Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-27
MARK TWAIN.
How He Manages His Business A fairs
Shrewd and Successful.

How He Manages His Business Affairs
Shrewd and Successful.
A New York letter says: A man who
emerged from one of our restaurants of
high price and fashionable approval,
wherein more good meals would be served
if all the guests knew how to order and to
eat. had the unmistakable air of content
and prosperity. He was not so tall as he
looked, for he was not thick, and a grena-
der sort of fur cap was liable to be count
ed in as part of the stature. He had
brown hair, close cropped, and a full
mans size Of mustache. His age would
have been estimated at 40. The fur on his
oVercOat was less stylish than comfort
able; and vet it did not give him that ne
grO-minstrel appearance which such
trimmings usually impart. His face was
grave to hasty observer, but quiZZical
expression could be seen by looking twice.
Altogether, he was not different from
what anybody might have anticipated in
the person Of Samuel L. Clemens, known
TO readers of American humor as Mark
Twain. He had come to the metropolis
from his Hartford home to 20 to the opera
and to some of tn theatres.
''And on business, tOO?" was suggested.
No" he replied, sail my business is in
Hartford"
Mark Twain's use of his pen IS profess
siOnal, of course, but his making of books
y
few authors who do not divide with pub
fishers the profits derivable from their
brains. Circumstances have favored his
independence of ordinary methods of pub
location; and yet all that he has done
other successful writer's might do. Being
the first OF his peculiar kind of fun-mak-
ers, and possessed of a naturally drOll de-
livery, he made a small fortune early in
his career as a lecturer; and then he mar
ried a larger one. Having thus become
considerable of capitalist, he was saved
from the necessity Of turning his manu-
script into daily bread. He could afford
to devote three years to the travelling and
writing for ''InnOcents Abroad" and
when the manuscript was ready he was
not hurried by any stress of finances to
turn II over to publisher of the ordinary
mOnOpOlistic sort.
Mark Twain abOunds in self-conceit
quite as enthusiastically as he does in
humOT, and he never doubts the merit or
reception of his matter. With unshak-
able faith in the success Of that first book
ne saw no reason for desiring the name of
a well-knOwn publishing firm on the title
page. And, above all, he had no intention
Of accepting the usual conditions, which
are that the author shall assume all risk
of loss and take only about 10 per cent. of
the receipts. His book was therefore
printed in Hartford, under his own super
Vieion, and sold through peddlers. The
plan worked admirably, and he has fol-
lowed it in nearly all of his subsequent
ventures. The Consequence is that, instead
Of getting 10 cents out of every doll"-
which people pay for his Vnlu.-~e, ne re-
ceiveS nearly fifty cents. he looks after
the details Of manufacture and sale; he
fights his own battles of copyright, he has
q profitable side business in scrap-bOOk
of his own invention; he is an example
for all authors who discontentedly see
publishers grow rich while to themselves
come only fair liVings at best. Above all
he has hit upon a way to protect his
wares in England. 1t is perfectly FEAST
BILE and simple. Our laws do not permit
others than citizens to copyright their
books here; but England, more just in
that respect, extends copyright to for
Signers, with the sole proViso that the
work shall first be published in her coun-
try. Mark Twain, therefore, publishes
his books in London day before they are
issued at home, and so protects himself
IN both markets. Canada bothered him
at first, but he has Strengthened out the
red tape there, and is now the only author
who controls his writings throughout the
English-speaking world. The same de-
vice, substantially, is used by Dion
BOucicault to protect his plays. He has
them acted somewhere in England, uSu-
ally by amateurs before a handful of audi
ence, prior to their production in America.
OF course, you can write a book that will
sell to the extent of100,0 900 or so; and now
that l have told you how to save all of the
profits to yourself, you may as we'll set
about it,