The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-11-27
WOES oFrLITERARY AspIRANT.


~ IL Dimcult for Them to Raoo.-,
Their Shortcomings.
There is one very soothing ref,ect;.
for the average literary aspirant M W.
has failed to get beyond the first rornS
or SO Of the ladder leading to ians
namely, that he is one of whole ar,o,,
OF persons who, with the same MINI;
ton, never succeed in CLIMBING All,
higher. 1t is quite certain that n III.
respect one-half the world has no ass
how the other half lives, and that 4 con
siderable percentage in every hunlred
persons not only cherish literary croy-
ings at sonfe period or other Of ,.y;,,
ence, but make more or less strenaors
efforts to SATISFY the same. Probate
indeed. any prominent publisher womb
be inclined to the opinion that all IL
world tries its hand at writing A
any rate, it is remarkable how m,rv
people of trained intelligence do. i
some time or other, fancy themselves
to be the poets, playwrights or novel.
lists OF the near future, and their strrp-
giles to reach the coveted height are
often as interesting as desperate.
Literary failures" keep much in the
same groove; their experience do not
vary greatly. The average aspirant
usually has an early tendency for reel
ing off lurid 'plots'' and morbid
POEMS" each of which his friends re-
gard as the outcome of sheer inspira-
ton. Soon these friends begin to tel
him that he is neglecting his genius.
and, thus encouraged, he glances crit
ically over the field of literature and de- |
cides to commence with three-volame
novel which shall thrill the reading
world.
Alas! for our dreams literary ones
in particular. It is fairly easy to reel
off the novel, but another thing alto.
gether to establish name on the
strength Of it. The aspirant regards il
naturally as masterpiece, and is CON
founded when, after he has been wait
ing for the publishers congratulations,
his manuscript is returned with the
cold formula: 1--WE regret we are una
BILE TO undertake its publication" He
thinks there is some huge mistake, and
sends it forth afresh, accompanied BY
the same letter of glowing description.
Not, until, indeed, he has spent an
alarming amount in postage fees. and
the masterpiece of SO many rebuifs at
the hands Of publishers readers does
he begin to realize that one of the hard
est things in the world is to convince
publisher that the public is waiting
eagerly to peruse the talented work.
Truly, if suspense and disappoint-
ment tend to shorten life, the average
aspirant suffers considerable through
that first bitter period of disillusion.
Then he begins to reflect that all
authors have experienced such reverses
at first. He lays the book aside, writes
another of totally different charac-
ter, and sends it forth with renewed
hope. After it has been declined with
prompt regularity until he has ex-
hausted his list of publishers his
friends begin to assure him that he IS
evidently one of the geniuses who are
never recognized till after he is dead,
and he begins to believe them.
Possibly, too, by this time he has
gained his almost inevitable experience
as to the pitfalls digged for unwary
authors by the gentry who make
living by either inducing such asplran's
to part with sums of money as guaran-
tee in system of publication from
which there is seldom or never any
monetary return, or by offering III
a consideration, facilities toward pro
duction which they do not possess. Ing
aspirant may be tempted to risk ine
required amount rather than to torego
the coveted opening in public notice
In that case he has not paid for MS eA'
perience in the way that many e.
pirants before him have done. nl'
book may be printed, but never ~
into the market. His e1OO are gons.
Or. perhaps, as in the writer's ca'e'
his hopes. are falsely aroused IN ~
other way. He tries an obscure ~
Usher. and the latter thinks wen -
the book, and hopes to come to terns. .
This means that he will pay ludiefoo'
" small sum down for the copyrigh. i,
saw EGO. Twenty pounds!-a,ia,s' .rd
the aspirant's dreams of wealth -
greatness. a.. would
thoroughly sick at heart the wus"
be author carries away his manuss ,.y,r
His main grievance is that ne can =, NJ
learn anything as to the delec's .,;r;nr
work, publishers invariably os ascspls
to enter into details. Either nc 'I ,,tsrs.
their ultimatum and abanoons = a
ture as nonpaying professlon ,sh i Nd
is wise enough to commence a .;,t;s thst|
try to combine with the ai : ,;ssly ID
attractive quality" which = !. NV, vale
fascinate a publishers eye. A vs.. ,ud
x--sl. la0ulv one ucAs