The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1885-12-10
VOLUME 3.
THE BUSINESS OF eookMAKINe.
Views of Veteran Publisher-suggestions
For Aspiring Authors.


In the course of a conversation with
veteran publisher. a request was made for
detailed explanation of the modus OF
making a book from the time the manu-
script leaves the hands OF the original
writer until the completed work is placed
on the top shelves as merchantable
ware.
. aThere is no real secrecy about any
part of the business" said the gentle
man, "and the steps are perfectly simple.
Some one has manuscript which he, of
course, thinks worthy Of publication, and
q few kind friends encourage him in that
belief. His first step, after reaching
such q conclusion, should be to write to a
publishing house, explaining the nature
of the manuscript-whether a novel, ed
ucational work, or what not-and ask
il the house will receive the manuscript
for examination. To this letter he will,
if the house is reputable one, always
receive an answer, either politely refuS-
ing to accept the me nuscript or stating
that it will be taken for examination, to
be returned if not. lifted to the purposes
of the publishers. ..
"In most cases, especially where the
writer is unknown, the acceptance of the
manuscript depends altogether on the
style of the letter OF inquiry. Ii that
letter gives favorable impression the
manuscript is most likely to be taken
otherwise rejected. In many cases we
are convinced at a glance that the
writer would only waste time by sending
his production. and are obliged to cour-
teously but firmly refuse to receive it at
all. For you must know that the re-
sponsibility of havinga large number OF
manuscripts in our possession which VIC
can not use is very great. -
an nine cases out of ten the writer OF
a rejected manuscript does not care
enough for it to pay the small expense
of its return to him, and never sends for
it. We can not destroy the manuscript
in that case, for fear some time legal
question should arise and the written
sheets turn out to be worth thousands of
dollars, for which we would be liable;
and we are in an equally unpleasant
predicament about sending the matter
back to the writer without his order, for
if it should be lost or destroyed on the
way we might again be liable. / have
In my Office a large number of such
manuscripts, many of which have been
there for years. We have notified the
writer's time and again to call for their
effects, but without success.
Permit me to ask what is first done
with manuscript after its receipt"
at is at once turned over to a
reader who takes it with him, and,
after examining it carefully, returns it
to us with his opinion of its merit or
lack of merit. We have eight readers
regularly engaged for this purpose. II
reader returns manuscript
with strong Endorsement, we
then consider the merits of the work
from commercial standpoint, whether
it is likely to sell, how much it will cost
for production, etc, etc. Frequently we
turn the manuscript over to second
reader, and sometimes TO third. II
all say, This is a strong work; think il
will pay you to publish it, or words tc
that effect, of course their recommends
tions go a long way in the question Of
publication.
what kind of persons do you gener
ally employ as readersa"
an many cases men or women o.
culture, who themselves have done
literary work; sometimes lawyer who
| finds time from his professional duties
| to give attention to literary pursuits, Of
a doctor similarly situated, and some
times a woman of refined education
qualified to do the work. When we have
any manuscript on specially, as scien
tific, medical, or other subjects OF the
kind, we engage some recognized pro
fessional man in that particular. Al
our readers are trustworthy, and som,
have been regularly engaged by us fol
years. One woman has been reading fol
us over eight years. ~
@Do you publish the works at your OWL
risk, or do the writer's assume part o.
the expense"
Nearly always the writers are re
quired to bear part of the expense oi
the first edition; always when they are
new writer's. Sometimes they can not
get into print without bearing the entire
| expense. 1t is a fact not generalt,
known that Longfellow paid within 8
small amount of the total cost of pro-
duction of his first volume. of poems,
and James Russell Lowell paid all the
expense of his first work.
1What is an ordinary edition, and its
costa"
"a book of 400 pages is considered an
edition at 900, and the total cost, in
cluding advertising, copyright, books tc
the press for reviews and all incidentals,
is about 81, $50. The first edition, If al
sold, will bring net return of only
1915, leaving $3.50 unaccounted for. A
second edition will cost only $3.50, as the
plates are on hand, and there is no ex
| pens6 on that score, and on this edition
the net return will again be 1915, leaving
still $2e5 of the original expenditure t
be gotteri out Of the work On the mex
edition, if one can be disposed of, this
shortage is cleared up and very small
profit remains. 50 ~ can be seen thai
to be a slightly profitable investment
there must be at least three editions ol
1000 copies of every book published
| How can publishers be blamed for theil
| extreme cautionT
@What class of manuscript do YOU
most commonly receive for examination
novels, essays, or"
Novels, by large majority. / sup
pose we receive manuscripts or applica
fions to read manuscript for one novel a
least every day in the year. The west i
especially subject to the novel mani;
just now, and almost daily we hear from
persons with novels to print as far ont a
| Dakota"
And poemsi"
Floods of them But poems are tn
very most unmarketable product in tn
literary line. It is a standing maxim
|. among the fraternity that poet mus