The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-13
PUBLISHERS TROUBLES
EXPLANATION OF CAUSES OF HARP
Err AND APPLETON FAILURES.
Both Firms Failed to Recognize Mod
ern Necessity of Advertising
Their Goods-Too Conservative.

The failure of the Appletons, following
so closely on the heels of the Harper fall
IRE, came as a distinct shock TO all who
are interested in books and in the book
trade, because. as in the case of the Har-
per failure, to all except those best in
formed, 1t came as a surprise. About ten
weeks ago, shortly after the Harper fall
ure. some few disquieting rrmors were
circulated in publishing circles, but not
very much faith was put in them. Had 1t
not been that the Appletons had pub
Iished David Harum." one of the most
successful books of recent years, the sur
prise that attended the announcement o.
the appointment of receiver for that I'm
would not have been so great, but nearly
everybody thought that this book would
have gone far to restore to the firm any
former prosperity that 1t had lost. Pos
sibly it delayed the failure for several
months. but that was all.
Aside from the specific causes that
brought about the downfall of these two
honored publishing houses, when their fail
ure is viewed in the light of what may
be called the revolution that has taken
place in the publishing trade in the past
few years, there is really small ground for
establishment that they have not been able
to hold their own. To put the whole mat
ter in nutshell. they did not keep abreast
of the times, but chung to their old and
conservative methods, disdaining the
changes that were taking place in the con-
ditions which governed the book trade and
using the methods which, though success
full twenty or thirty years ago, had little
chance in the fierce competition of to-day.
They failed to take advantage of the OPP
portunities which came to them; they took
too small notice of the changes that have
been wrought in the public taste, and when
other and younger firms arose TO under
stand the market it exists to-day they
were pushed into the background.
Speaking specifically of the Appletons.
with the exception of David Harum,' it
is difficult TO call to mind any book they
have published in recent years that has
met with a large sale. This does not mean
necessarily that they have not published
any books that were not worthy of a large
sale or would not have been successful in
the popular sense If they had been properly
handled, but the results so far as money
returns are concerned are the same in any
case. They seem to have failed to realize
the necessity of the publisher forcing his
goods on the market as much as dry
goods merchant does, and many book
which If properly placed would have met
with great sale has hardly been heard of.
A specific instance of this was mentioned
to-day by a man who is closely in touch
with the trade. About every two or three
months novels appear in England which
get good reviews, reviews that appear SIM
ultaneouSly in the London dailieS, and
which later are treated at length in the
weeklies. This fact in itself warrants the
belief that they contain something worth
while and will find a ready sale, If only on
account of the advertising they have re-
ceived. These books are naturally snatched
up by American publishers, who, as a rule
do their best to force them. on the Amer
lean market. Within the last two or three
weeks two such novels have appeared one
Folly Corner" by Mrs. Dudeny, and the
Miss Norma Lorimer. Both of these books
received reviews in the British dailies on
the same day, and very fiattering ones at
that, and in the weeklies in that week they
engrossed the major part of attention and
space.
DIFFERENT METHODS.
The notice they had attracted in England
was sufficient to warrant the belief on the
part of the American publishers that they
would sell well over here IL properly put
on the market. The Appletons secured
"Mirry-Ann," and another publishing firm
secured Folly Corner" The Appletons
published their book in their 50-cent Town
and Country Library" which one of the
members of the firm has been known to call
their trash basket. The other firm took
Folly Corner" put 1t on the market with
a fresh and attractive binding and made
feature of 1T. The result of this will be that
the latter book will probably have a good
sale, aside from whatever merits it may
contain. while the Appleton book, buried in
q paper cover. and shunted off to railway
news-stands will probably be forgotten be-
fore II is known, TO use an Irishism.
Another specific instance made much of
shortly after the Harper failure, which will
come in now very apropos was the way
that firm advertised, or rather did not adj
vertise the chief feature of their maya
novel by Mrs. Humphrey Ward, for which
they doubtless paid a large sum. More
than that they engaged the services of
one of the best-known of our illustrators
and sent him to Italy in order that he
might illustrate the book under the most
favorable conditions. And then instead of
featuring the novel in their advertise
ments they seemed to take its publication
as a matter of course thinking that the
public would hear of 1T in some way or
other. Here was new novel by one of the
most popular of present-day writer's, whose
previous books had sold by the thousand.
and the publishers had not enough enter
prise to make a hue and cry about it. 1t
will be noticed, however, that in this city
at least, as soon as the new management
of the Harpers got fairly at its work large
all the street cars and elevated trains, and
that prominent advertisements of 1t APP
peared in the leading papers OF the country.
These two examples will illustrate better
than columns of generalization what per-
haps Is the chief cause of the downfall of
these two highly respected publishing
houses. Many good people who are inter-
ested In publishing from a purely literary
and artistic view point and have no money
at stake in such enterprises may object to
the methods that are now necessary to
success in publishing as being undignified
and of the same order as yellow journal
ism. Perhaps in certain sense they are.
No tricks in any trade are dignified, and
the publishing trade has as many any
other. 1t must CRATE on delicate sensibli-
ties to be confronted at every turn with
the carefully fostered admiration and
alteration of an authors personality, with
detailed accounts of what, where and when
he eats. drinks and sleeps; whether he
uses q quill toothpck or wooden one
from the State of Maine. II is distasteful
to the purely artistic nature to have litera-
ture or what stands for such. hawked
about in the papers with glaring notices
that would do credit to a patent medicine
firm. But IL is such things as these that
force the authors and their books upon
the market and make the sales. and the
publishers know It, else they would not do
them. To call to mind the carefully nour-
ished excitement about Kipling only
year ago when he lay sick in this city.
when his publisher acted as a kind Of
major domo. AS one now looks back at IL
IL was a most beautiful farce. notwith-
standing the fact that the distinguished
author was really a very sick man, but
profits that resulted from it were
counted up.
NEED NOT BE YELLOW"
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