Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-29

list y no already has arrived. or is we'll on
his way, to be sold by retailers at uni
form price of four bits, or 80 cents.
The argument of the agitatOrs for this
scheme Is that $3.50 is too much money
to be asked for piece Of current fiction
II isn't much OF an argument, however.
When 1t comes TO that, 10 cents, or just
one-tenth OF $50. quite often is too much
money for various examples of current
fiction 1t might just as easily be said
that s. a moderate-sized bottle is too
much for certain brands OF French toilet
waters. Maybe II is, but the people
mainly women-who use these toilet wa
tiers want them, and they want them
even at the price at which they are pur-
veyed. They want them so badly that
they buy them. There is no particular
reason why the book trade, already In a
sufficiently parlous state in this country,
should not be equally privileged with
other businesses TO take advantage OF the
aSe-o,d law of supply and demand.
When il comes 10 that. 30 cents a pound
II TOO much money to be asked for j
pound OF beefsteak. and II would be the
incest imaginable thing if that pound Of
beefsteak could be bought for 10 cents a
pound. But there's no convincing the
meat folks as to that. They have figures
20 show that they'd go promptly into
Bankruptcy if they responded TO de-
nf4nG requiring them TO sell their goods
Tor Just one-third of the regular price.
Tho "demanders" of the f1fty-cent novel
want the publishers Of fiction books u
seh their product for just one-third of
the prevailing price, thereby exhibiting
an Almost naive lack Of information az
20 the business conditions environing the
publication OF current fiction
IN the first place. S1.5o is a sort of
Ptckwfckian price for the current novel
That price Is rarely charged for the book.
1t Is the highly fixed nominal price, the
Imaginary price. Hardly anywhere. ex-
cept " little towns and villages. Is $50
asked for tie current piece OF fiction.
The $3.50 price figures mainly on the
publishers advance circulars.
The department store price for the
book published a: $50 has for years
been fSed at S1GS, and the regular book
stores have been Obliged TO swing into
line TO meet the competition OF the book
departments OF the department stores. In
New York there are two huge depart
n1ent stores that for years have been
fghting the publishers association-that
is, they have been selling the regular
$1.5o books at n uniform price of Us
cents. They don't get their books from
the publishers. They have TO employ
other methods TO get hold OF the current
books that they sell for 90 cents. owing
20 the prices that they themselves have
to pay for the novels. But they get all
of the latest books, nevertheless, and
keep right on selling them at ~ cents.
II n only the fair thing that the pub
Hsasers should have put forth their end of
the argument. now that this uniformed
aeftatfon for the f1fty-cent original novel
has been started.
In the first place, the publisher of fic-
ton, nowadays. must be and generally is
"A gambler from his heart. The whole
business of fiction publishing is one huge,
unending gamble, and often the cards are
stacked against the publisher and the
author as well from the start
That 10 TO say, few novels are what are
known as sellers. There isn't the least
possibility OF Judging the frequently
changing public taste in fiction. The his
torical novel iras . ";-dge 20: certain