The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-08-23
My Career
By ESTHER VANDEVEER

My name is Arietta Hope. l consist
of 400 pages, with a good deal on a
page. l am of two kinds, printed mat.
ter and girl The girl part is heroine
and the paper part is book. But since
the heroine part is the living half l
consider myself Arietta Hope
My maker is a woman of thlrty-five,
an age at which one may be expected
to have attained to a correct knowl-
edge of her sex. Yet since she did not
issue me under her own name, but the
assumed name of man, Edgar Har-
ding, she is not only unknown to those
who have read me, but unless she is
betrayed by certain feminine traits
displayed in me she Is supposed to be
Marceline. When my maker had fin
isbed me she sent me the round Of
publishers through the express com
panies, so that she did not make her
self known to them. However, she re-
quested as an especial favor that they
would send her the criticisms of their
"readers," these persons being employ
ed to read manuscripts and report to
the publisher whether each in their
opinion would be a profitable book for
them to publish. The publishers usu-
ally paid very little attention to my
makers request, though a few did.
These criticisms were almost always
where the reader" had made some
facehous remark about the story. The
first one my maker received was as
follows:
"Mr. Harding has written a long
story purporting to portray a woman.
The author must have written the
book with a mirror before him. Wheth-
er he has portrayed himself or not is
not apparent, but certain it is that
he has painted q man in petticoats.
Arietta Hope gives every evidence Of
having been constructed by one of the
male sex. l would decline it."
Long after the receipt of the criti-
cism my maker made the acquaintance
of this critic and found him to be a
young man still in his teens.
My maker, having spent two years
upon me, at the same time studying
different women from whom she drew
certain feminine traits which she in
stilled into me, was much discouraged.
If the representative Of a prominent
publishing house had mistaken her
heroine for petticoated man, what
dreadful failure she must have made!
She put me in a closet and looked me
up with the intention of never taking
me out again. But some one told her
that Dodson & Co. were booking for
novels-not Of the fiashy type, but stud
les of character-and she decided to
submit me to them. So l was sent by
express, a letter going by mail beg
ging the firm to give her some idea of
the merits and demeritS-especially the
latter-of the story. The manuscript
was returned to her, accompanied by
letter, in which the writer courteously
explained to her that more than 80 per
cent Of the novels published were read
by women. Women required stories
that showed the feminine touch. Mr..
Harding had shown high literary ex-
cellence, but he had not succeeded in
portraying a woman.
My maker determined that when she
sent me out again she would adopt
feminine nom de plume. She made a
new title page, with Edith Granger on
1t instead of Edgar Harding, and dis
patched me to the Parkington Publish
ing company. She was again success
full in eliciting courteous reply, which
included the readers report. 1t was as
follows:
1.-The author has given a picture of a
woman who is sure to antagonize her
own sex. Arietta Hope is altogether
too feminine for heroine. In reading
about her we would surmise, did we
not know to the contrary, that she had
been drawn by a man, so many Of
those volatile traits common to wom-
en- are found in her-traits that men
love TO ridicule."
Good graciousw exclaimed my MAX
er when she read this. "Then I've
jumped from the frying pan into the
freT
My maker determined upon one more
effort, and If that failed she was re-
solved to burn me. She sent me to
Lttleton Brothers. Within few days
she received letter from the firm
stating bluntly that they would not
care to publish me at their own risk,
but If she would pay the cost of pub
lication they would put their imprint
on the title page Of the book, publish
ing it as their own.
My maker having all a woman's Gu
riosity, desiring to discover who was
right about the book, accepted the con-
ditions. She sent the publishers
check, and they published me.
was long while getting before the
public, bat l succeeded in the end
Certain men recommended me because
they said l was a mans woman, and
eertain women spoke we'll of me be-
cause they said l was woman's wo-
man. This at last gave me a start,
and as l pleased both men and wo-
men took in all there was except the
children ANYWAY karff provino and