St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-17
CURIOUS LITERARY SHOP.

Where Unknown authors Turn
Out Cheap stories Wholesale.
New York sun.
The origin of the very cheap and
doubtful stories called dime novels
and of the matter in the very cheap
family papers is more or less of a
mystery 10 most people. The Dead
wood Dick" "eries and books OF that
character are usually without the names
of publishing houses, or bear the names
OF publishing houses not in existence.
The authors of these stories are UNI
known TO the world, and this kind OF
literature is printed with as much con-
cealment as il il were New York green
goods.
Down in an East side street, near one
of the large and well-knoWn cheap pub
fishing houses, is the birthplace of much
of this kind of literature. Upstairs in
all old-fashioned. red brick building are
the offices and machinery for creating
and publishing yellow back, and
stereotyping the matter that goes into
many of the story papers that find their
way into every rural and hamlet post
Office in the country. Not only are the
stories printed here and made INTO pot
metal for the cheap papers elsewhere,
but the building contains offices for the
author OF the new story and the "boilerS
down" or rehashers of the old story.
In two or three small rooms are
dozen or so of men seated at desks.
maintaining the semblance of authors
and thinkers. Some of them wear
glasses and hold the blue pencil behind
their ears and labor with long manu-
scripts, while others are running
81. Ill 81 al
hunting for the base OF new plot.
Many of these stories are condensed or
rehashed from others that have already
had q large circulation.
The most of the stories, however. are
bought by this concern from the large
publishing house near by and other
cheap story publishing houses. Tons
of cheap and tritilng fiction annually
accumulate at these large publishing
houses, and much of it is of no use to
them.
This shop or mill has been created to
utilize it by putting it upon the market,
and that accounts in a large measure
why there is so much of this kind OF lit
erature. The demand has been largely
created by the facilities for making the
cheap and very doubtful story. A pub
Usher, in speaking of this place said:
NUJ Onc III IWcHtJ WIN hlIbC
stories for publication by the
cheaper houses ever sees himself in
print, and not one in fifty who aims
higher. 1t seems to me at times that
almost the whole population of the
country is trying to write stories. Nine
tenthS of these stories are blood curd-
ling or are total nonsense, and this
house gets the choice of the rubbish
that no reputable house could afford to
put its name to. ,+
This shop is perhaps the only pub
fishing house in the city absolutely in
dependent of the author and writer. 1t
is in literature the rag-plcker and the
ash-barrel sitter. Some of the stereo-
types or family story papers are credit
able. however, as those publications go.
This shop is for obvious reasons I'M
known to the public. Being independ-
ent of the story writer the concern de-
sires to avoid his presence and persist
ence. The story writer who has failed
everywhere else would come here
rather than have his tale never SEQ the
light. know that some story writer's
in New York who have failed to do
even creditable work have drlttedl into
writing cheap rot for living. Then,
too, this sort of literature is never adver-
tised in places of intelligence. lntelli
gent prejudice is against it, even if its
circulation does not violate the law"