The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-04-17
PAY Q.F AUTHORS.



rewards. OF literature, for, though the
lady ref erred to is known to be s4popu-
lar, - Fer royalties have not been sufh-
Gent for her to disdain the emo1uments
Of tge comparatively humble office for
which she made personal application.
gTnere il q wide discrepancy between
the, facts and the general public belief
of the profits CT lack of them attending
Literary production Even the reports of
~ lies, of the number of books disposed
70 buyers over the counters of the shop
or book store, at the newsstand or from
the hands of the canvassing agent. are
made mass of Contradictions confus-
ing to the ideas of the ordinary reader.
Miss Frenzy rusIses into print either
through the medium of paid advertise
ment or the kindness of some editorial
friend with the statement that 80, 600
copies of her work, price 25 cents, have
already been sold Mr.. Solid calmly
calls attention to the item that Is, 900
copies of his novel, price 81, have been
taken from the publishers, yet the latter
has made the most money, for the prof
its ON Is, 600 81 books are the same or
dinarily as those on ~, 900 % cent paper
novels He has demonstrated also SUI
perior grade of literary workmanship.
for few people, no matter with what
Indifference they spend a quarter on
ssleisure reading, :" viii invest four times
that sum in a book, even if universal
opinion declares it to be good -
Royalties on books vary from to 1 5
per cent on the retail price to from 10 to
5 per cent ON the wholesale price, al
though the general figure is either 10
per cent on the wholesale or retail price.
Thus an author may receive from to
5 cents royalty on a 81 book. The lat
I~< 49, -.
few highly successful authors. Ten per
cent of the retail price of a book is a
very satisfactory arrangement to the
writer. The wholesale price is usually
from so to rs per cent of the retail price,
though some 25 cent books sell for from
10 to 1211 cents, especially when a large
edition is issued.
But the financial and literary stand
ing of the publishing house has much to
do with all this, and it is quite advisable
to accept per cent from one publisher
rather than 10, Is or any other fancy
figure from another, because the first
named will sell 5, 10 or 20 times as
many books as the last, owing to its su-
perior facilities for advertising and its
energetic methods. Its imprint alone is
conceded to be testimonial of the worth
of the book.
But there are exceptions to verything,
and it is possible that comparatively
unknown house on fremont or Wash
ington street of this city, Fourteenth or
Twenty-third street, New York, or
Wabash avenue, Chicago, may be able to
do better with book than Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. Dillingham; is selling
many thousands Of the books of a man
who writes under the pseudonym of
Albert Ross, but many first class pub
fishers would not succeed so well now if
they cared to handle his productions A
G. Gunter was forced by the rejection of
his first novel on the part of 10 Boston
and New York publishers to become his
own printer. A representative of one of
the largest publishing corporations in
America has said that, although his firm
has millions invested, it could not have
made the success of mfr. Barnes of New
York, - for the reason that the author
publisher gave his entire time and atten-
ton to that one book, utilizing every
known method and originating new
ideas to have the people of the United
States know of its existence. It is i'm
possible for publishing house, however
great, to make a speciality of any one
publication when issuing from two to
a dozen books weekly.
All publishers are constantly refusing
manuscripts of books that are ultimately
great successes and accepting others that
are dead failures. They abide by their
readers opinions. They cannot do other
wise Literature is trade, or profes-
sion, or a business, as You will There
are no more failures, no more successes
in this than in the jewelry trade or gro
ceries, for SO men out of 100 in business
fail but if the writer becomes a success
he not only realizes large sum of mon
ey in an inconsiderably short time, but
also achieves reputation and praise.
No writer in the United States is
more extensively advertised, is more
widely known than William Dean How
ellis, but there are dozens of bookmak-
ers who have realized ten times as much
money. J. w. Bue1 has had sold $780,
600 copies of a book that retails from
two to three times the price of any of
Howe1ls' works, and this volume is but
one of Buel's half dozen volumes.
The largest firms of Boston, New
York, Philadelphia and Chicago have a
s'ltst'' of booksellers who guarantee to
take from the publishers certain num-
ber-one, two or five copies each-of
every work they issue. This list extends
in number from l, 600 to 2, 500 copies,
and thus the publisher is protected from
loss as the number sold will cover the
actual expense of publication The book
sellers make the guarantee because the
books are sold to them at 'sspecial''
rates, and any live purveyor of books
can dispose of at least one volume
Literary conditions, however, have
changed, and we shall nevermore see
the success of such poets as Longfellow,
Whittier, Bryant and Holmes, though