The sun., 1919-05-18


wounds, once more.
Spring is come upon US to cut and wound and
back
We weep now for the heartbreak we have spent
the years concealing.
There is sobbing in the nighttime, now that
Springs come back.
But, ah the hand that hurts us will surely
bring us healing.
Copyright, 1919 By Mary Carolyn Davies.
WHAT EVERY PUBLISHER KNOWS.
rT>HE one thing that every publisher knows, so
Il far as an humble experience can deduce. Is
that what is called general publishing mean
ing fiction and other books of general appeals
highly speculative enterprise and hardly business
at all. The clearest analogy seems to be with the
theatrical business. Producing books and produc-
ing plays is terrifyingly alike. Full Of risks: Re
curing, unless genius is manifested, considerable
money capital. Likely to make, and Tar more likely
to lose small fortunes overnight. Fatally
fascinating More an art than an organization, but
usually requiring organization for the exhibition
of the most brilliant art-like opera. a habit COM
parable with hasheesh Heart hftlng-and mead
achy. Twas the night before publication and all
through the house not creature was stirring not
clear and recorder for fifty more copies came in
the afternoon mail -. Absentmindedly the
publisher bridegroom pulled contract instead OF
the wedding ring from his pocket with this
ROYALTY thee wed,'' he murmured. And so she
was published and they lived happily ever after
until she left him because he did not clothe the
children suitably, using green cloth with purple
stamping.
Rool,
A fine old publishing house once went back over
tbe record of about 1900 published books. This
was rather conservative firm as little of gambler
as possible; its books had placed it, in every re-
spect, in the first rank of publishing houses.
Of the 1000 books just one in ten had made any
stable amount of money. The remaining 1850
had either lost money, broken even, or made sums
smaller than the interest on the money tied up In
them. Most of the 120 profitable books had been
highly profitable; it will not surprise you to learn
this when you reflect that these lucrative books had
each to foot the BILL more or less, for nine others.
So much for the analysis of figures. But what lay
behind the fguresf In some cases it was possible
to tell why particular book had sold. More often
it wasn't. Is this business?
Mr. Jenkinson's Novel.
THoRwA1D AIEMBERr JENKINsoN has book
published. It's not bad book, either; very good
novel as matter of fact Sales rather poor. Mr..
.JENKINsoNs publisher takes his next book with
natural reluctance buoyed up by the certitude that
this is better story and has in it elements that
promise popularity. The publishers salesman goes
on the road In Dodge City, Iowa, let US say he
enters booksellers and begins to talk the new
.enkinson novel, At the sound of his voice and the
sight of the dummy the bookseller lifts repellng
hands and backs away in horror. r
''Stoek thati'' asks the bookseller rhetoricay.
''Not on your lifel Why with gesture toward
one shelf, there's his first book. Twenty copies
and only two sold!''
The new Jenkinson novel has a wretched advance
sale Readers, not seeing it in the boOkshops, may
yet call for it when they read review-not neces-
sarily a favorable account--or when they see it
advertised. If Mr. JENKINsoN wrote histories or