Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1904-07-01
NOW JACK LONDON .ARRlvED.'
Popular Author Struggled Hard for
HIuh Position Hc Holds.

sponaent, now at tho front, Is but
.wenty.sisht years old, Three years
ago he was unheard OF by the reading
world, To-day he 10 read everywhere
Is sought by publishers, and the pages
o: tho magazines. from The Century
down. are open to him.
Tho story of how he arrived
how he frst set foot upon the
stepping. stone 10 success. hs
tells Ia Tho Editor. the New
York magazine for literary workers.
Incidentally giving the latter CLASH
some excellent advice. Here are a
few OF his terse. pregnant sentences
Work, Don't wait for some good
Samaritan to tell you, but dig 1t out
yourself,
Fiction pays best OF all
Don't write too much. Don't dash
Of a 6o00.word story before breakfast.
Avoid the unhappy ending. the
harsh, the brutal, the tragic. the horri.
ble-it you care to see in print the
things you write.
Keep a notebook. Travel with It,.
eat with 1t, sleep with 1t. Slap into
every stray thought that nutters
Up into your brain. ST.
AS soon as fellow sells two or
:hree things to the magazines says
lack London, Ibis friends all ask him
aow he managed to do 1t" and then
ne goes on. in his own racy way, to
ell how It happened to him.
He had many liabilities and no as
.ets. no income and several mouths
o feed. He lived In California, far
rom the great publishing centers.
nd did rot 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
nent. that a minimum rate Of $40 q
thousand words was paid. and figured
On earning $500 month, without
overstocking the market.
One morning the postman brought
him, instead Of the usual long. thick
manuscript envelope, short, thin
one. He couldn't open it right away.
It seemed a sacred thing. 1t con.
aimed the written words Of an editor
If big magazine. When, modest as
ever, he had figured in his mind what
he offer for this 4000-word story
would be at the minimum rate-$40.
If course-he opened the letter. Five
dollars!
Not having died right then and
here, Mr.. London is convinced that
1e may yet qualify as an oldest in
aabitant. Five dollars! When? The
-ditor did not state.
But, by and by, in the course of its
Eanderings, one Of his stories reached
IN editor who could see the genius OF
lack London, and had the patience to
penetrate beneath the husk of wordy
Introduction and discover the golden
grain.
Here is the incident that proved
The turning point in Jack London's
literary career, as he SO graphically
ellis It: ..
Nothing remained but to get out
md shovel coal. l had done it be-
ore, and ea-ned more money at it.
:ainly should have done it. had it not
oeen for The Black Cat.
yes, The Black Cat. The post
nan brought me an offer from it for
400Oword story which was more
lengthy than strengthy. If | would
grant permission to cut it down half.
Grant permission? I told them they
could cut 1t down two-halves If they'd
,nly send the money along, which
they did, by return mail. AS for the
IS previously mentioned, finally re-
ceived it, after publication and great
deal of embarrassment and trouble"
And the rate he received for his first
Black Cat story was nearly 20 times
what the tiIe-dollar editor paid!
Nor is Jack London the only writer
who has been lifted from obscurity to
prominence by the lucky Black Cat.
which, as the New York Press has
truly said, has core more for short
story writer's and 'short-story readers
than any other publication.
Each Of it's famous prize competi.
tons has brought new writer's to the
front. In it's most recent, the $1,000
prize was won by young Texan who
had never before written a story, and
the second, $1,000, went to a lawyers
wife in an obscure Missouri town.
1t has just ;naugurated another con.
test in which $4,000 will be paid to
writer's in sums Of from s1oG to $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 Cat, and
will also be mailed free to any one
by the Shortstory Publishing Com.
pany, Boston, Mass. Even those who
cannot write winning story them.
selves may earn $40 by giving a time
ly tip to some friend who can.
But all should bear in mind that
will be entirely useless fer any one
to send a story to The Black Cat
without first reading and complying
with all the published conditions.
Here is chance for the reader to dig
dollars out Of his brain, for what life
does not at least contain one tale
worth telling? g.
A Chicago girl wrote the beauty de
partment of local paper, and asked
What is good for big feet?" Prompt
ly the reply appeared, big shoes" p.
Houston Post.
DE man dat's so 'fraid OF maxim
mistakes dat he won do nufin," said
Uncle Eben. lis sure. sooner or lat
er, TO cum under de s'picion of bein
azy. "-Washington Star.