The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-04-06

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Literarv Men and XVomer
Seymour" contributes 10 the Hartford
Times the following interesting letter on the
| literary work done IN New " ork and the peo-
pie who do it.
A few days ago | read in one Of our New
| York papers that there are 10. 900 poets in the
United States. No wonder our lunatic a>y-
lums till up and overflow so fast. Probably
the prose writers "ln our midst (l hope Rich
ard Grant White won't see that are not quite
| so numerous Us the poets, but even they COM
prise goodly army. Any magazine editor
| can tell you that the country seems 10 swarm
| with them. Every newspaper editor knows to
his sorrow that they are thick as leaves in Val
lambrosa, SO to speak. OF writers there is in
| deed plenty to spare, bat OF good writers the
number is not at all alarming. Literature, like
| law anu medicine, has many thousands III It's
ranks who can never hope to rise above the
| place of drudges. There are many persons
| "no 'li.i'N Nll'iiS a Pioitaolc c"hliiS ii''i d
fortune at liz fnaar-ends w,s snenitin@
shout tbis NOT lone since to the editor of one of
our oldest maon2ines. and was told bv him
! that the numDer of writers in the whole coun-
| try who can make $1,000 a wear bv their pens
! II H.
| lists are not included in this estimate. The
| gentleman referred to was spaaLling merely of
| the class called literary which il uitn distinct
! from the class iolrua ,istic Leaving out a few
| fayoritr noyelists. the writers who Are known
! through the maqazine, and the literary week.
| lies cannot, As n rule, average over - 900 :,
| year. nnd many cannot pet m 10 that tiquro
| it pays a GOOD deal better to sing comic songs
| in a variety show than to write sketches and
! short stories, The man or woman who can
/
! doing remarkably we'll: Whereas there are
| comic. singers in New York who Get from $50
| TO 5000 a week for entertaining yulonr audi
| encrs with silly and preposterous ballads.
| And the same persons when they have be-
! come ..pon,,lar'' in the connie SONG business
| find themselves in demand As authors among
| the sensation story papers and can Get higher
| prices for such stories as they NAV be able to
| work up than would be paid to really capable
writer's Think Of Tony Pastor. IIarrioan and
| Hart. Pat Rooney and others of that ilk step
pino info the ranks of authorship and rectiy-
ing higher DAY there than men of culture and
ability who have risen in literature hy industry
and actual merit.
NOW, ,vp,,,rra ,pr PAN,
~" " - '-''' >''H AZ
lhe standard rate pald by magazines Tor es-
says, sketches ana stories Is about $40 page
II IS out rarely mat any OF thein pays over sou
lor Il snort story. IN many instances lhe rate
pad Is not over = per page and there are some
Nh'ie II - SUI io"cl. VII INC pthSl Htid,
pUpur pp''ti ,I tII; "'''' Dt i't
iIartp. for example. rnn oct 50 \ pa~e more
easily than some other really GOOD writers can
oct SO If Harte were industrious he conId
make a GOOD deal of money. but since leaving
the Pacific coasl he has been rather in,lolenf
so far As writing is concerned 4 few others
perbaps half n dozen in all. are worth from 500
10 S25 n mage to the publishers (by the Way I
NAV saw here that n ..paop" means from 900 10
I Il H..
given are the ruling ones. If writers could rGt
steady work even at $40 for every tbousanl
words. most of them would have reason TO be
satisfied hut the majority are idle fully half the
time Their field Of labor, like every other
one. il oyercrowded. and they have TO take
their chances. Magazine publishers will NOT
make any snecial ARRANGEMENTS outside the Of
flee staff All writers are free to offer thpir
wares. and the editors are coualIy free to re-
iert Moreover If il >. standino rIlc With
most of the periodicals not to admit any one
author more than three or four times in the
course of a wear. Readers demand variety
ana 10 cnsnre his if i necessary TO keen N,
,.hanoe in authorship rs well rs in matter
Tnkinp the ordinary class of writers. if is safe,
to say that very few of them can hope to make
more than $500 a wear ont of any sinule neriod-
teal Fiournp on This basis Won can easily se.
how difficult il i, to make even s. GOO a wear
bv literary labor. OF course the successful Sc
rial writers can do much better, but the pro-
Il,
pr,r,rrn u,~rs,vpIpr
'-' ' - -,
hen writers nave Mis- returned 70 them,
WIN polte ho'e' sometimes printed o. re-
grets, etc., thcy are apt 10 tiihN edtofS lhct-
pabic Oh appreclal!i- liltIf flIc merits III Will
do slleh writers no harm TO know lhaf The edll-
ors OF magazines and literary "eekiies "fe RE-
quehiiy obilgea 70 REJECT ali immense zeal OF
matter lof no Dellef reason tlau that they can
not use IL. IN nine cases OUT OF zen Inrlt
af,-,,, +,n,, hn,a tn Lo,,,, ...a,,t1l .,ti, ~,
hand over a wear before there is chance to
print them / remember the editor of Apple
ions Journal once showing me a desk filled
with Ms. and saving be had more on hand
than he could use in six months The IIar-
pers have three publications open to general
literary matter-the Monthly, the Weekly and
the Bazar All Ms. sent in is carefully exam
ined and what will not suit one may suit an
other Thus an article rejected bv the editor
of the Monthly nav be accepted bv the BaZar
and one refused by the Bazaar NAV be taken ly
| the Weekly Nevertheless the proportion ac-
cepted Tor one or another is only about one in
twelve. Taking the periodicals all through, it
| is hardly out of the way to say that the aver
AGE Of accepted articles is not over one in
| twenty. The rejection of a Ms. does not at all
imply lack of literary merit, though of course
| thiS il very often the chief reason The main
| trouble is that the supply greatly exceeds the
| demand OF really GOOD matter there is T
| need hardly saw. no supcrt]ujty: on the contra
ry such matter is eaperIy soll@ht NIL around :.
! hut in litera1ure rs in evrrythinp mediocrity
| is the prevailing quality. TO sum up this part
| Of the subiect A writer whose place il NOT yrt
| made has about one chance i'm twenty of Get
| TING into print in the magazines. And if lie is
NOT satisfied with this md unN i}lino TO wait
| he had better drop the pen al once and take
| hold of sOmethino that will bring n uuicker re-
turn in the shape of cash-a buck-saw or a
| crowbar. for instance
J