Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-26
THE DAILY CHIT-CHAT.
BY Ruth Cameron.

Lives there a person in the land over
twenty-one years of age who has not, at
some period of his life, sent some pro-
duct Of his fertile brain to the magazines
and newspapers?
Truly, judging by the number of peo-
pie who write to ask me about the rules
of this game, l doubt 1t.
What class of work do editors want
the most?''
How should the manuscripts be ar
ranged"
What are the best magazines to send
work to-
What is the remuneratione'
DO you have to have story copy
Tighted before you send it,
When do magazines pay for work
on acceptance or publications.?
These are some of the most common or
| the forty-eleven questions that the ris-
| ing crop Of would-be authors ask me, ana
| since there seems to be such general
| interest in the subject l am going to
answer them to the best Of my ability
| in my space today instead Of replying to
each query personally.
| The largest literary demand of the pres
ent day, / am told, is for clever short
| stories of from 1000 to 5000 words,
especially love stories. Interesting ar
ticles on any topic of timely interest
come next in STABILITY. Poetry, espe-
| cially by unknown authors, is extremely
difficult-almost impossble-to sell. Some
maya zines actually have their poetry sup
piled gratis by people who consider the
| JOY of seeing 1t actually printed sufficient
remuneration.
The conventional methods of arrang-
| ing manuscript is something every one
| who is trying to break into this game
| ought to understand. In the first place,
have your work typewriter If you pos
sibly can. That makes it that much the
| clearer, and anything which Is clear ana
| doesn't have to be puzzled over Is much
more apt to be appreciated and accepted
| If you can't have your work typeWrltter
| write it as legibly as possible. Never
write on both sides of the paper Il
written. have the lines wide apart
typewriter, use double spacing.
Write the title on the middle OF the
first page few inches from the top
Above it in the right-hand corner
| your full name and address-in the
left hand corner it is well to put the
number of words. If you want the
manuscript returned. inclose stamps
If you write a letter to the editor
make 1t very short. simply stating tha'
you offer the inclosed manuscript to
him and that IL 1t is not accepted you
would like it returned.
Write on small sheets of paper. Never
roll your manuscript. but fold the
sheets once or lay fiat on cardboard
and send in a large envelope.
| AS to what are the best magazines tt
which to send your work: l cannot bt
definite. as circumstances alter cases
That depends wholly on the style OF
| your work Read all the magazine.
: you can get hold Of and try to de-
eide which style your own work ap
proximates the most closely.
Some people send their work tt
. story brokers, who. understanding thu
demands of the various magazines, try
to dispose Of the work for them, ant
also criticise it.
Remuneration is a subject on which
volumes could be written. Rudyart
kipling, they say. gets 81 word. Soma
small magazines and city newspaper!
pay 50 or 81 a thousand words, ant
country papers sometimes pay 81 or 5.
for the same amount Somewhere, be
tween these two extremes. is the re
Enumeration for the rest of us. Fiji
teen or twenty dollars a thousand
: words is a reasonable price for q stor!
of reputation, such as Elinor Ha1lowel
Abbot. get $500 or ST 900 for a story O
ordinary length.
You do not have to have a stor,
copyrighted before you send 1t.
AS to the time to pay--a few mag
azines pay on acceptance. many NOR,
when the article is published. Incl
dentally, you must remember that mos
magazines are made up year ahead
appear for year or two. Otter mag
aZines have stated times, such as ono.
a month or once quarter. when the,
settle all their literary bills.
There. l hope these few suggestion.
will smooth the path to fame and for
tune of many rising authors and au.
thoresses.