Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-07
4 PUBLISHER TALKS
or HIS EXPERIENCE WITH AUTHORS
WHO HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK.

n menuscrlpt Wortn h8vxn8 AAhe -
Grain of Wheat In . Bushel Of Chsa.
Books Issued ut the Authors Risk..Ths
Criticism Of Experts.
SHOW do we determine whether q
manuscript is likely to suit our pur-
poses, Well" continued the publisher,
''that is a pretty broad question. There
are so many things to be considered and
such a diversity Of conditions that per
haps no two cases are handled in precisely
the same way. Now, suppose you were
an author with a manuscript. Unless you
had some previous experience, the chances
are that when walking into my Office and
taking a seat by ny desk you would feel
rather shaky in the neighborhood Of your
knees. Your throat would also need o
siderable clearing, and l would have to
be quite affable and polite before you
would begin to feel at all easy in mind or
body. After smoothing down the thorny
path to the extent OF at least e~ndeavoring
10 make you feel at home, / would under
take 10 find put whether you were the
kind of man who would be likely to write
a book of the kind you are Offering me.
l would also undertake to discover
whether you wrote he manuscript be-
cause you had something to say, or simply
for the purpose of making a book that
might possibly sell and thus add to your
income and reputation.
A GRAIN OF WHEAT.
"You see, there is so much perfunctory
book making In these days that a manu-
script worth having is very much like q
grain Of wheat in a bushel Of chaff.
Some publishers order q new book from
a hack writer pretty much as they would
order a pair of trousers, but my own %
ton is that unless a man is so full Of
his subject that he can't help writing his
book won't amount to very much when
it is written. A manufacturer can weave
any given number of yards OF cloth to
order, and an architect can build q house
to correspond exactly with the size Of
your bank account, but when q publisher
says to some penny-a-liner, here, l want
a book of 500 pages on The Rise and Fall
of Republican Principles in Europe or
some other abstract question Of that sort,
you can he very sure that when written
the book will not be really worth reading
much less printing and publishing. When
a man comes to me whose ideas have evi.
IDENTIFY overlooked into a manuscript l feel
that there is some promise in his work
and ask him TO leave the manuscript.
The clerk at the next desk enters the
name Of the work and other necessary
facts in Il register and then the package
goes into the vault, where it remains I'M
til | can find time to read enough of the
work to fully appreciate its drift. This
done, l can determine upon Il reader who
is likely to do 1t justice, and the writing
goes into his hands for careful and
thoughtful reading and examination. On
the completion Of his work he returns
the manuscript, together with his criti'
cism written ont in full. The same pro.
cess is gone through with in important
cases several times.
A CASE IN POINT.
"Some manuscripts l have had exam.
ined by half a dozen experts, and then
after comparing their opinions, | have q
very fair and comprehensive idea OF the
merits and dement's Of the book. Here
is q case in point, being a manuscript all
the way from Vermont. II vas read by
five or six experts, and, on comparing
their opinions, / found that they had all
picked upon the same weak spots, and at
the same time each had discovered just
about the same amount Of merit in IL.
The manuscript was returned to the au
thor, together with these criticisms, and
he was told that after the changes were
duly made his work would be duly pub.
lished.
"Perhaps you were not aware Of the
fact, but il is q fact, hat u great many
books carrying the imprint OF well
known publishers are not issued at their
risk. Books that promise a ready sale fol
any reason are issued usually at the ex.
pense of the publisher, who pays q royalty
TO the author. II there is any reason to
doubt the complete success Of the venture
the author is required to contribute ia
the expense Of printing, and in some cases
he is obliged to pay the entire cost. !
sometimes have men come to me with
manuscripts who claim that they can sell
500 copies to their own friends. In one
such case / told the gentleman that
doubted whether he would sell fifty cop.
les on any such basis. He was at first
inclined to be offended Mt such n n out.
spoken opinion, but cooled Off, and hav.
ing such confidence in the potency Of his
name in the town where he lived he rs.
sumed the entire risk Of publishing the
book. Now, how many do you suppose
he sold in the territory where he expected
to sell five hundredi OF course you can't
guess, but rs a matter Of actual fact he
sold just twenty-five copies. The publ
cation Of n book is purely q business mat
ter. II the book is wanted people will
huy II. IL They do not want IL very few
will buy it simply because they know the
author. ! have sold over eighty thou
sand copies Of n book by n man whose
name had never been heard Of beyond a
small circle, but, you see, the book had