The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-05-27
BOOK SALES
AFFECTED
Big Falling orr in Trade
Since War Began.
MAP PUBLISHERS HAPPY.
The Demand For Their Productions
Amounts TO a Boom.
MAP PUBLISHERS HAPPY.
UNCERTAINTY OF SITUATION.

with Spain has affected the general book
business very unfavorably," said well
known publisher today. SIN some in
stances it has done worse than cut sales
In two know of one general agent for
subscription books who was selling from
900 to 81, 200 worth a week just before
the opening OF hostilities who is now down
to a $500 or Si00 limit, and one day recent
ly his entire sales were only S12.
"Some lucky publishers, however, are
making money Hand over fist. They are
the chaps who, either through good judg-
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 800, 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 u large and expen-
sive set Of Klondike maps for which large
sale was anticipated when the trouble be-
gan. Undoubtedly these maps would have
gone off excellently had peace been main
tained, but war stopped the sale almost
completely and the edition has now been
packed away-perhaps for few months
and perhaps forever.
Like q Wet Blanket.
"What bade fair to be unprecedented
sales of certain works Of fiction were
smothered by the outbreak of war as a
growing flame is sometimes extinguishcd
by wet blanket. A certain book on the
Greco-Turkish war had begun to go off
like hot cakes, but within a week after
Simpsons feet began to patrol the coast
of Cuba it was evident that the book was
destined to fall fat, 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-
tion 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-
xling is the entire uncertainty of things.
II knew the war would last year, /
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 In that case fear there would
be little or no sale for tho books / have in
mind. made some Investigations of the
trade through great distributing agency
yesterday, my notion being that II there
seemed a certain sale for IL Iwould have q
new edition Of work on Cuba, descriptive
and historical, which i put out two or
three years ago, prepared, but was ad-
vised not to do SO.
We have tons and tons of Cuban lit
erature in hand, said tho manager, and,
while the demand in sight will probably
at sorb 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 q 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 OF
my business at all this summer, but you
may be very sure shall keep weather
eye out for good things In that line by and
by. There will of course be genuine
boom In war literature after the last gun
has been fired, and the correspondents who
are now kicking and complaining at
Tampa and Key West because little Is
happening and they are forbidden to send
news of that little will then be In clover
that is, II the war lasts any time. 1 sup
pose that speedy conclusion of hostilities
would cut the coming boom down proper
tionatcly, and, on the whole, that would
bo good thing for the general book trade
as well as for most business for il would
insure n return to normal conditions Just
so much the sooner.
"a big boom in war books would have
one effect on the literature OF the country
that not many have thought of probably.
1t would tend to lower tho style of the
writer's, since each would try his best to
get out his book first I'm order to catch the
demand, and the resulting haste would
surely make for slipshod work. Whether
there will be any such big sales of books
about this war as there was OF books about
the civil war is not easily predicted.
"The returns from some of these books
were very large indeed. Albert ID. Rich
ardsons The Field, the Dungeon and the
Escape was sold by the hundred thousand,
and Junius Henri Brownies Three Years
In Seccssia,' though selling less perhaps,
mainly because II came out little later,
earned its author q comfortable fortune.
Tho Subscription Book Business.
at will be rcmem bcred that the big do
mand for volumes on the civil war had n
good deal To do with tho rapid growth of
tho subscription publishing business thirty
odd years ago. There arc some in tho
trade who predict that n similar boom In
that branch of tho business may come
ngain after peace Is declared, but l am
hardly prepared to say agree with them.
The great majority of the chcaply got up,
high priced subscription books Of the sixties
and seventies were found among the un-
scholarly who had few books and Of course
had never heard OF buying books Of any
hort ms chcaply as they can be bought now.
Agents got from 40 10 90 per cent, and
with tho books selling ut from ~ to 80 n
volume IL was n poor canvasser who could
not earn from o. TO s. day.
Now, however, tho old prices could
hardly be realized, and with percentages
the same ne they were then agents earn
ings would he away below the old figures
even II sales ~ great as those 81 other days