Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-10-02

Not one of the monthlies is so loaded
| down with MSS. of all sorts as Scrfbaer's.
1t has not only those it acquired by pur-
| chase of other magazines 1t has bought
| great many on its own account, and is
really hampered with the quantity it has
on hand. Before its first issue the editors
feared, strangely enough, that they might
not have sufficient matter. Consequently
/ they sent checks to various authors, solicit
ing stories, essays, sketches, poems, and
got them, of course. 1t is not singular
that they have a plethora. Whoever has
money to pay can always be sure of abun-
dant Ms, for they who make it profess
sionally rarely know any other way to win
their bread, and are prone, therefore,
to glut their market. Scribner's has copy
enough, am told, to publish its issues for
| the next three years without any addition
to the supply and can well believe 1t.
1t formerly paid on acceptance, and does so
| still iii particular cases, but generally 1t is
unwilling to, owing to its vast surplus.
In fact, it returns Ms. constantly, and very
acceptable MS, too because it cannot see
the time when it can put it to use. DR..
| Holland has papers in his desk which he
| paid for four, five, SIX, even seven years
| ago, and cannot find an opportunity to
publish and many of them are by authors
OF reputation. Those ambitious of maya.
zine fame should keepaway from Scribner's.
The rate of compensation is about So to $40
printed page Il, 100 words), the same as
Harper's rate, though Harper's page con-
tains only 1000 words Higher figures
are given to special contributors. Sted-
man got, l understand, $50 a page for his
papers on the q Victorian Poets, and Brete
Harte has had $40 to $50 for some of his
clever stories.
a number of critics fail to like Scribner's.
They call it the
ORGAN OF PHILIsTINIsM,
The periodical of common. place, the ex-
ponent of platitudes and the like. 1t is
not so fresh or individual as it might be,
because many of its contributors, and, per-
haps the majority of its readers, are not
severely intellectual, and are content to do
and to accept what rarer minds have gone
beyond. The notion that it is orthodox and
entirely false, though this be-has
hurt it with the set who believe in Art for
Art; but, en- the other hand, the same
notion has helped it with the church loving
class 1t has very large circulation with
| the representatives OF Bible Societies,
Young Mems Christian Associations,
Missionary Leagues, and other evangelical
bodies. Its immediate rival is Harper'S
the two being the sole fully illustrated
monthlies in the Republic; but it does not
seem to have injured the prosperity of the
latter. PROFESSIONALLY great many sub
scrIbers to Scri6ner's never took a maya
zine before they had taken it so that it
may be said to have created its own con-
stituency. Itgoes largely into the country
proper, and is perused there with an
avidity that is unknown in commercial
centers.
Sunday afternoon this awkward and
pious title has been changed to Good Com
pony, belieye), set up at Springfield,
Mass, two or three years ago, appears to
bid directly for such orthodox favor as
iScrijner'S enjoys. 1t has contributors of
ability and reputation, and has been ex-
tensively advertised, although am skep-
tical of its establishment. A magazine |
cannot be sustained in town of ordinary
size its success, even In big capital, Is
very doubtful and | look for another Pc
riodical to die before a great while in the
region Of New England Good Company is
cheaper, in double sense, than Sc,ibheq's, |
and will not be likely to interfere with it.
1t is very creditable publication of its
kind, but it is not of the kind to make
fortune from. It's circulation is set down |
at 5000 to 5000, and its contributions are |
faultlessly moral and free from the least |
tincture OF theological independence.
wish it well, but | fear that it will fall i'll. |
APPLEToN's JOURNAL
Underwent year before last another |
change, and seems to have ceased to be
popular, miscellaneous, literary monthly
1t claims to have now higher order of
contents; to be more serious in its aims,
and to admit selected as well as original
matter This means in plain English that
it publishes cheaper periodical, and that |
most of its old contributors have been
ruled out. We all know what original and |
selected matter signifies in periodical lit |
signifies great deal of selected and very
little original-merely enough to swear by, |
or, if you choose, to swear at. | doubt if |
the Journal can be prosperous in its new
departure, though hope it may. = 1t has
not been prosperous in the past; in truth, !
l am led to infer that it has l4
STEADILY LOST MONEY.
Begun seventeen or eighteen years since as
weekly, it SO continued until, four years
ago, it was turned into monthly. I hear
that the Appletons have several
times seriously contemplated relin-
gushing it, and | imagine that they
will, if it continues in its new
and much cheaper shape to be drain on
their purse. 1t has deserved far more
patronage than it has received. 1t has had
,ho,.l 4
Henry Stoddard, Joel Benton, Albert
Rhodes, Constance Fenimore Woolson,
William H. Rideing NJ Z. w. S. Mrs |
Sherwood), Julian Hawthorne, George NJ.
| Towle, Edgar Fawcett, Rebecca Harding
Davis, Howard Glyndon, a. Ii. Guernsey,
Kate Field, George Cary Eggleston and
score of Others 1t has paid also as
literally as other periodicals, and paid,
for the most part, on acceptance. Its
editor. Oliver B. Bunce, has talent, culture,
discriminating taste and wide experience.
Nevertheless, the magazine, whether in
weekly or monthly parts, has never reached
paying point, which is less singular than
it seems, for hardly any magazine pays.
The circulation has at no time, l under
stand, been over 10, 600, and I have been
told that d. Appleton & Co. have sunk
5000, coo in it, which is moderate sum,
since it would be deficit only of about
$40, 600 year. The firm is very wealthy,
and can easily endure ordinary losses,
but it has no better appetite for
losses on this account. If the periodical
in it's latest form makes nothing it
will not lose very much-at least not near
" so much as it has lost hitherto.
a PROSPEROUS JUVENILE.
A monthly which has done extraordi-
narily well, and promises to continue to do
so, is the 81. Nicholas, a juvenile known to
all boys and girls between six and sixteen
1t has the same ownership-Scribner &
Ce.-as Scribaer'S, and has gained circu-
lation Of about $4,000 to 10000. Its ed
itor is Mary ,Mapes Dodge, excellently
qualified for her place, and so highly val
ued by the publishers that they give her
s.. 900 year. She is great lover of
children: understands them on instinct,