The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-16
SELLING THE SHORy STORY
THE YOUNG A~UTHORsCHANCEs
IN THE MAGAZINES.
Editors on the Watch for New Writers
-Tnres Chief Errors q Authors That
Interfere Win Their tucoess-Vaiue
Nnme-Ths kIsht Market.

Interfere WIN TTeif tucooSs Vaiuo
OF = Name-The hiSht Market.
there are to-day in tht country nearly
sfty magazines that arp willing to pay
good prices for good i~stories. Among
,bem they use about as stories . month
and buy probably fiftyimore, which they
will never use.
or these 400 or S0b stories marketed
avery month, about bne in fifty Is first
class and about one N ten Is second class.
The others are purchased and printed
because the editor must have something
IA fill in the spaces betw en- the front oover
and the advertisements.
The editors OF the better GLASS Of maya
zines are continually bowling for stories.
II they get a good story from q writer
they follow him up with requests for more.
n they see a good story or two in another
magazine they write to the author and ask
il they cannot have something from him.
They are on the watch all the time for
any one who has the gift of narrative.
These are tho facts OF b case. well
known to every one in the publishing
mlsiness. On the other side are the theo-
RES beloved OF budding authors who feel
The germs Of genius within them.
The authors Of unpublished manu-
scripts seem to have two standard grew
anees against editors. The first il that
sdjtors will accept any old thing IL tho
writer has n name. The second Ii that
editors will never tell an unknown author
why they refuse his story.
The antagonism between the aspiring
author and the unsympathetio publisher
undoubtedly exists. What is the real
cause Of it and whose fault is it? With a
view TO getting at the truth OF the matter
the writer undertook to get upon speaking
terms with the editors Of fifteen Of the
leading magazines published In America
,o-day. and also to make some practical
experiments Of his own 80 as to test the
truth of the charges continually made
against the well known editor by the un-
known author.
The result Of these interviews seems to
prove pretty c~onclusively that IL the un-
known author annot get his story pub
lished it is entirely his W fault and that
The faults which lead to his discontinue
can be grouped under three heads.
To begin with the most common fault
pl all. tne T1auusCTlpt may 10 Oil Ii8att
The situations well described and the
dialogue clever. but-no story.
In the next group OF failures are those
manuscripts In which the story 10 there
but is not properly arranged or told
This is a fault which Puts a manuscript
lust IN the balance. Whether the editor
thinks enough OF it to bother further with
i, is largely a matter Of the humor Of the
moment 1t is very much like the hesita-
ton Of a person in buying something that
is not quite what he wants, but which
could be made to do by spending a little
time and trouble on its alteration.
The third class Of failures is stories
he magazine to which they are sent.
This is the cause OF nine-tenths Of the
failures Of inexperienced authors.
One OF the most extraordinary delu-
-ions Of the novice in authorship is that
his manuscript is not even read. One
of'en hears Of pages gnmmed together
charge is that it is not always necessary to
separate the yolk of ar egg from the shell
20 find out h a 1t il rotten.
IL writer's only knew the eagerness with
which the publishers reader scans every
story that comes into the office from a new
source they would quickly get owe the
idea that their stories were returned
unread. Many Of the writers Of estab-
lished reputation are written out. and the
magazine editor is ~tireless in his quest for
rev ideas, a fresh style, an unexpected
field. All he asks is that the new story
-hall fit into the style Of architecture on
which his magazine is built.
The one absolutely hopeless case is the
writer who has no story to tell but who
can ill up fifteen pages Of typew riting
wi,h-a mixture Of dialogue and incident
that leads nowhere. Several Of the edi-
tors interviewed spoke feelingly. Of the
time and trouble wasted in wading through
this sort Of authorship.
This sort OF writer remarked q reader
for one OF the best known magazines,
reminds me Of IA young fellow who ap-
Piled for a job in a carpenters shop aud
Thought a perfectly smooth pieoe of
hoard as a sample Of what he could do.
The carpenter asked him what Il was for
Or what it fitted and found that 1t did nos
TT anything but was simply . beautifully
smooth piece Of work. planned and sand
iapered. top. bottom and sides.
The carpenter told tho young fellow
n take 1t back home again and bring it
"a him next day with a mortise and tenon
joint in it. or an O.. G. panel on one side
anything to show what the work On Il
wa for"
Some people do not seen to under
stand remark ed another reader. that
the short story should be restricted to
a single incident, II it is a story OF ad-
venture there must be only n adven-
rnre. II il Is a low affair it must be only
one episode in the courtship. II it is q
character sketch it must deal with n
trait Of character only.
There Is no more common mistake
made by would-be magazine writer's than
% imagine that a short story is q con-
densed novel. A short story should be
like a lashlight picture of a single stone
being laid in a wall. The novel is a de-
s~cription Of the whole building from
cellar TO roof
The rapidity with which a reader can
nudge a story Ia the result OF long prao-
ice. While il is true that an expert can
scan a story without reading more than
a third Of the words in it. he will never
miss the story II the story il there.
II may be badly told, but IL 10 is a really
good story the editor will rescue it every
time. He will enter into negotiations
With the author TO fx II up or will buy
u as II is and fix it up TO suit himself.
Every ma gazine has men employed for
'ha' purpose
No, one in Ten Of the smooth reading
stories that n finds In the magazines is
printed a. il was written. Unless they are
he work of a trained writer who knows
all The tricks of the trade they have been
rn1pped and changed around in order TO
lick them into presentable shape. Tn
necessary i~ntroductions have been cut Of
N" beginning, anti-climaxes cut OF the
aud sIpcriuous adjectives taken out OF
N" middle and descriptions Of scenery
removed entire.
l"th" writer vas shown one short story,
PRINTED in .NcCIurs's, which was a first