Sytin always wanted to deliver to people not only entertaining literature, but also more serious publications. He dreamed that classic works would be available to the common people. And he was presented with an opportunity to advance this cause. In November 1884, Vladimir Grigoryevich Chertkov came to Ivan Sytin’s shop. Chertkov was a great friend of Leo Tolstoy, he edited and published his works. On the advice of Tolstoy, Sytin and Chertkov opened the “Posrednik” (Mediator) publishing house. Its main task was to print and distribute cheap books about morality and ethics among the common people. First of all, these were edifying articles and stories for the people by Leo Tolstoy himself.

It is worth noting that Sytin’s products were always distinguished by their low price. This was the fundamental principle of his business philosophy. The entrepreneur had to buy new equipment: an electrotyping machine for printing copies of texts and illustrations and a printing machine that printed 50,000 books a day. The demand for the books of “Posrednik” was rapidly increasing, but due to the low price, it was very difficult to cover the expenses. However, “Posrednik” raised the prestige of Ivan Sytin,

In 1887, two stories by Pavel Zasodimsky “Black Crows” and “The Entire Century for Others”, describing merchant mores, were published by “Posrednik”. Over the years, the government continued attempts to close “Posrednik”.