The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-04-04
THE TRADE OF WRITING
THE RELATION OF WRITERS A,lI6 plje-
LISTERS TO ONE sNOTHER.
'+eAlNnesss< and Faults of the Inly
Unremunerative and Very
Unsatisfactory CaIling-Its Entice-
ments and Disappointments.


NEW YoRK, so many men and
women write nowadays-writng is much
more Of a profession and a business than 1t
has ever been-that interest in the inlzy
trade has greatly increased. And as all
writer's have to deal with publishers, the
relation between them, and the experience
they have of one another. with the habits
and peculiarities Of each, naturally concern
the two classes. and the concern extends to
Iaymen in general. A great deal OF curl
osity, If nothing else, is felt about manu-
scripemaking and maDuscript-makers, and
publishers come IN for their share.
It was said long ago that authors and
publishers are natural enemies. j have
often thought that, if they were not, they
ought to be; and yet 1 am well aware that
thu fault Is not all on one side. They FIRE.
qusntly fail TO understand one another, nat
urallY enough, because authors are, as
rule, impractical, and publishers are prac'
teal, SO very practical often as to consider
their own benefit exclusively. The former
complain that unfair advantage is taken of
them by the latter, who declare in turn that
the former have SO much vanity, and SO lit
lie common sense, that no business man can
get on with them. While there are number
A3SS exCeDGlOn5t DOLL bu0 CudA SSS oAS AAONND
urably true. 1t is inevitable that each class
should have grievances against the other;
but there Is no reason why so many Of these
grievances should be so we'll based. 1t
there were not error or wrong, or both, on
each side, the discord and antagonism would
steadily diminish and it is questionable
whether there be any dininution.
Having always followed the profession of
OiV al
ism in every department, magazine-contri-
buting and book-making / have been invited
10 furnish series of papers containing my
views and conclusions concerning this branch
OF industry, especially its advantages ana
disadvantages. I shall speak of writers In
their general import, more of writers for
newspapers and magazines than of authors
strictly, because those comprise a large
body, are nearer the people, and because
their methods and occupations are probably
less familiar. Having been an editor re-
psatedly, know, inasmuch as editors usual
" represent publishers, how writer's are
regarded and treated by them. though
may say that, in any position have held, my
sympathies have always been with writer's.
These belong to my guild, and l have tried
through life to fight their battles as my own.
i remember QOZ9IlS OIL COuD1Suo ASAfO
with publishers because unwilling to disres
gard the rights of my brothers of the pen, and
fremember, too, that in NEARLY all Of them,
have been victorious. If editors who have
baen writers would not so actively side With
publishers, and eagerly relinquish the atti-
tude they once held, writers would fare
better than they do now. It is an unpleas~
ant thought; but it is unquestionably
mir
been oppressed, after they are put in
positions where they should see justice
done. readily lend themselves to
oppression. This is particularly true in
journalism. Men who have inveighed
against publishers, and with entire Justice
no sooner find it their interest to serve
them than they carry their services beyond
the domain of duty or equity.
The influence of journalism often seems
pernicious. Many who aspire to permanent
and desirable places in it, and reach them
after long and hard struggles, begin, when
fairly seated, to discourage and throw obsta-
cles in the way of others trying to climb up.
Instead of sympathizing with and lending
helping hand to those below, as they should,
recalling their own experience. they ridieule
and censure them, and do what they can to
push them down. Such examples are only
too common In all professions and employ
ments; but they appear more conspicuous
and more unnatural among writer's, because
they ought. from their very calling, to De
lass selfish and narrow than the mass of hui
manity. And Them as they are forever
commenting on the weaknesses and faults OF
their fellows, it seems as if they should have
fewer faults themselves. Happily, there are
writer's and writer's, notably among Journal
ists. with whom there is an exceeding
variety for better and for worse.
The objection most frequently made to
writer's by publishers, or their representa-
lives. is. repeat, that they lack common
sense, and have such excess OF self-apprecia'
tion "a TO be very hard to deal with. They are
charged also with want of punctuality and
frustworthiness, with irritability, unreason'
ableness, capriciousness, and divers ldlosyn'
crasies that cannot be fathomed, and if they
could be, are not worth fathomtng. They
ara called visionary, improvident, migrate
full, and nearly all their troubles attributed
directly to themselves. ! have heard pub
fishers tell again and again Of the efforts
thew had made to assist and befriend writ
ers: how constantly they failed through NJ
fault of theirs, and how, at last they unwlt
~SNAO@@~S
downright enemies Writers ara often &C
cused of affecting eccentricity, hoping there
by to get the reputation Of geniuses. Th'
cleverer they are, the:worse they are, it
said, to do business with, and the more they
presume. Brilliant fellows are frequently
the aversion of publishers, who assert tina
their mental gifts are apt to be counterbal
anoed by some moral deficiency.
Magazine editors, many at least, ar
afraid to talk with writer's whose pecS
liarities they have not mastered. and who's
habits they have not learneG. They pa
ticularly avoid introducing shop, lest the
be misunderstood. If a writer mention
contributing to their periodical, and the
do not tell him fatty that they want nothin
from him, OF anybody else, he 3 very hkel
to imagine that he has been asked, eve
urged to contribute, Eand is very angr.
having sent in an article, if it is not a
copied. professional write is prone
believe that every magazine is anxious
secure hint is one of his perennial sci
delusions-and he esteems it a delibera
afRront not to be invited to illuminate
paSes, and the result of malignant and j