Morning journal and courier., 1884-03-08
Tricks m the Book Trade.

Forging the Names of AuthOrs-VOlumes m es That Won't Hold Together.
 That is counterfeit,"a downtown book seller said, holding out what pufporTed DC a reprint of g work by 8 popular English writer. II would not tell everybody so; but I will wager any amount of money that that work was not written by the author whose name is attached to it. It is simply the pro- duction of some obscure penny -a-liner, pub Iished under the name of well known Eng fish writer to make it popular with certain class of novel readers. This is one of the tricks of the publishing business, and not a very new one either. The deception has been praciised so long that it is a wonder that it has not been exposed long ago. It is more frequently practised with cheap periodical literature than in bound books. Unscrupu- lous publishers of this class of literature use the names of many standard English story writers as a sort of stock in trade. They not only reprint their genuine productions almost as soon as they appear in England, but they make this dishonest use of their names. Many publishers are so bold iR practising this deception that they boast of it in sly way. There is no law against this practice and so long as writers can be ob- tained who can nearly initiate the style of standard English authors that the counterfeit can scarcely be told from the genuine, I do not suppose novel reader cares whether he is humbugged or not.
 'iI have known cases in which persons who could not write paragraph fit for publica tion have been credited with the authorship of literary productions. The fictitious author, hannona0 n h6 a nf notoriety, and with his name attachf d the book became popular with certain class of readers. Another trick resorted to by many pu blishers, and many, too, that stand well in the estimation of the public, is the pubi- cation of shoddy books. The competition in the book business is 80 great certain sort of publishers practise deception even in re- gard to the quality of their products Books are made with elegant covers and every ap- pearence of serviceability, but they are things which must be handled with care. They are low priced, to be sure, but they are bound in nearly the same style as more costly and more strongly made books, and the buyer congratulates himself that he has got bar gain. It is not long, however, before he discovers his mistake. After 8 few days use the book tears loose at the back and the leaves fall out. Here Is popular boys story book. You see, it has red cloth cover embossed with pretty design in gift and
 
 price is $1 25, seventy-five cents less than a work of this size and style usually brings. Of course it proves tempting bait to the buyer, who does not give the character of the work mauship 8 thought. It is cheat, because it is made to deceive, and if 1t were not for its binding the buyer would pay more and get something that would be satisfactory"
 ''Do the booksellers have any tricks?"
 ssTricks? There is no room for tricks. Bookselling is going to the dogs. Avaricious publishers are running the retail book trade Nearly all standard books are now sold by canvassers. The result is that the canvasser may make his $1 ,OOO year while the retail bookseller has hard job to live. Book can vassers are literally doing the bulk of the book trade. The cutting into the book trade by the dry goods bazaars is also having bad effect on the business. These stores only use books to advertise their business, and of course sell them much lower than the retail dealer can. Regular dealers are forced to cut down their prices in feeble effort to com pete with these dry goods dealers. A certain Chicago publishing firm have branch store in 8 dry goods establishment in this city. They offer their own productions at dis count of thirty to fifty per cent, and those of other publishers st proportionate reduc- tioa With these drawbacks to contend with, it is no wonder that the retail bookseller has to struggle for livelihood"