Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-08-20
SECOND LITERARY
REVOLUTLO+.

books III every department OF llteIa-
ture at from one-third to one-tenth
of their former cost.
The second literary revolu ton
consists in still further very great
reduction (conditional) even from
the revolution prices, While, at the
same time, the average quality of
the books will continue to be mater
tally improved.
To attempt an impossibility could
Of course result only in failure, and
it would be useless, in our interest,
or in that Of the many thousand Gus
toners who have shown us earnest
favor, and have given US such great
patronage, to announce or promise
what could not be performed. We
have delt frankly with our custom
ers in giving facts concerning costs
and profits in the past, and we do it
now, by giving facts and figures il
Illustrating how we can affor d to still
further reduce prices.
FACTS AND FIGURES.
Please note, at the start, our apol-
ogy for not having done heretofore
what we now propose to do, and
consider
1st-We published our first book
only 50 long ago as January, 1879.
Previous to that time we were en-
tirely without experience in book
publication. What knowledge we
had of the business was gained in
newspaper publishing and in book
selling.
2d-We were also at that time al
most entirely without capital, and
until so late as February, 1881, we
laboerd under the difficulty of being
without capital even approximately
adequate for the magnitude Of the
enterprise we were undertaking.
3d-Our entire scheme was in OPP
position to all previous methods of
publishing and book-selling. And
from the beginning to the present,
we have had the combined bitter op-
position of almost the entire book
publishing and book-seeking classes
of the United States.
4th-Starting thus, with mini
mum of knowledge, and less capital,
and with such immense opposition,
we thought it best, in the interest
of both the reading public and our
selves, that we undertake too little,
rather than too much partial sue
cess would be better than total
failure.
5th-In spite of our want of re-
sources and of experience, and in
spite of opposition, and with the ne
cessity of organizing and training
our nelD forces, and necessarily try
ing many experiments, all of which
no one could expect would be uni
formly successful, we have from JAN
uary /, 1880, to June 80, 1881, manu-
featured and sold nearly 100000
volumes of standard books, for
which we have received the consid-
cradle sum of 500, 521 80.
6th-In a circular issued in Janu-
airy of the present year we made the
following statement: THE public
have so long been taught to believe
books to be expensive luXuries and
low prices impossible, that incredu-
lily has from the first been the great
est obstacle to the progress of the
Literary Revolution. 1t was easier
to make good books cheap than it
was to make people believe it could
be done. We could readily have
made prices even lower than they
have been, but for the terrible tax
we have been compelled to pay to
this incrednity."
We have during this period, from
January l, 1880, to June 80, 1881,
paid for advertising, the large sum
Of $l40 S78 90. This immense item
necessarily has come out of the pro-
fits We make on the books sold.
7th-Although our scheme origi-
nally embodied the principle of sell
ing directly to the consumer, and
doing away with the eXorbitant cost
of middlemen, we have not underta-
ken to put aside the bookseller and
the book-agent altogether, because a
large portion Of the book-buyers Of
the country have got into the habit
Of looking to them for their supplies,
and if we were to supply the wants
Of such customers at all, we were
compelled to do it through these or
binary channels. But we have en-
deavored to induce or compel these
middlemen to work, as we have been
doing, on more reasonably small
Dercentage of nrnfit [the immenSnlV