Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-23

upon as good-would earn him S725.
Such Is the prospective reward for ct
least q years labor In writing the novel
and the weeks or months spent in find
ing publisher. No unskilled day
laborer earns less. and the writer, it is
scarcely necessary to point out. must
have had q rather expensive education
and have served rather grueling APP
premiership.
A book that has a sale Of $4,000
copteS-and 1t would be q success that
approaches the big" class-would earn
the author q little less than $4,000, on
the royalty basis mentioned. If he were
commercially minded the author could
pick out likely location and make
more money running service station
for the motoring public. Even a book
that everybody is talking about and
everybody seems to have read may not
prove such a whale of a success for its
author for the very good reason that
every book reader is not necessarily a
book buyer. Publishers estimate that
there are at least 10 readers for every
popular book that they sell.
Where the Gravy Is Found.
But there is gravy in the writing
business for the fortunate few. Maya
zine rights, second serial rights, cheap
book editions, dramatic rights and
motion picture rights may net the
writer many glittering shekels-provided
he has been careful to retain all those
rights and is clever in marketing them,
or has a clever agent.
For instance, 1t has just been an
nounced that well known young fic-
ton writer has sold the serial rights of
Q novel to q big magazine for 10000.
In addition he may receive as much
from his book royalties, and If his story
Is adapted to the stage and screen his
returns from those sources may run to
q hundred thousand or more. Then he
has what is termed pickup" in Sec
ond serial rights, and so forth, but what
he may pick up will not be impressive.
And 1t Is to be considered that this
writer spent three and half years in
writing this novel. In commercial
activities men have made millions in
that length of time and have a busi-
ness or q product that earns them
enormous dividends for many years to
come. Suppose, also, this author had
failed to md buyer for his product.
The public, having read his work, will
say such thing Is impossible. But 1t
Is not.
An American author years ago turned
out q piece of fiction which was re-
jected by practically all magazine edi-
tors and book publishers. He was ready
to abandon hope for it, but his sister
took the manuscript and camped on an
editorial doorstep in New York until
she wore down the sales resistance there
was in that magazine ONCE and the
story was reluctantly accepted. It
turned out to be a tremendous success.
It has been dramatized and the stage
version was played by one of the great
est of American actors. It has been
movieized and was a big hit. Book
sales were immense and the story has
been published in many languages.
Discerning critics have pronounced it
q splendid piece Of work. The author
has made q considerable sum of money
out of 1t, of course, but his returns
have been but q fraction Of what other
people have made out of 1t.
So It is that people who have the big
| yen to get their thoughts written and
then have them printed in a book are
admonished by publishers to consider
the experience and wisdom of Job.
And II they will not consider that,
they might reflect upon the fact that
q woman author whose name and works
must be known to Millions of magazine
and book readers on few days ago
| filed petition in ba' suptcy.