The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-08-18
EYER HOPEFUL dUTHORs.
The Flood of Prose and Verse Sent to the
MAGAZINES

The Flood of Prose and Verse Sent TO the
Magazines
Notwithstanding the fact that has been
| repeatedly announced that the literary
magazines receive perhaps htty arl.Slgs
| for every one pubhshed, inallus0 ~, -
from all over the country and from iheil.
| women, nd even children In all Waihs OF
| life continue 70 pour into the maSdAinc
offices. Fiction sun has the lead IN Wy
| offerings. though there IL vast utai VI
verse sent IN. Every lover or poetry
must have noted the dcarth ~ good verse
| IN the magazines, yet the verge that -
| published IS vastly better than the mass
| that is not Most Of IT IS totally deEoid
Of poetic worth. some OF II ~ dclip'Iatt-
~ copied from poets Of more or iess r.
| pute. A piece OF stolen verse was oneIeu
| very recently 20 one OF tho best-knoWh
New York magazines with ine ahsui an ~.
| frm the professed author that she was
| a Girl OF seventeen IN need OF money.
| The verge was ruin down by one 81 ue
! editors in a book Of quotations. NeaHy
good verse IL fairly vel PAID ior by tns
| magazines. though here, perhaps even
| more than In prose, the fame or me au-
thor determines the price. a few men re-
ceive as much rs 500 per magazine page
OF verse, but So pen page is REGARDED "a. as
very good pay. The magazine that SHOULD
discover and brrl 10 public notice gen
uine now poet Would take great PRIDE IN
the performance, though the earlier con-
tributions Of such poet however ek-
ceient, would not be paid for al the hlsn-
| est rate. There is still a disposition 70
regard verse as q thing 20 tan out WIN.
! The verse offered Is Of all degrees OF
| badness. Much Of T. Is ridiculously oelec-
tive I'm metre. GONE Is 81 spelled, ana
| nearly all s. I'm Imitation OF some lecoh-
| niZed master
The fiction offered 70 the magazines Is
/ also IN most cases plainly written unlcr
the influence Of some famous novelist
lffl
get into the magazines, SO unacquainiei
| are most Would-bc contributors win the
| literary movement Of the time. lfalect
stories are offered IN great quanuItr'
hut much OF the dialect as manifestly
taken not from nature, but from lhe
works OF the succcssful writer's OF nlai-
fiction This IS especially true or negro
dialect. Every succcssful writer mas a
host Of imltators Indeed, almost every
eriirle published brings offers u DINERS
on the same subject, the very ihinR mat
| the editor wishes 70 avoid. II there ne
an article on tin mining FOR eNanplt,
scme one az once offers another on some
neglected feature OF the subject. TIE
tendency Of writers upon the arts g 20 be
too technical and minute, so lhat Hlost
o. such articles are rejected. Nearly all
! such contributors seem 10 misconcelFe
| the scope Of popular maya he.
Tho success OF Capt King has provok-
| 81 other army officers 20 write 81 mlut1ry
| he and naval officers 10 write romances
Of the sea. Or. Weir Mitchell reputation
fn literature has set the doctors 10 wiz
| ing stories and verses. The SUCCESS or
few women IN literature has Drought
out host Of WOuld-De contributor
among women, ola ana youns so tnS.
more women than men are oiferlnB oiu-
| cles 20 tho magazines. Behi1d tho cttort,
IN most cases, perhaps, lies the ioNelly
| Of a helpless woman, living IN q narrow
home and eager 10 add something 70 an
income far too small for luXuries. The
i 81 laf l-
bringing fiction. sketches OF traNel, anu
verse from women OF society. Ire Jet
tcrs and memoirs OF famous men pupusu-
ga IN the magazines have stimulated per-
sons I'm various parts OF the country 70
offer Old family letters Tor pupllcauvH,
| Such offers come frequently IRON on
| Southern homes. There IS an uhpuDnaA-
cd batch Of Thackerays letters IN Los
ton that win probably never be ontItt
| 10 the magazines. although persons that
| have seen them think them quite equal
| 10 the Thackcray letters luhlEnfa W."
such success a few years ago. x u uilA-
cult for volunteer contributors 10 un-
dcrstand how nearly the MAGAZINES APP
proach monthly newspapers ana now I'M
| poitant ia the element OF timelness III an
article.
New York from every part % the country
and from Europe. This city Itself Is n0t
only the centre Of the publishing ilade
Oh this side OF the Atlantic. but also the
ctNsful Southern writer's indeed ne re
come 20 New York % live, so that the
South. since these men and women nave
acquired residence here seems 10 re uo-
ing. perhaps. less than its snare on sue
cessfM literary work. AS matter or
fact there ia vast deal Of matter Of
ferel from the South, more perhaps
than from the middle West which seems
10 be producing less iirsi-rate matter
than other parts of the country. Much
matter is offered from the Pacific coast
New England and the region round a'oul
fhis city produce more succtsslul literary
matter than all the rest Of the country.
Volunteer contributors seem greatly 10
far negligent examination Of their man
uscripts and often enclose note warm
ing the reader 90 80 clear through utitic
passing Judgment or course, IN inc
great ajority OF cases this request is
You might as well" said magazine
editor. ask q tea faster 20 eat pound
OF ech fort OF tea Dee tastes
Many contributors write 10 h0.W
whether their matter viii bee disreeatd'd
II IL is not type-wrltten cddly enough
British contributors sometimes write 10
ask whether typcwutien copy VIII
serve. or viii the editor demand me ofts-
inal manUscript. As a matter OF Iacl'
m0J contributions that are accepted
come IN typewriter. Indeed. large pro-
portion OF all articles are now iypeNIlt-
Ten, though there are SIN plenty ot very
TIE fact that contributor comes per-
sonally 20 present a manuscript is usu-
allv taken as evidence that the aFuclc
wifi not he acceptable, for II presupposes
an ignorance on the part Of the con-
tributor OF magazine methods the cdl-
tor has not time 20 talk with conirlnu-
tors ana those who know this trust thcif
manuscripts 90 the malls. There Is
strong disposition on the part OF the un-
known contributor 20 seek Introduction
10 tho editor at the hands or some one
on the inside Such introduction aFdlls
nothing. save perhaps 10 preJudlte the
editor against the contributor as a per-
son anxious 20 make interest hy personal
influence whore his manuscript Is not
Hkely 90 commend itself.
The editors OF the best magazines Watch
with interest the fate OF the articles hey
reject The worst Of them never see tho
Nght IN print. But there are many close
upon the Tine Of the acceptable that are
taken gladly hy magazines OF lower
grade. and other worse ones that go low
er still Y is by no means certain, now
eyer. that an article rejected by one ilrst-
rate magazine viii not DE accepted by
another Of the SANE grade, for EDITORS,
Ike other folk. differ In taste-New York
sun.
steam nne-fshing boats are rapidly In
cieaslng In M mber on The Scotch coast.
Very often they proceed over two hun-
drcd miles to sea in order 10 hsh over
fresh ground where largo catches are
frequently obtained.