The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-09
The FICTION SITUATION



Norr NsNeis Sold New ThAn HsFmsgly.
hat Ihe SAIS- More o., easy D1sIrIlDuteSa
la-rease ~ 49, s'sss - Prsss=s=ssSa
~rIIlnE Price s'sadllaISRs lDessslbed.
900" hig SELLERS 81 called. are passing.
.nf we'll nigh past; all the publishers
Hy.s- a. Ia tins. B'n al agree alsO that
f.~ does not mean that more nOvola ara
o. u.'ing pul'lished than formerly: merely
i.i- the sales are more evenly distributed
H.i that Ia fact the aggregate sales of q
ZEN 10 the biR sellers % to-day are
I-rtahly much morn than thoas Of dorm
.. the biggest sellers 70 a decade ago.
he representative of q conservative
i.nishing house PLACES the hsyday IL
'n" big seller az eight years ago. when the
enormous sales 20 a few Conspicuous
I.'"ks such ~ Richard Carvel.- David
ilarIm' and When KnighthOOd was in
Tower began to bring new authors by
'r" hundreds into the field OF comps.i-
'.ln. The result was inevitable; tho
rradinS public Was broken zap. specialize
irg more or lees in its Action reading.
Records show that the Winston Churchill
hooks have managed To hold their own
pretty well. keeping their particular
pubic, but in general the type % fiction
q changing. with not ~ much demand
for the historical William Allen Whites
n Certain Rich Man. n return to the
Victorian manner in some reapects and a
uotable success Of these days. shows the
predileCtion Of a certain audience Tor
concrete depiction Of present life and
Cpnditions. and its kind Ia repeated with
minor variations
And while there arc more and more
novels being published each year. and a
greater proportion OF them successful
too, little money 10 made for the pub
fishers 10 their cry. On very f0w novels
u money really Lost. says one. not 50
many - during the big ssller's hsyday.
when enormous sales created q orazs
that such were always possible and pro-
NOTED enormous contracts. big royalties
PAID in advance. when no Publisher was
conservative enough not 20 fall victim in
some degree.
Another firm. famous for the number
81 novels 10 puts forth annually Of what
might be called the girl and man. variety
which nourishes on railway trains. at
tributes the decline OF % zoe and go. go
edition books TO surfeit. There 10 no
longer popular excitement. they aay: 50
many have initiated the methods OF the
first popular writers. Even George Rarr
McCutcheon's record OF sales has fallen.
vet it still compared favorably with that
Of Winston Churchill. who publishes once
m two years to the at least once q year Of
IN. first author.
The reading public runs more aud more
o. fashion. says another publisher. va
r~is groups adopting various criteria
from various opinion makers; the average
man nr woman reads what he or she hears
talked about. and sales for novels for a
n1g and general reading public have de-
CIn.-,i steadily since 1901. This. he saws
makes It very hard 10 market fiction.
book sellers getting cautions and afraid
- risks.
Iho-s novels with smaller individual
C.rCulations are hailed a. a good sign bv
EauGuine publisher Who SECS IN condi-
tons tendency away from the machine
mad. book He AYERS that his house
puts forth 5000 books a day. but to a
sophisticated public which " developing
tastes IN demands tendency ~ IN
dIcsted toward fiction ot the outdoor
variety. exemplifed IN the Adventures
IA Coutentment. by David Ora yHOn. who
u shortly To give ont further Adventures
an Friendship Bobby Ord by Stewart
Edward White. with people and incidents
peculiar 10 the outdoors and tbs West.
These fashion changes in fiction have
been constant. The Quick and the
Dad a notable SUCCESS Of it, type and
day. sold 300 copies ia magazine form.
Later magazine fiction took a prominent
place in satisfying the fiction book de-
Tnand in the vogue Of the so-styled candy
tox Action, illustrated with the work u
Penryhn StAnlaws and similar artists.
serial Of oO.O0O words vas taken from
decorated boz to match. with possibly a
blue ribbon around.
The bag seller salesman. pink and yellow
book in hand. was an important adjunct.
BE sold books. but the publishers say that
IN the end he was detrimental. For the
dealer, overperstAded by the cover and
the salesman. often doubled his order to
MS consequent sorrow; naturally he To-
came sc~ptical in time.
II ~ no lSnger necessary. says yet an
other prominent publiaher. an it was
ten or fifteen years ago. for novel To he
fashionable in order 20 he read. and herein
he finds the keynote Of what has caused
tho novel Of IOo. OoO and over TO vaninh.
10 less voIumes are bought and read. he
says hut they are bought and read ac-
c1rding TO constantly increasing taste
and discrimination OF the readers aud
thus fiction II not going TO the bowwows
More novels published and more mOder-
ATE SUCCESSES spell progress.
Present conditions. publishers aver.
make the situation much more pre-
rarols for the publisher. HeiH not turn
rg down masterpieces. but he CANDLES
f1r tho pIbHc's favor. which ~ uncertain
ave when a well known author has a
certain established audience. a. Tor
stance that ~ Gertrude Aiherton
srd even then the author uust SUSAN
reputation
No. irving 10 keep abreast N these
cays 81 change the publisher tres al
a nds 81 fiction Much Of a. the most
- Them saw does not pay ~ all One
house one season within the last tnree
,aars out out nineteen novsls. only two
~ h'ch reached a second edition. ana
'fps" two being standard authoys. The
'tars were tries for the public pulse
49, N did not reach. When o new author
~ares good and establishes an audience