The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-01-03


half three months after the first of the
year succeeding the date of publication
and the other half in six months succeed
ing the payment of the first royalties al
any.
81 don't know if they do 1t to be mean
but that If any jammed in after every
mention of royalties is no good way. Nc
use Encouraging a man before he be-
gins. The contract was full of those two
cold blanket words.
There was provision made FOR the
payment of 800 to another man who was
better known than / to write a preface
and introduction. | was to pay for this
One thousand copies of the book were eX-
empted from royalties, and the firm did
its own bookkeeping.
We'll. how are you going to beat it!
Anyhow, | was to get double royalties
on the second thousand TO make UP for
what L did not get on the first. That 5
fair enough. They all do it.
well, sir, when that book came out
was tickled to death. I read it all
through to my family and could hardly
wait for the next week papers to see
what they said about it.
/ After all. what they said wasn't SO
bad. They liked the pictures and hoped
| would do better next time. Queer how
everybody was so much interested in my
next book.
MY friends stood by me in great shape
Every one of them wanted a copy of that
book OF course they were right when
they said that it wouldn't be correct fol
me to present the books With Authors
Compliments unless | bought them.
"rhat was fair enough. [ bought about
100 copies and gave them away, all auto
graphed. It's splendid to have friends
who appreciate your work.
Tried To Be Modest.
They gave me a dinner. too. l made
a speech and tried to be very modest
Nearly everybody else made a speech,
including a lot of those / had given TIL,
books to.
They said they had not read it yet
but it was pleasure they held in stor,
for themselves. Pretty nice, eh? Oh,
tell you | felt rather satisfied with my
self.
II wondered how the book was selling
but | hated to seem too anxious fol-
the money. My friends spoke of the
honor of 1t so much that l disliked tc
show my base material side.
you can imagine it was with some
delight that / received my first state
ment at the end of the year. The state
ment said that the firm still had 80
copies of the book on hand, but hoped tc
! do better during the next quarter.
81 hoped so, too THAT would bring Il
about July. Just the thing for trip tc
| Europe.
| II read the papers carefully during the
next months. I learned that the book
was one of the wonders of the year. II
sold like hot cakes, the papers said. II
had been sent to press four times
81 figured that / could not make les
than S7548. 81, or maybe Sc; I'm not
good at figures. l ordered some books
I had been wanting long time for my
library and began to dress bit better
After ALL one must live up to the pace
I'm the early summer came the letter
again. They then had sold the first
thousand out completely and a great
, many in the second thousand, for which
[ received double royalty. They had
paid the man who wrote the introduce
ton and also one of the artists out OF
what my royalties amounted to.
They would pay the other artist as
| soon as they sold some more books
| without doubt authors are profitable
| investments for artists and writers OF
prefaces.
well, that is about all. l never did
! get anything out of the book and TIL
publishers claim to be 800 or so out
! themselves.
II hope some day to get job work
| ing for an adverting house. Meanwhile
| I am an author-across my heart, hope
/ may die author. l have pretty little
| gold and white covered book to prove
| it, That is all I have"