Inspired by the success of Godey's, publisher Charles J. Peterson and writer Ann Sophia Stephens launched Peterson's Magazine in 1842. Stephens served as editor from 1842-1853, while publication continued until 1898. Unlike Sarah Hale and others who entered journalism only after the death of a husband, Stephens established herself as the primary financial provider for her family. While she worked and traveled for business, her husband tended to the children at home.

Although Peterson's was similar to Godey's both aesthetically and topically, Peterson's made a greater commitment to publishing works by women writers. Both magazines were published from Philadelphia , and by the 1860s, each magazine could claim more than 150,000 subscribers. Amazingly enough, Stephens also found time to write two-dozen novels, some of which won high literary praise.

Godey's and Peterson's dominated the women's magazine market in the first half of the 19 th century, but the Civil War marked a turning point in this, as in so many things. Improvements in distribution techniques, the mechanics of printing, and a growing and diversified national readership prompted the birth and growth of new, innovative periodicals geared toward a broader female readership.