The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1904-07-29

PopuIdlr A.it,,os ual., ,,sSs nv, ,o,s
High ppslsisn m tsSlda. 4
|s Jack Lpnd Ion. the fesctnat short.
story writer and brill swarF III ORE
lSspondent. now at the from asF but
twenty eight years old. years
ago he was unhsard ~ ~ the reading
world To-day he issreEd syeryWhere.
lfis sought BY publishers, and the pagss
of the magazines, from The Century
down. are open to him. 4. IN s'sy
The story Of how Us arrived
how he rs first set foot upon the
stepping. stone to success. "a he
tells In The Editor. New,
York magazine for literary workers,
Incidentally Y giving the latter GLASS
some excellent advice Here B are,
'tew of his terse, pregnant sent noes n.
Work! Don't wait for SON good
as 81 to tell you. BUT q Il out
sYourseIf. .S# 7sS Sc; \ 3ssass} , a$.sa
Fiction pays best Of all,
Don't write too much q h't dash
of 6o00.word story before break fast.
Avoid the unhappy ending, the
harsh, the brutal, the tragic, the horrl-
ble--if you care to see in print the
things you. write. !.
Keep q, notebook. Travel with it,
eat with it, sleep. with it. Slap into
It every stray thought that autters
up into your brain. sy 4 ID
| AS soon as fellow sells two on
three things to the magazines says
Jack London, his friends all ask him
how he managed to do it,''sSand then
he goes on, IN his own racy way, to
tell how 1t happened to him.
He had many liabilities and no as
sets, no income and several mouths
to feed. He lived in California, far
from the great publishing centers,
and did not know what. an editor
looked like. But he sat down and
wrote. Day by day his pile OF manu-
scripts mounted up. He had vague
ideas, obtained from Sunday supple
ment, that minimum ratesof $40 a
thousand words was paid, and figured
on earning $500 a month, without
overstocking the market. Ess
One morning the postman brought
him. instead of the usual long, thick
manuscript envelope. short, thin
one. He couldn't open it right away.
1t seemed a sacred thing: It con.
tanned the written words of an editor
OF q big magazine. 4, When, modest as
ever, he had figured in his mind what
the offer for this 400O-word story
would be at the minimum rate-s4O,
OF course-he opened the letter. F:re
dollars!
Not having died. right then and
there, Mr.. London is convinced that
he may yet qualify as an Oldest in
habitant. Five dollars! When? The
editor did not state. i.
But, by and by, in the course of its
wanderings, one of his stories reached
an editor who could see the genius of
Jack London, and had the patience to
penetrate beneath the husk. of .wordv
introduction and discover the golden
gain. $tss
Here is the incident that proved
the turning point in Jack London's
literary career, as he SO graphically
tells it.: .ss.
Nothing remained but TO get out
and shovel coal. had done st be-
fore, and earned more money at it.
l resolved to do it again, and Iscer-
tainly should have done it. had It not
been for The Black Cat.
Yes, The Black Cat The post.
man brought me an offer from 1t for
4000-word story which was more
hngthy than strengthy IL would
grant permission to cut It down half.
Grant permission? / told them they
could cut It down two-haives II they'd
only send the money along, which
they did, by return mail. AS for the
IS previously. mentioned, I shnallys re-
ceived it, after publication and 3 great
deal of embarrassment and trouble"
i And the rate he received for.his first
Black~Cat story was nearly 20 times
1 what the five-dollar editor; paid!
Nor is Jack London the only writer
who has been lifted from obscurity to
prominence by the lucky Black Cat.
which, sas the New York Press has
truly said, hss done more for short
fstory writer's and short-story readers
than any other publication.
! Each Of its famous prize competi.
tions5 has brought new writer's to the
front. In It's most recent. the $2,10o
prize was won by young Texan who
Ehkd never before writtensa story, and
i the second, $1,000, went to q lawyers
wife in au obscure Missouri town.
Il It has just inaugurated another con-
test in which $4,000 will be paid to
. writer's in sums of from 500 to 81, 500.
This will, no doubt, add many new
names to the list Of those who have
! arrived" through its recognition.
The conditions are announced in the
current issue OF The Black Ca. and
will also be mailed free to any one
by the shortstory Publishing, Conn
! pany, Boston, Mass. Even those who
z cannot write. q winning story them
selves may earn $40 by giving q time
lily tip to some friend who can.
But all should bear ID mind that It