''we''.{{sfn|Burns|2009|p=50}}{{sfn|Heller|2009|p=102}} Protagonists Equality 7-2521 and [[Liberty 5-3000]] eventually escape the collectivistic society and rediscover the word ''I''.{{Sfn|Gladstein|2010|pp=24–25}} It was published in England in 1938, but Rand could not find an American publisher at that time. As with ''We the Living'', Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, and this sold over 3.5{{nbs}}million copies.<ref>Ralston, Richard E. "Publishing ''Anthem''". In {{harvnb|Mayhew|2005a|pp=24–27}}.</ref>