The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-10-11
SUBSCRIPTIONS SOCKS.
e ~ - 81
4 Publisher Tells How They Arc Jntrs
ducpd Tn the pr hlio - ~

Publisher Tells How They Are Intro
duced to the Public. rae
"What class OF books do you find
soils the best?" - zua1S 7R2s
"Well, it has been the result of our
exp rience that the American people
ere at heart religious. If they're not
religious they're religious1y inclined
And no book we handle. be it our own
publication or the publication of some
one else which we sell on commission.
sells like the book that has a religious
coloring.' This seems rather strange
when we hear so much about Ameri-
can irreverence, but it's a fact. Then.
again, we're a patriotic people, and
books about popular military leaders
or Presidents or Presidents wives are
acceptable and find ready .sale.r I
Isn't there immense profit in sub
scription books?'a 3 .Ysas ..ele
mot so much as you would imagine
from the price of the books Sub
scription books are high-priced and
many OF them are not so we'll gotten
up as the books in. the trade. But.
you see we send the books out over
the highways and byways to,the peo-
pie. And the agents, whose work
isn't the most enviable in the world.
have to be paid enormously. AS a
matter of fact, the publisher Of many
g subscription book doesn't realize as
much per copy as do the publishers
who simply put their goods on the
trade But what we lose one way we
make up another. For instance, our
sales of a book are much greater than
though we simply put it on the market
and trusted to the merit of the book to
sell it. Merit cuts little figure in a
subscription book; it's the push OF
agents. Besides, the lapse of time
makes little differences. thesubseription
book, as rule, is rarely seen ont of
private house, is rarely discussed in
newspapers, and is just as good for
selling ten years from the date of the
first issue as at first. Besides it is
possible to run a Very profitable sub
scriptiOn-book business on COMPARE
lively small capital that is, " hen you
have but one or two books. In the
trade it is different There a man
wants quite a large catalogue. and it
all means money. Il don't think am
far from the truth when / say that
Harper Brothers have $4,000, 900 or
100000 900 bound up In stereotype
plates alone, to say nothing about
copyrights, royalties. dead stock and
the like"
Your prices, suppose. are purely
arbitrary matter?" s. $50.
mot so much with us as with the
publishers for the trade At the book
stores the prices-$1, $1s25, 81. SO or
t2-are almost wholly conventional
prices. irrespective of what. the book
actually costs to manufacture. We
reckon about four times the actual
cost OF the book to be about the sell
ing price. Our prices. Of course. are
more or less manipulated by agents.
A subscription book which in the
neighborhood of Chicag0-we never
expect city patronage-seiis for So is
sold on the Pacific coast at IS and in
Australia at 81 or IS. But that extra
money the agents pocket. oh, my!
yes. lots of our subscription books GO
to Australia. 1t will be many long
year before the West is as bookish as
the East. and till it is, though book
agents may be regarded as q nuisance,
the subscription book trade will
thrive. y Chicago Neays.