New-York tribune., 1919-12-27
ADefense Of Delayed Books
Publishers Often Confronted With Mechanical
Obstacles In Filling Demand for More Books

manned and drilled his gang at the
paper mill, here the chemist from the
laboratory where printers ink is test
ed or there the skilled typesetter or
copy reader or bindery foreman-nay,
even the salesman and the stenographer,
all Of them items in the process which
puts ideas into concrete, readable form
in the printed book True, the war has
not drained us actually as it has
drained European countries; true that
many of our industrial workers are
coming back to their jobs; but never
theless there has been a tremendous
shifting and turnover in all forms of
labor, and it hits the maker of books
exactly as it hits the maker of boots
The publisher cannot, on the manu-
featuring side of his industry, sur
mount shortage of raw materials, shift
ing of hands s"-or, worse than that
entire lack of hands due to strikes
incidental troubles and disappoint-
agencies, etc, by any magic more
potent than patience and persistence
Not only must he meet his practical
difficulties here little and there a
little, just like any manufacturer, but
beside actual industrial setbacks he
must cope with the very source of his
business, subject to fuctuation in hu-
man brains and inspiration. Some of the
most powerful and sought-for books OF
the present and just past day have
been written i'm snatches, between bat
ties, in convalescent hospitals or re-
Used and expanded on the authors
homecoming. the latter often delayed
by his extended service. Novelists and
playwrights, essayists and poets, edi-
tors and biographers have been shifted
and turned over in common with
every human being with energy in his
veins and love of country in his heart
Who can scold if some of these peo-
pie are a bit behindhand with manu-
script or shaken out of their pre-war
concentration on given jobs, uncertain
how best to reenter industrial paths
Can the book manufacturer prod them
TO meet his hoDed-for schedule any
more successfully than the boss of
speeds up his plant? The motor man
blandly advertises that he is six months
behind time, and every one applauds
and rushcs to place an order. But let
the publisher modestly explain that q
given work is fortni ght overdue in
press or bindery and the customer Will
lift up his voice in a wall OF mingled
astonishment, anger and despair. Pa
tience, good people, whose thirst fol
literature exceeds the thirst for motion
of automobilng brethren. Make ur
your mind on the attractions of a
wanted book as firmly as on a wanted
car; tell your bookseller your plight
place your order with him and 99e
eases out of 1000 you'll be reading
that book before you even dream OF
seeing your car materialize, even ir
this year of unprecedented demand fol-
books. when not only the usual "bes'
Sellers" but even sober and expensive
volumes like Thayer's "Roosevelt" OF
DIR. Grenfell's Autobiography" have
been on press almost continually since
their publication, and when almost every
rev book of Importance has gone
through printing after printing Ane
remember. it's the publishers breat
and butter and house rent to provide
you with what you want. Not from
sulks or naughty superiority OF lazi
ness or boneheadedness does he some
times delay in getting his wares tt
market. He wants your custom, and h
wants it bad. Be sure he is doing al
he can to secure it.