The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-16

SApiN88S1 Iuo B8il9 ODLQIou III NbTl0un
ways, inslsting that II wed THU. want Of
the human touch that caused the rejeo-
teon OF % per cent, of the stories sub
mttVed to magazines,
"A story must sot on the readers feel
tnEs a. well a. on bis mind remarked
Vsss- 1t m,ist quicken his impulses
somehow. II It 10 q story Of adventure
It, Just a. thS audience used 70 hold on
to the beoks Of the seats in front OF them
whom John B. Cough described the alta ge-
coach tearing down hill close TO the edge
q the preoipioe with a drunken driver on
'Ths habitual magazine reader remem-
bsrs q story that has made him feel long
him think"
|. Frank Munsey clsssiies stories simply
by their commercial value and puts
pathos first, love second. adventure third
and humor last.
ANY one ~ invent love plots and ad-
ventures he Gays. and some men can
not put pen to paper without being humor-
the heart, and II 1t Is genuine 1t always
reaches the heart Of the reader. Those
are the stories that are hard to find
One OF the most common errors Of the
novice in authorship is sending his manu-
scripts to the wrong place. The further
ne is from the riEht place in his %seisctaGn
for its return. This delay and the repeu-
ton OF refusals is one OF the most dis
heartening things he budding author
has to contend with. but 1t is entirely his
own fault. He may imagine that all the
editors have conspired against him.
his " lack Of judgment.
Kaman had q patent chum to sell and
went hawking II among the housewives
on the West Side you would laugh at him
and tell him to take IL to the country and
sell 1t to the farmers wives. II he replied
that the country was just the same as the
H,sy; al; sa ho Io,,S.s and I'd Pc R;soPdi ei,y you ", woa tho
author who sends his manuscripts to the
wrong place Is just as misguided.
The first thing that q new writer usually
does Is to send his story Cd to his favorite
magazine or to the ma gaEine that he hears
most highly spoken Of. All amateur actors
want to play Hamlet from the start. The
high class, well known magazines, like
Horpsr's. have to wade through more
trash than any othes.
"A story was submitted to me privately
By. 4 friend OF mine said n reader.
The author was q young lady who did
not know that i was employed on a maya
zine. She though It was the greatest
thing that ever happened; that story Of
AVA0s NAS0b utAio ANA tAot ocoAs
their 6rst attempts.
she was in doubt whether TO send 1t
to Harper's or b Century, az she did not
want to offend either Of them by giving
the other the refusal Of II. After reading
it over advised her to try 1t on the
Waverfv Magazine first and not to expect
any pay for 1t.
She has not spoken to me since. but
1 learned from q friend Of hers that she
sent II from one magazine TO another for
nearly two years, having to copy it again
once or twice when 1t got shabby. The
funny part Of it was that she finally sent
1t to the Wavsrty and they used it,
There is q young woman In Brooklyn
who has just brought out q book that
promises to be q success. She has q class
fled list Of magazines, beginning with
those that she would like best to publish
her stories and ending with those that
are better than the waste basket.
She has twenty-five magazines on this
list, and every short story she writes
10 sent to each in turn and upon it's re-
lection TO the next magazine in line.
II the manuscript sticks anywhere on the
trip, we'll and good. II 1t Is rejected by
the. whole twenty-five. into the waste
basket it goes.
While this scheme may impress some
persons as clever. it is really q confession
Of bad Judgment. IT. 10 like Offering to
sell carpenters tools to twenty-five differ
ont trades. when only two or three trades
use them. although all TRADES use tools.
Every n who hopes TO- be ~sacoesful
as q ma gazine wIter should buy and read
at least one or two numbers during the
year Of every magazine published. or OF
twenty or thirty OF the leaders. The
sort OF stories and articles they contain
should be carefully studied.
Unless his story is Of exceptional merit.
which OF course every author imagines
1t is, there arc never more than four or
Ave magazines that would ever consider
II. When magazines buy stories from
authors with big names they do it for the
purpose Of advertising the fact that the
big man Is writing for that magazine.
and they usually care very little for what
he writes.
It Ia the same in all matters Of business.
When Albin, the first man to ride a bicycle |
on M wheel, was engaged by Barnum
he wanted to show the public what he could
do on 9. wheel, but the manager told him
h. SSal dd have only three Hant N, minutes H y .ct t,.
manager told him. IAN we want Is to show
the public that No have got what We
ADVERTISE
Ths secret Of the success Of any maya
zins Rss In IL individuality. People come
e rsoossass u =. 81 dt ne T; mt. from o, the
mAeAHnS will take its place.
What makes this Individuality? The
editor's owe Of selection. his ability to
pick out the stories and articles hat carry
out his conception OF what a IN magazine
should be. II any old story would do for
any old magazine. as some writers seem TO
imagine. what would become Of this dis
tlnCtive traitf
Unless q writer who sends a story TO
a magazine has studied this pecu-
Lar touch that gives the magazine Its
character and has written something
that Ats In with IL be lie simply wasting
time and postage stamps. He may have
made a beautiful ohurn. but the woman
who lives in Central Park West does not
think IL fts into her ideas Of what should
be in her household.
Ono great cry Of the novioe in author
ship 10 that the editor will not tell him
what IL the matter with his story when
il IL rejected. This 10 only half a truth.
The editor would gladly ten him. but he
knows the author would not believe il.
The editor Of the Popular Magazine
told the writer that he once made the
mistake Of telling q new writer what was
the matter with his story. /
The man seemed very modest and
anxious to learn, and the editor told him
the exact facts. Instead OF being CRATE
full for this expert criticism. which was
valuable. the author Of the story became
abusive and told the editor that he had
never printed such o good story in the
Popular, which was q rotten magazine
ANYHOW, and much more to the same
effect. Such authors. are hopeless. be-