The Grit-advocate., 1904-07-01
HOW JACK LONDON "ARRivED.'
Popular Author Struggled Hard for
AiQh Position He Holds.

JAcK London. the fascinating short
story writer and brilliant war CORE
spondent, now at the front. IL but
twenty-eight years old. Three years
ago he was unheard OF by the reading
world. To-day he is read everywhere.
Is sought by publishers. and the pages
Of the magazines. from The Century
down. are open to him.
Tho story OF how he arrived.
how he first set foot upon the
stepping ng-stone to success, he
tells In The Editor. the New
York magazine for literary workers.
incidentally giving the latter class
some excellent advice. Here are .
few Of his terse, pregnant sentences.
Work! Don't wait for some good
Samaritan to tell you. but dig It out
yourself.
Fiction pays best Of ALL
Don't write too much. Don't dash
of 6oO0-word story before breakfast
Avoid the unhappy ending. tho
harsh. tho brutal. the tragic, the horri-
ble-if you care to see in print tho
things you write.
Keep a notebook. Travel with II.
eat with 1t. sleep with 1t. Slap into
1t every stray thought that fiutters
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 it 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 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
ment. that minimum rate OF $40 a
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.
1t seemed sacred thing. 1t con-
tanned the written words of an editor
Of big magazine When. modest as
ever, he had figured In his mind what
the offer for this 40OO-word story
would be at the minimum rate-$4O,
of course-he opened the letter Five
dollars.
Not having died right then and
there, Mr.. London is convinced that
habitant. 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 It.:
Nothing remained but to get out
and shovel coal. had done 1t be-
fore. and earned more money at 1t.
resolved to do 1t again. and GER
tatnly should have done 1t, had 1t not
been for The Black Cat.
Yes. The Black Cat The post
man brought me an offer from 1t for
a 4000word story which was more
lengthy than strengthy. II l would
grant permission to cut 1t down half
Grant permission? l told them they
could cut 1t down two-halves II they'd
only send the money along. which
they did, by return mail. AS for the
s. previously mentioned, | finally re-
ceived 1t, after publication and a great
deal Of embarrassment and trouble"
And the rate he received for his first
Black Cat story was nearly 20 times
what the f> e-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 done more for short
story writer's and short-story readers
than any other publication.
Each of its famous prize competi-
iaS blouSHt ne" "
front. In its most recent, the $2,l0O
prize was won by young Texan who
had never before written a story, and
the second, 300, went to lawyers
wife in an obscure Missouri town.
1t has just inaugurated another con-
test in which $10,600 will be paid to
writer's in sums OF from 500 to 81 500.
~
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 ono