Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-10
THE EXPERIENCES OF
\ LITERARY HACK
4 Young Woman Who Has Tried the ALuring Literary
Game of New York Writes of It's TribuIatons
and It's ScQnty LQureLS.

and settle brls increasing irritation with the UNI
certainty Of conditions the disgust at getting q
decent check in the morning and not having dollar
Of it twentyfour hours LATER with apparently moth
Ing to show for It, contributed to make life yery
different from what it had been.
discovered certain limitations in my work. too
For example, never could write a child story and
get it accepted, yet love children dearly and thew
always swarm about me. Another thing have never
done accepably is certain gossipy line Of stuff for
womens columns. don't read it. and Of course |
can't write it. Seeing its cleverness and popularity
l. at one time. swore to myself that would do it
I studied the style Of every woman writer in New
York, studied various papers and made a noble
plunge. The editor of an evening paper gave me a
chance | was rank, unmitigated failure Gabriel
VIII blow his trump long before try that again
About this time, and for several years afterward,
would have married the right man If he had come
along and asked me. He didn't. had for years a
charming man chum, and we established lifelong
friendship, which has not been interrupted by his
marriage nor by the fact that he now lives in an
other city. Our tastes were absolutely congenial
don't know how many times dined together, how
many times talked about everything in heaven
and on earth. He recited miles of poetry to me in
his deep melodious voice and gave good practical
advice about lot Of things. We were and are
absolute comrades, and friendship is one of the
few perfect things of my ife No one has ever taken
his place.
My newspaper friend and his sister had never
liked New York. and when he received fattering
offer to take charge of paper in the West they
promptly removed. / had little money, and took
a studio room and did my cooking with an alcohol
lamp and chatting dish. The rent Of this room was
$25 month, but the way my expenses varied was
a wonder l worked more diligently than ever and
by constant application succeeded in somewhat ex-
tending the field of my work and in getting higher
rates.
In order to space and clear up the rest of
my experience might as well say here that the
highest have ever been paid for short fiction
story is 5000; the most have received for a.
newspaper story, $780, the highest have ever been
paid for serial $500, and my financial condition has
ranged all the way from having the latter sum neatly
tucked away to being stone broke and not knowing
where my next dollar would from. This state
ment covers my entire fourteen years in New York,
but don't wish to convey the impression that I
earned those all the time, for certainly didn't
From time to time held department positions on
different magazines, getting from $50 to $40
week, and as always continued my free lance work
my income would run up nicely. Then a cog would
slip somewhere 1t may sound odd, but 1t is fact
that no fewer than three magazines suspended pub
LEGATION while I was the staff and a fourth was
sold and removed to Chicago while 1 a regular
staff contributor. My last check from this particular
magazine was for $50, and as had thought I at
last fixed for life my heart was about broken.
hope have made it clear that the element Of uncer
tainty a certainty.
One time went to the editor of a syndicate for
which had done good deal of work and said
''You know what I can do I'm sick and tired of
free lancing. Put desk"
He replied-"You more valuable to me on the
nn+ci do Ae T,sryo
stop bringing me in the stuff want"
No matter how hard 1 worked my income always
fuctuated, and the mental tension got on my nerves
and began to have its effect on my work 1t is i'm
possible to write well in depressed nervous frame
of mind. l had long intended to write book, and
was able to make arrangements with publisher for
some advance royalties. He gave me check for
500. left New York and went to my home in the
West and wrote the book. took six months to it
and fairly revelled in the consciousness of doing my
best work. My publisher was pleased with the
growth of the story and advanced me more money in
all between $500 and $780, and the book was pub
Iished in 1902
The reviews were most hattering More than three
hundred press clippings seemed to indicate that it
would become of the best sellers 1 frankly
confess that had hoped to make modest fortune
out Of it, and when in the end realized that
out of the for popular favor grieved mother
might grieve for lost child and sobbed myself to
sleep many nights About this time a well meaning
friend started a newspaper paragraph saying that
had made more than $1,000 from the book, and it
went the rounds. The truth is the book brought me
in altogether about $500.
Two years later, 1904, my second book pub
shed. 1t also had very favorable reception by the
critics. My royalties exactly $780, had returned
to New York after the publication of my book and
was at work in the old way again l find few fig
ures in old notebook showing that between October
IL, 1905, and November ~ of the same year 1 re-
cefved $24O During that year l wrote three
vaudeville sketches. Two said by the agents
be too refined" for vaudeville. The third wrote
der verbal contract with actress who had starred
in melodrama. When it finished she kept it for
two days. returned it, saying it all right, but she
would go back to her old role and bade affec-