The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-31
asked him whether the sale of Decent

asked him whether the sale of 1o-cent
novels is very extensive.
Extensive" said he. II should say II
is. Why. we sell five times as many 10
cent novels as those that sell at 81 and So.
York that publish one book a day regu-
larly, and the editions sometimes run into
the hundreds of thousands. Moreover. the
much as the Decent ones. There are sew
eral stores in the South End devoted en-
tirely to dealing in l0-cent novels at sec
~ond-hand. After you've read your lucent
novel you can SCI. 1t there for cents. and
buy another secondhand one for s. I'm that
way they are read again and again
other half in the quality of literature. the
other half excels us in quantity.
My friend, the dealer, thought it was a
mere matter of price. II copyright laws
would permit standard fiction TO be printed
at 10 cents the masses would buy them.
To a certain extent, no doubt. QUO Vadis
would probably have a large sale in Decent
form, but L doubt If many Of the other half
would care to thread the psychological in
t~ricacies of the Reign OF Law" for ex-
ample.
The notoriety which accompanied Miss
Nethersole's playing of "Sapho" last year
caused a great demand for that story. All
the Decent publishers were turning them
out as fast as their presses would run,
and the competition reduced them TO D
cents a volume. One dealer. within a block
of the Statehouse and a less distance from
a branch of the public library, told me he
sold 900 copies. He had a lot left over
when the boom broke, and now he is will
ing to sell them at a cent apiece.
THE STORY PAPERS FIELD.
The wholesale dealer said that while the
sale of 1O-cent novels is very large. the
sale of the weekly continued story paper
has been driven out of the cities by the
Sunday paper, and it thrives now only il
the smaller factory towns. For such towns
- - \ - - MI - Il -.
ally a factory girl who rises triumphant
above a varied assortment of trials and
temptations.
Bostonians who saw the Cadet Girl" will
remember the character for whom life was
torment because just at the exciting climax
of all the stories he read he ever con-
fronted the legend, continued in our
next" and he never was certain whether
the footsteps which Gladys heard were
those of the villain who still pursued her
or the lover who came to save. This device
Is one of the great tricks of the trade of
the purveyors of weekly story papers.
Pamphlets containing the opening chap
tiers OF one or more stories are distributed
at the doors of certain sections of the city;
piles of these specimen numbers" are left
at the news stands Tor free distribution.
The reader is given just enough to whet his
interest. Just as beautiful Gwendoline is
about to step into the villains trap, while
the laundering hoof-beats of the rescuing
hero'S horse resound through the dark
some wood, he comes to an abrupt stop and
is informed that readers who wish TO fol-
low the fortunes of this fascinating belle
of Fifth avenue will find the next chapters
in No. 500 of the 'Hod-Carrier's Happy
Home. For sale at all news stands"
One specimen number which a news
dealer gave me contained the opening chap
ters of Marion Marlowe's Money" The
first paragraph introduces us to Marion:
Just as a church clock tolled eleven, a
beautiful girl with great gray eyes and
magnificent chestnut hair came tripping
along Fourth avenue toward Twentieth
street. She was dressed neatly and stylish
ly in a dark blue skirt with a white shirt
waist, a dainty leather belt girdled her
symmetrical waist, while a jaunty sailor
hat was perched becomingly on her waving
tresses."
While Marion was tripping along" a
benevolent impulse led her to help a de-
crepit old woman home; but the decrepit
old woman proved to be a sort of female
Fagia and her home a fence for thieves,
where Marion was held a prisoner. After
a series of exciting experiences with secret
springs, trapdOors and the like, an old
friend in the guise of a detective turns up
opportunity, and Marion seems just IN the
point of escaping when we are told shdt
the further. experiences of Marion Mar
lowe in her interesting and exciting aiven-
lures in the slums of the great city VII be
detailed i'm No. Z of My Queen, " etc.
The kind of fiction which the comic pa
pers have been from time immemOridl as
sociated with the belated messenger boy
still exists. but it has changed 10 meet
changed conditions. The newspapers still
saw when Johnny ZONES runs away from
1@IN CNEE 80" @O
home. hat he was going West to fight
Indians. But he wasn't. Writers of this
class of literature know that there are no
Indian wars now, and so they carry their
heroes to the Philippines to fight the saw
ages; or they take them on exploring ex-
petitions into the heart of Asia. Up-tO-
date-ness is a much sought quality in this
field, and when you see a newsboy sitting
on a step lost in the pages of his story,
you may feel certain that he is following
the fortunes of some hero in arm in
China. The old term dime novels no
longer applies. The reduced price of paper
and cost Of printing has made it possible
to sell them at 3 cents each. The demand
for them, my business friend assures me,
is increasing. He claims they are a good
thing for the boys. He says the boy had
better be reading stories of adventure than
doing the things which idle hands find to
do. L am not sure but he is right. The
worst that can be said Of them is that
they are absurd and impossible. They are
entirely free from vicious tendencies. Their
language is dramatically correct, at least;
there is no slang; there are even no con-
fractions like he'll" or you'll" One of
the most popular Of these 5 cent stories is
in a series which recounts the adventures
Of Three Chums'-Ben Bright, Dorothy
Dare and Tom True-carrying them through
a series of adventures. at boarding school,
running a circus. exploring Mammoth Cave,
at college, exploring the Amazon and Wis
iting the Pyramids.