Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-08-30
Bogus BOOk-seIIing.

books?''
''Book-making at the races?"
The delicate features of the swindler
assumed an expression of disdain. I'm
no sport, thank you. l do not mean
anything of the kind. I refer to the
book publishing-the cheap press, my
son. is our standby. The first thing is
to get book to publish. The most i'm
portant part of the book is in its name.
Something like Ten Thousand Hints
for Farmers, or Information for Com
mon People, is what you want. The
book can be compiled from the hundred
and one similar works by legitimate
authors that have gone before it,. Hav-
ING the name and the compiled volume,
we take the manuscript to some rat
printing office to get it printed. You
would be astonished to see what large
bound book we can get up for twenty
five cents a copy on large editions.
When you see them on the shelf or in
a box they do not look at all bad. The
paper is sofa the type is old, and the
stitching doesn't count for much, but
we have few samples put together IN
better shape.
1.-The selling is the easiest part of the
business. The printing we usually pay
i
new printing offices. To get rid of our
stock, which we always call the fifth
edition, we send out our commercial
traveller and an assistant. You would
call the traveller a steerer in less dig
nified business. He is a gentleman,
every inch of him. He has a knowledge
of the world, of the farming community,
of human nature in general. He also
has a suave manner and a little cash.
He seeks the village hotel and gains the
acquaintance of the crowd that gathers
there. Among them he finds the man
of wealth who thinks he knows good
thing when he sees it. The man of
wealth is cautious. The commercial
traveller has discounted that in advance.
We do not wish to sell our books to him
for cash. We want to introduce them.
We want a man of influence to look
after our interest in that town. Our
book is exhibited to him, and it is ex-
planned to him just how easy it will be
to shove the book on his innocent and
confding neighbors at two dollars a
volume. To him the price will be fifty
per cent off. To start him we say we
will consign him one dozen on commits
sion. He has an idea that when goods
are consigned they are to be paid for
after they are sold. He will try one
dozen on those terms. Then we produce
the little blank order book. Half the
blanks have apparently been used in
neighboring counties. We take care
that he observes that. The following is
blank:
Messrs. G. PRIMER s. Co,
New York.
M will r1a
dozen of your work entitled
''Ten Thousand Hints for Farmers"
agree to take them from the express Office
as soon notified that they have arrived,
and to pay all charges. agree to recommend
them to my neighbors, and to use my best en-
deavors to sell them. 1 will not sell any one
OF them for less than 81
....................W Witness
''The blank 8 is not filed in. A
figure 1 is written in at the left side of
the blank before the word dozen. 1t is
very simple. Just an order for dozen
books on commission.
''But the skill is required in handling
that blank. There is never any hurry
. ing. 1t takes time. The assistant, who
keeps in the background, usually brings
in word just at the right time. He
may say, for instance, that it is only a
matter of form, anyhow, for it's a
transaction among friends. Then the
gentlemanly salesman brings out a
fountain pen, and his new-found friend
tries the new-fangled notion for the first
time in his life. The assistant signs as
witness. The blank once signed, we
always stand treat. We set 'em up to
the success of the new enterprise. We
invite up all the boys to drink with us.
We tell them that our man of wealth has
good thing. We agreed to advertise
for the man of wealth. We get notice
in the village paper that he has the exclu-
siVe agency for that town.
Then we raise the order from one
dozen to one gross by inserting a figure
after the little l in the blank. The
s. we fill in to read $144. We send
on the books after everyone knows that
the man of wealth has the agency. He
takes the box home from the express
office, wondering why it is so big. He
finds that he has more books than he
expected. Our collector happens around
about the time that the books arrive.
He presents the contract for twelve
dozen books and asks for the money.
He is very polite. He is not angered by
rough language. He will accept anote
if the man of wealth has not ne ready
village paper, and says that folks will
think the man of wealth an innocent
if he tries to back out of a fair bargain
Sometimes a lawyer is engaged to clincE
the argument in an obstinate case, but
that expense is not often necessary. We
always get the money"
THAT doesn't seem to be very large
stake for profit, after all.
mo, not very large; but we average
two sales a week by working two adj
joining villages at once. 1t isn't baG
business, considering that it verges OF
honest trade"
''Any other lodges in the book lineP'
PLENTY, my son, plenty of them, bu
they are not so safe as this. Perhaps
the next best lay is the herd book. w,
work that now and then. We start on
to make a herd book by securing from
country OOStmaSterS the names of al th,