Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Abokan Steinbeck tare da marubutan hagu, 'yan jarida, da shugabannin ƙungiyar kwadago na iya yin tasiri ga rubuce-rubucensa. Ya shiga kungiyar marubuta ta Amurka, kungiyar Kwaminisanci, a 1935. Steinbeck ya jagoranci marubucin marubuta Lincoln Steffens da matarsa Ella Winter. Ta hanyar Francis Whitaker, memba na Jam'iyyar Kwaminis ta Amurka John Reed Club don marubuta, Steinbeck ya sadu da masu shirya yajin aiki daga Ma'aikata na Ma'aikata da Ma'aikata na Ma'aikata. A shekara ta 1939, ya sanya hannu a wata wasika tare da wasu marubutan da ke goyon bayan mamayewar Soviet na Finland
da kuma gwamnatin Soviet da aka kafa.