The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1852-05-15
journalism and AuthoYship.

ture that are born aud de Min xSf fn,tIf, . &
disappontncnt always. and often taf min og q
the sanguine specnlatori it is oLvc6s that eten
an'"fg The literary pubic, there exists 40 extras
ordinary ignorance Of the difficultjer Expenses
and tolls involved in the establishment OF Journal
or magazine
So also. from the thorghte,s manner in
which writers print books that can bv no possib
hty command remuneratng sale, it is plain that
The cost and the manner of printing and publishing
are not understood by those whom it mos concerns
and whose ignorance makes them ready pres OF
the spoilers who abound "a this our great melrnpo-
lis.
To those who m sht bs heedlcssly tempted 10
hazard specuaon> in authorship. n statement Of
some of the facts connected with it may De useful
by way of warning: while To all our le der. they
will be interesting, as curious features in the hsto.
~ Ut literature.
We will frs, address ourselves to the case of
journalism.
1t is q Remarkable 'ac that the total number
OF newspapers and magazines Published in Lon.
don Is no greater than it was twenty years ago.
Daring that period upwards Of two hundred
new newspapers and magazines have been star.
ted and after n struggle Of more or lcss dura-
tion. involving their proprieto:s in enormous lns-
ses, have persisted and passed away Il ia
tima'ed that only one periodical in hundred that
Is begun is ultimately .uccessful; ; and that even
tie meet successful iIcur heavy losses iur many
years.
s.ill more startling TACT. which the c~rcrieSS.
ced positively assert i that the cnlirc nourpater
press Of London with the exception Of Tie
Times does not pay its own expenses that is to
say, that the rnnua loss bv all those which do
not pay equals tire annual profits Of all those
which yield post
Strange as this may appear to the unnit,'ed,
the reader will find hereafter when he sccs whnt
are the costs oigetting up journal thotit is prob
ably very noar the truth
The most successful periodical docs not Weld a
profit for many years, nor until fortune h,s
been expended upon it, We caniIlusiraie this bv
reference to some cases within our own kpoo ledge,
and others which arc well known 10 the literary
circles, Bat il so much has been sunk in carrying
few Journals to the point Of profit. how much
more must huyc been sacrificed in those twenty
fold more numerous enterprises that have fulcd
1t is said that more than 100000 has hrep
sunk in the Da3gNc'rS, which is nnly now after
so many years, beginning 10 yield profit Sue
CcsSiyc proprietors have invested {, runcs in the
Nornmg Chronicle, and having lost them have
transferred il to others Some two or three thou.
sand pounds were lost in The AHcno,op, befnrc
It was transferred TO the present proprietor Mr.
Dixie, who bought it for rilling sum. and carr
t'i u w VI dlOS- Ol lOlT OF llNt tO'l-Ant Duuil1
more for nearly seven wears before he cou'i
command success for it ;''and then it became what
1t has been ever since. profitable property
The late Mr.. Murray, the celebrated publisher.
started daily PAPER, yith the aid of all tie GO
mus OF the day. which was then at his command.
He lost, it was said, nearly $4,000 in few
months, and then it died. The critic. this VERY
journal, was eight year. in being established and
upwards OF E5 600 was sunk in it before il p.id
its expenses No less n sum than 10000 has
been invested in the establishment Of The To~
Times which. from the nature Of its contents lie.
ing entirely original, is necessarily n more costly
journal to produce than political one. the grea.
ter portion of whose pages are condensed from
the daily papers. There il scarcely newspaper
IN London in which three or four fortunes have
not been sunk, and bv which as many persons
have been ruined The usual history of iourn.
al is this A, thinking to make fortune, starts
journal; he spends honsard pounds upon il.
and finds IT still exhibiting loss Money gae4
very fast in n newspaper, for the drain is n stea-
dy one, week by week. without pause a process
that will soon empty the wcathiest pocket. lIa-
wing spent somuch, he doe, not Ike to stop there.
He pr,'eets and another e ! 900 vInishes. He
stakes bis last f5ns. and thi goes, too Then
s e ! "nFf3 r Il G s G2S 2ss crsH cn. IG Sn'ni
I
t2Vo"' IN like manner and LC is ruined and
sells :" at'nrd fr f2oo rcrhap. The process
may bf continued even fer a fourth or fifth until
! even h"pe dice, and the enterprise il abandoned.
But sometimes ii happens that the fourth or fifth
fortune has succeeded Ny mere force uf living on,
aud the journal ia made to paw. But even then.
what i that profit commercially considered
rue 1t Is fair profit for Inn who bought il
J Tor ZOO, aod expended $4,000 But the actual
cost oi establishing X was the three prcyion1
fortunes Of t750O: add these and tie cvncnscs
OF establishing the Journal were in fac, elnOOO:
and the profits do not pay as well rs anv other %.
cupatlon would do forsuch capital as lint Tiv
1t thus. What nnnutv could be bought for Go.
GOO, and would not that nNnuitv be greatsr than
! the profits of tie Journal, successful though it
, may appear to be
these results may occasion surprise but when
we show what are the expenses of establishing
ana conducting a Journal and what nre the re-
ceIp's, the reader will cease to wonder at the rr
IN in which journalism involves so many, and ~
tue certain sinking of capital that ia occ,sioncd
even by the mos. -ucchssiul Of tic enterprises
IoHdoa critic