Rocky Ford enterprise., 1904-07-01
HOW JACK LONDON "ARaveO."
Popular Author Struggled Hard for
HIah Position He Holds.


Jack London. the fascinating short
story writer and brilliant war corre-
spondent. now at the front. is but
twenty eight years old. Three years
ago he was unheard of by the reading
world. To-day he is read everywhere
Ii sought by publishers. and tho pages
OF the magazines. from The Century
down. are open to him.
The story Of how he arrived.
how he first set foot upon the
stepping-s stone to success. ne
tells In The Editor. the New
York magazine for literary workers.
Incidentally giving the latter class
somo excellent advice. Here arc
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
on . 6o00.word story before breakfast
Avoid the unhappy ending. the
harsh. tho brutal. the tragic. the horri'
ble-if you caro- to see in print the
things you write.
Keep . notebook. Travel with II.
eat with II. sleep with It. Slap into
Il every stray thought that futtsrs
up into your brain.
'.As soon as fellow sells two or
three things TO the magazines" says
Jack London. his friends all ask him
how he managed to do It." and then
he goes on. In his own racy way. to
tell how II happened to him.
He had many liabilities and no as
sets. no Income and several mouths
to feed. He lived In California. far
from tho great publishing centers.
and 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 n Sunday supple
mcnt. that u minimum rate of $40 .
thousand words was paid. and figured
On earning $500 = month. without
ovcrstocking tho market
Ono mornin. tho postmns brought
him. instead OF tho usual long. thick
manuscript envelope. n short, thin
one. He couldn't open Il right away.
II seemed sacred thing. Il con-
tained tho written words OF an editor
OF . big magazine. When. modest aa
evor. he had figured In HIS mind what
tho offer for this t0oO-word story
would be at the minimum rate-tto.
of coursc-hc opened tho letter. Five
doiiarxe
Not having died riEh, then and
there. Mr.. London In convinced that
he may yet qualify as an Oldest In
habi'anI Five dollars! whcat Tho
editor did not stats.
Hut. by and by. In tn. course Of Its
~andcrin.s. one Of his stories reached
an editor who could SEQ the genius OF
Jack London. and had the patience to
penetrate beneath the husk Of wordy
introduction and discover tbs golden
graia.
Here is tho incident that proved
tho turning point in Jack London's
literary career. as he SO graphically
tells it:
"No,hin. remained bu, to get ou,
and shovel coal. had done Il be-
fore. and earned more money n; It.
I resolved to do |, again. and cor.
tainiy should have done Il. had !t not
been for Tho Black Cat.
"Ycs. Tho Black Cat. Tho post
man brought me an offer from Il for
sooo.word story which was moro
lengthy than s,rcngthy. II would
grant permission TO cut Il down half.
Grant pcrmissionI I told them thcy
could cut I, down two.haivcs n they'd
only send tho money along. which
they did. by return mail. As for tho
fS prCytousiv fucntiongd I finally rc-
cciscd II. after publication and great
deal OF embarrassment and trouble"
And the rate he received for his arst
Black Cat story was nearly 20 times
what the h,cdoliar editor paid!
Nor II Jack London tho only writer
who has been lifted from obseurity to
prominence by the lucky Black Cat.
which. as tho New York Press has
truly said. has done 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 tho
front. In It's most recent. tho f2.io0
prize was won by young Texan who
had never before written a story. and
the second, 81 200. went TO q lawyers
wife in an obscure Missouri town.
Il has Just inauguratcd another con.
test In which $4,000 will DO paid to
writer's in sums Of from 500 TO 1900.
This will. no doubt, add many new
names TO tho list Of those who have
arrived" through It's recognition.
Tho conditions arc announced in tho
current Issue Of The Black Cat. and