The daily gazette., 1876-03-09
LITERARY MEN AND WOMEN.
HOW IheU are Pdid nnd Whot
Their " OrIc is.

Seymour" contributes to the Hart
ford Times the following interesting
letter on the literary work done in
New York and the people who do it:
A few days ago, read in one of our
New York papers that there are 10000
poets in the United States. No wonder
our lunatic asylum fill up and overflow
SO fast. Probably the prose writers
Sin our midst" Il hope Richard Grant
White won't see that) are not quite so |
as the poets, but they COM
prise goodly army. Any magazine !
editor can tell you that the country |
seems TO swarm with them. Every |
newspaper editor knows to his sorrow
that they are thick as leaves in Vallam.
brosa. so to speaks OF writers there
is indeed plenty TO spare, but of good
writers the number is not at all alarm
ing Literature, like law and medicine
has many thousands in It's ranks who
can never hope to rise above the
place Of drudges. There are many
persons who think writing pro-
fitable cailing-that successful
mngazinist or novelist always has a
fortune at his finger ends. was speak
ing about this not long since to the
editor of one of our oldest magazines,
and was told by him that the number
of writers in the whole country who
can make So 600 year by their pens
does not exceed dozen. Obviously,
jouInalits are not included in this es.
, innate. The geatlemen referred to was
speaking merely of the class called
! literary, which is quite distinct from
the class journalistic. Leaving out a
| few favorlte novelists, the writers who
are known through the magazines and
the literary weeklies cannot, as rule,
average over 81 900 year, and many
cannot get up that figure. 1t pays a
good deal better to sing comic songs
in a variety show than to write sketch
es and short stories. The man or wo-
man who can make $50 week straight
on by writing is doing remarkably
well; whereas, there are comic singers
in New York who get from $3.50 to
$3.50 week for entertaining vulgar
audiences with silly and preposterous
ballads. And the same persons, when
they have become popular" in the
comic song business, find themselves
in demand as authors among the SEN
sation story papers, and can get higher
prices for such stories as they may be
able TO work up than would be paid to
really capable writers. Think of Tony
Pastor, Harrigan and Hart, Pat Room.
ey and others of that ilk. stepping into
the ranks Of authorship, and receiving
higher pay there than men of culture
and ability who have risen in literature
by industry and actual merit,
HOW WRITER'S ARE PAID.
The standard rate paid by magazine.
for essays, sketches and stories Is
about $40 page. 1t is but rarely that
any of them pay over $50 for short
story. In many instances the rate
paid is not over 81 per page and there
are some where it is still lower. On
the other hand, popular writers, whose
works sell well, frequently command
their own prices. Bret Harte, for ex
ample, can get $25 a page more easily
than some other really good writer's
can get $40. If Harte were industrious
he,could make good deal of money,
but since leaving the Pacific coast he
has been rather indolent, SO far as
writing is concerned, A few others,
perhaps half dozen in all, are worth
from $50 to $25 page to the publishers
10y the way l may say here that a
"page" means from 900 to 900 words
but the lower figures already given
are the ruling ones. If writers could
get steady work even at $40 for every
thousand words, most of them would
have reason to be satisfied, but the ma
jority are idle fully half the time. The
field of labor, like every other one, il
overcrowded, and they have to take
their chances.
REJECTED MANUSCRIPT.
When writers have MS. returned tC
them, with a polite note sometimes
printed, of regrets, etc., they are apt tt
think editors incapable of appreciatinl
their true merits, 1t will do such wri
ters no harm know that the editors Of
magazines and literary weeklies are
frequently obliged to reject an i'm
mense deal of matter for no better rea
son than that they cannot use it, Ir
nine cases out of ten their pigeon hole.
are already ovcrcrow'led. Very otter
they have to keep accepted articles or
hand over year before there Is Q
chance to print them. | remember the
editor of AppletOn journal once show
ing me desk filled with MS. and say
ing he had more on hand than he coul(
use in six months. The Harpers have
three publications open to general liter
ary matter-the Monthly, the Week.,
and the Bazar. All MS. sent in iscare
fully examined, and what will no
suit one may suit another. Thus an ar
ticle rejected by the editor OF thu
Monthly may be accepted by the Ba-ar
and one refused by the Bazar may b,
taken by the Weekly. Nevertheless
the proportion accepted for one o
another is only about in twelve. TAX
: ing the periodicals oil through. it i
hardly out of the way to say that tn
average articles is not over one il
twenty. The rejection of MS. doe
not at all imply lack of literary merit
though of course this is very ofton tn
chief reason. The main trouble is tina
the supply greatly exceeds the dem
and.
WOMEN AS WRITER'S.
The advance of women in literature i
| +l,o ,o,,,o i, h1a faate oe ba ne