The copper country evening news., 1898-05-31
OUR new YORK LETTER
WAR WITH SPAIN HAS HAD A BAD EE.
Feet ON THE SALE OF BOOKS.
Some Publishers, Especially Those Issuing
Maps, However, Have Actually Struck n
Boom--Uncertainty of the Current situ.
ation-The Subscription Book Business.

ation-The Subscription Book Business.
NEW YORK, May es.-[Special. l-"War
with Spain has affected the general book
business very unfavorably," said well
known publisher today. "In some in
stances it has done worse than cut sales
in two. know of one general agent for
subscription books who was selling from
81 900 to 81, 200 worth week Just before
the opening of hostilitios who is now down
20 a $500 or $l00 limit, and one day recent.
ly his entire sales were only Sl2
'Some lucky publishers, however, are
making money hand over fist They are
the chaps who, either through good iudg-
ment or good luck, principally the latter, /
guess, were all ready to put books on naval
topics or Cuba or Spain on the market
soon after the beginning of the blockade.
Luckier than these men have been the war
map publishers Their sales have been
simply enormous know of one single
order for 500, 900 copies of certain cheap
war atlas, and the presses of its publishers
are working nights, days and Sundays
But their war luck has not all been good
They had just got ready large and expen-
sive set OF Klondike maps for which a large
sale was anticipated when the trouble be-
gan. Undoubtedly these maps would have
gone off excellently had peace been main
tanned, but war stopped the sale almost
completely and the edition has now been
packed away-perhaps for few months
and perhaps forever.
Like a Wet Blanket.
"What hade fair TO be unprecedented
sales of certain works of fiction were
tI.N
growing flame is sometimes extinguished
by wet blanket. A certain book on the
Grcco-Turkish war had begun to go off
like hot cakes, but within week after
Simpsons fleet began to patrol the coast
of Cuba it was evident that the book was
destined to fall fiat, and the publisher has
had to revise his entire seasons plan of
advertising. Interest in war news is so
intense that nobody has time or inclina-
ton to read much except the newspapers,
and those who read books at all turn their
attention almost exclusively to works bear
ing specifically upon the topic of para
mount interest.
"What makes the situation more puz-
Zling is the entire uncertainty of things
If l knew the war would last a year, l
should go to work and arrange for the
production of special line of works which
am morally certain would sell, but the
war may be over with in two or three
months, and i'm that case fear there would
be little or no sale for the books / have in
mind. / made some Investigations of the
trade through great distributing agency
yesterday, my notion being that If there
seemed certain sale for il Iworlld have
new edition of work on Cuba, descriptive
and historical, which l put out two or
three years ago, prepared, but | was adj
vised not TO DO So
We have tons and tons of Cuban lit
erature in hand, said the manager, and,
while the demand in sight will probably
absorb the whole of our present STOCK, the
future is too uncertain for me to advise
you TO make any outlay in that direction
OF course there will be demand for books
about the war after it is all over, but you
can't get out anything of that sort now.'
Too Late and Too Early.
$50 you see the present is not good
time to bring out new books on the war;
1t is both too late and too early. For this
reason shall not modify the nature or
my business at all this summer, but you
may be very sure shall keep weather
eye out for good things in that line by ana
by. There will of course be genuine
boom in war literature after the last gun
has been fired, and the correspondents VINO
are now kicking and complaining at
Tampa and Key West because little Is
happening and they are forbidden to senu
news of that little will then be in clover
that is, If the war lasts any time. L sup
pose that a speedy conclusion OF hostlli'ies
would cut the coming boom down proper
tionately, and on the whole, that woulu
be good thing for the general book traue
as well as for most business, for III Wouiu
insure q return to normal conditions just
SO much the sooner.
"a big boom in war books would nave
one effect on the literature OF the coun,r!
that not many have thought OF pPoDaply
1t would tend to lower the style OF inc
writers. since each would try his best 10
get out his book first in order to eaten tle
demand. and the resulting haste woulu
surely make for slipshod work. Whether
there will be any such big sales OF DOCKS
about this war as there was of books aDouo
the civil war is not easily predicted.
"The returns from some of these DOCKS
were very large indeed. Albert H. hlch-
ardson's 'The Field, the Dungeon ana inc
Escape was sold by the hundred thousanu,
and Junius Henri Brownies 'Ihree iears
In Secessia, though selling less perhaps
mainly because it came out little iauer'
earned its author comfortable fortune
The Subscription Book Business
"It will be remem bered that the big de-
mand for volumes on the civil war nilu
good deal to do with the rapid growth OIL
the subscription publishing business thirsy is.
odd years ago. There are some III oso
trade who predict that similar boom IL
that branch of the business may colno
again after peace is declared, but al, am
hardly prepared to say agree with ,ileii
The great majority of the chcaply goo UP,
high priced subscription books OF the e.. slArio'
and seventies were found among the uh-
scholarly who had few books and OF courso
had never heard of buying books Oh any
sort as cheaply as they can be bought now;
Agents got from 40 to 90 per ceho' anu
with the books selling at from - 10 90
volume It was poor canvasser VINO cou'u
not earn from SO to So day. la
"Now, however, the old prices coula
hardly be realized, and with percenlose'
tho Same ne they were then agents earn