His career spanned more than forty years, and his stories, poems, and articles were published in more than 225 magazines.

His work appeared alongside that of his contemporaries, including Mark Twain, Sax Rohmer, James B. Hendryx, Berton Braley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Don Marquis, Will Rogers, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

A founding member of both the Dutch Treat Club and the Authors League of America, Butler was an always-present force in the New York City literary scene.

The stories in the Companion were illustrated by artists including May Wilson Preston, Frederic Dorr Steele, Herbert Paus and Rico Le Brun.

Between 1931 and 1936, at least seventeen of Butler's stories published in newspapers were illustrated by Ethel Hays.