The Holly chieftain., 1904-07-01
HOW JscH Lo.oon ARRIVED"
Popular Author Struggled Hard for
riEn Pctltien He Holes.


Jaca Lyadon. the fascinating short
story srttsT and brilliant war core
spJIdsb'. nov al th- front, Is but
txenty eight years old. Three years
ago Ae VA unheard of b. the reading
w0rlc Today he iz read everyS S,here.
Il sDsghi by publishers. and the pages
of the magazines, from The Century
dosn are open 70 him.
TIE story D, how he "arrived E"
hoE te first get foot upon the
stepI 4bg-sions To success, he
tells II The Editor the New
York magazine for literary workers,
Incidentally giving the latte. class
EorLe excellent advice Here are a
few Of his terse, pregnant sentences
work, Don't wait for some good
Samaritan to tell you. but dig it out
youfself
Fiction pays best Of ali
Don't write too much Don't dash
of eoc5-word story before breakfast
AVOID the unhappy ending. the
harsh. the brutal, the tragic the hort
ble-if you care 10 see in print the
things you write
HHEp a I4yLrbDC-s AIshf4 WIN u,
eat with il sleep with f. Slap into
It every stray thought that futters
Up into your brain.
As coon as a fellow sells two or
three things to the magazines says
JACK London, "his friends all ask him
how lie managed to DO it," and then
he goes on in his own racy way, 10
tel now il happened to him.
He mad many liabilities and no as
seis 10 Income and several mouths
70 feed. He lived in California. far
from the great publishing centers,
and did rot know what an editor
lo0aed ike. But he sat down and
wrote Day by day his pile of manu-.
scripts mounted up. He had vague
Ideas, obtained from Sunday supple
meni, that minimum rate Of $40
thousand words was paid. and figured
Oh earning $500 a month, without
ovefstocking 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.
II seemed a sacred thing. It con-
ta!Eed the written words of an editor
Of big magazine. When, modest as
ever he had d cured in his mind what
the offer for this 4000-word story
would be at the minimum rate-$4O,
Of coufse-he opened the letter Five
dollars!
Not having died right then and
there, Mr.. London Is convinced that
he may Yet qualify as an oldest in
habi'ant. Five dollars! When? The
editor did not state.
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 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
tells II.
Nothing remained but to get out
and shovel coal. | had done it be-
fore. and earned more money at 1t.
resolved to do 1t again, and cer-
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 it for
a 4000word story which was more
lengthy than strengthy, If | would
grant permission TO cut it down half.
Grant permission? | told them they
could cut it down ohaIves If they'd
only send the money along, which
they did, by return mall. AS for the
50 previously mentioned, finally re-
ceiyed It, after publication and great
deal o! embarrassment and trouble"
And the rate he received for his first
Black Cat story was nearly 20 times
what the til e-dollar editor paid!
Nor is Jack London the only writer
w~o has been lifted from obscurity to
prominence by the lucky Black Cat
which, as the New York Press has
truly said, has done more for short
story writer's and shortstory readers
than any other publication.
Each of its famous prize competi-
tons has brought new writer's to the
front In its most recent, the 2l00
prize was won by young Texan who
had never before written a story. and
the second, 81 300, went to a lawyers
wife in an obscure Missouri town.
II has just inaueurated another con-
test in which $40 500 will be paid to
writer's in sums of from 800 to 81 500.
This WILL no doubt, add many new
names to the list Of those who have
arrived" through It's recognition.
The conditions are announced in the
e IL. 4