The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-29

New York Evening Post.
Authors, young. ambitious, unknown,
would do we'll to remember that the apring
Is the tide IN their literary affairs, which
should be taken a. lts Hood. II may not, u
Ia true. lead on To- fortune before the next
ohh, hut publishers a%groeaand With great
unanimity-th Il h far preferable Co any
other tide. ana in their world there are only
two that can be- taken AT their lood-thoao
IN the spring and fan. In the frat place.
those men Hay, the efforts OF the young.
ambitious and unknown authors are less
liable Co u hazardous voyage when
launched IN the spring,
This may be a negative virtue. but II "
one not Co bo overlooked or aoornod, The
young writer's effort, while II may not be
successful, viii not, at any rate. ho the
cause of HIS undoinR, The publishers &C.
count for this on two grounds In the frpt
place, the spring literature II of lighter
material than hat OF tho fall. and. In the
second place, the reader IA less critical ana
eAactins. '"rho summer reader said the
manager of a prominent publishing house,
wishes chiefly Co be diverted ed amused,
IN the heat of July and August he does not
care TO take M anything that VIII require
much montul eNrrtion-that ~ why We put
out Ho much fiction IN the hpflns, lie u
more tolerant, too, than he n Ia his course
OF winter reading. aud viii pass over the
cruditlea OF "a young author without letting
them prejudice him against the hookwthV
errors that he would halk at absolutely IN
December he viii read unnotieed In July.
"There a. where the young writer's pfoNt,
Their first efforts must he somewhat elc.
mentnry-at any rate, they are not pollthcd
but when launched IA the spflns these
flaws are not subjected To the same cfltlchl
review. Not having been handicapped by
a conspicuous failure. he Will have another
eance To show what's IN him,
anI a - liz ALA ar hAAHM IhA
lament Of most young writer's ~ to the dit
fculty In having their manuscripts read,
marked learned and inwardly ,disested, hy
the naughty publishers II absolutely with
out foundation, III they only knew re-
marked one OF the supposedly naughty
ones, how we crave manuscripts how We
go out OF our way To get them, ana now,
when We have received them, we 80
through al sorts OF mental contortionh
trying On ind the silver that may be behind
them. they would change their opinion or
us. As I'm every other trade. we are bound
To be Influenced somewhat by the methods
employed by the author I'm presenting his
wares This Is especially true I'm the case
of one that is unknown To Us.
III his manuscript is badly put together
-erased and interlined-we are bound 20 be
prcjudiccd against II; and this | say In the
face OF the well-cstablished tradition that
the more shiftless a manuscript Is the bet
ter we like IL, ON the ground that the writer
ton ~ the fallacy OF this theory. During
thiT last winter one OF my best readers had
the -rip-he was not hplc 10 WORK All the
time, hut tried 20 keep up with his manu-
scrlptS by taking them home and having
his wife read them To him At night. one or
the stories she attempted 10 read ard
which afterwards proved TO be one or the
most profitable books of fiction put on the
booksellers shelves. was so badly put To-
gcther that the readers wife had all she
could do 10 make II out. The consequence
was that all the action and spirit In II was
lost I'm the reading. The reader gave Us a
most unfaVorable report OF IL. and II was
by the merest accident that We did not send
it back"
Another detail from the publishers point
OF view might be of profit to the writer who
il c~ndeavoring To market his first wares.
IF they could only resist the temptation.
one of them exclaimed. 'of following the
uiar, II they could withstand the influence
OF Il! Take the historical romances, | sup
pose they have been responsible for more
rubbish than any other style that has had
a vogue I'm the last twenty-five years. The
historical novel Is insidious In the way IL
appeals 10 an amateur. He says (and some
critics encourage him In the fancy, Why.
that's the simplest thing In the world: all
I've got 10 do Is To get hold OF some eN-
citing incident I'm history and exaggerate
and distort IL "A bit. and II VIII CO.. IL
would make you weep Just TO glance at
the pile Of historical manuscripts | have
piled up I'm my desk-simple. child-like stuff
that any boy OF twelve could do. No event
i'm our history has been too great or tragic
for these amateurs TO pounce upon. | Will
wager that in the pile | have spoken or
NVashineton has crossed the Delaware nun
dreds of times. and In hundreds OF different
WAYS. and that Andre IL responsible for
more broken hearts than could be counted
iu an afternoon.