Morris tribune., 1886-12-08
A PUBLISHER TALKS
OF HIS EXPERIENCE WITH AUTHORS
WHO HAVE WRITTEN A COOK.

Manuscript Worth Having Is Like O
Grain of Wheat In n BuShcl of ChafT.
Rocks Issued at the Authors Risk.-Ths |
Criticism of Experts.
elbow do we determine whether Il |
is likely to suit our pur- |
noses Well" continued the publisher,
tthat is pretty broad question. There
are SO many things to be considered and
snch q diversity of conditions that per-
hams no two cases are handled in precisely
the same way. Now, suppose you were
mn author with manuscript Unless you
had some previous experience, the chances
sre that when walking into my office and
taking n seat by Ily desk you would feel
rather shaky in the neighbOrhOOd of your
knees Your throat would also need con-
siderable clearing, and / would have to
he quite affable and polite before you
would begin to feel at all easy in mind or
body, After smoothing down the thOrny
nath to the extent of at least cndcavOring
to make You feel at home, | would under
take to find out whether you were the
kind of man who would be likely to write
n hook of the kind you are offering me.
I would also undertake to discover
whether YOU wrote he manuscript be-
cause Won had something to say, or simply
for the purpose of making book that
might possibly sell and thus add to your
income and reputation.
A GRAIN OF WHEAT.
"You see, there is so much pcrfnctory
book making i'll these days that Il manu-
script worth having is very much like
grain of wheat in bushel of chair.
| Some publishers order new book from
| n hack writer pretty much as they would
| 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 house
| to correspond exactly with the size of
your bank account, but when publisher
| says to some penny -a-liner, here, | want
| 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
| q man comes to me whose ideas have evil
| IDENTIFY overtlOwed into a manuscript / 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 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, can determine upon q reader who
| is likely to do it 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 out 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
| incd by half a dozen experts, and then
| after comparing their opinions, have a
| very fair and comprehensive idea of the
! merits and dement's of the book. Here
| is a case in point, being q manuscript all
| the way from Vermont. 1t was read by
| five or six experts, and, on comparing
their opinions, l 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 it..
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 it is fact, that great many
books carrying the imprint of well
known publishers are not issued at their
risk. Books that promise ready sale for
any reason are issued usually at the ex-
penSe of the publisher, who pays q royalty
to the author. If there is any reason to
doubt the complete success of the venture
the author is required to contribute to
the expense of printing, and in some cases
he is obliged to pay the entire cost. l
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 I
doubted whether he would sell fifty cop
les on any such basis. He was at first
inclined to be offended at such an out
spoken opinion, but cooled off, and hav-
ing such confidence in the potency of his
name in the town where he lived he as
6umed the entire risk of publishing the
book, Now, how many do You suppose
he sold i'll the territory where he expected
to sell five hundred? Of course you can't
guess, but as matter of actual fact he
sold just twenty-five copies. The publ
cation of book is purely a business mat
ter. If the book is wanted people will
buy it; if they do not want it very few
will buy it simply because they know the
author. / have sold over eighty thou
sand copies of a book by man whose
name had never been heard of beyond o
small circle, but, you see, the book had
something in it. "-Chicago Herald