port, and a month's rent paid on a two-room apartment, 1 went to work.

Well, in the eleven years that followed 1 have done nothing but write for a living, and I am still living. And, besides, I now can write in the evening, or at midnight, or during dinner, with a fork in one hand and my pencil in the other. I wish I had known that eleven years ago! Brentano's Book Chat. Urner. Mabel Herbert Urner (Mrs. Lathrop Colgate Harper) has written more than 750 "Helen and Warren" stories - 750 married life stories about the same two characters, each with a separate and distinct plot, an achievement that would seem almost impossible. "She has taken up the everyday life of an average American couple," says Rosalie Armistead Higgins, in the Editor and Publisher," and while investing the narrative with all the intimacy of an actual recital of facts, she preserves the charm of romanticism."

"I am a plodder," Mrs. Harper says, "and I work with my secretary every day from nine until five without interruption. Each story is re-written from six to eight times a laborious eliminating and condensing process. Before the final copy is made every word is challenged; every sentence is reduced to its most economical and effective phrasing. I write full and then cut, put in the detail, then take it out; and curiously much of the atmosphere of what is taken out remains. To keep the dialogue crisp and natural my stenographer reads each speech again and again. I use no encumbering he said' or 'she exclaimed.' When necessary to designate the speaker always a more pictorial or suggestive word can be used, as 'he ridiculed,' 'she evaded,' 'grumbled Helen,' 'rebelled Warren.' This makes for economy by eliminating the usual qualifying adverb. It is only with infinite pains, infinite care as to detail, and persistent, untiring effort that these tabloid stories are written."

CURRENT LITERARY TOPICS.

Wanted, Tingling Short Stories.-"The rara avis in the realm of letters," says the Double Dealer, "is beyond doubt the short

story. Despite the double fact that every fresh-water college in America offers a 'shortstory course' to the student aspirant and that the great commercial weeklies and monthlies literally get down on their knees and beg for them, tendering bribes almost tempting enough to lure a corporation lawyer away from his portfolios, the good short story remains unwritten.

"One popular weekly, we are told, pays a minimum of five cents the word for a short story. In a case where the writer has attained a vogue, the compensation is at ten cents the word, and sometimes more. When we consider that the modern story varies in length from thirty-five hundred to twelve thousand words this compensation' is not entirely to be despised. Poor Poe, now living, would reap a nice harvest with his average tale of ten thousand little etymons. Ten or twenty dollars per was the best he received.

And yet, and yet

"During the last six months of arduous (?) labor, the editors of this 'jaunty little journal,' have received an average of no less than two short stories per diem. Notwithstanding our newness and isolation they pour in upon us from all parts of terra America -Seattle, Bangor, Cheyenne, Mattawan, Biloxi, Pensacola, Kansas City, Baton Rouge, Cincinnati, Bogalusa, Chicago and Manhattan for the most part neatly typed, forty-five hundred to six thousand-word contes pathétiques submitted by John and Mary (better Lionel and Ethelyn) This and That, 'at usual rates, serial rights only.'" Out of this thesauric mine of material, upwards of three hundred ' valiant verbosities,' what have we found? One rather dreary oriental affair by a well known writer who 'gets his price,' so he informs us, but as a concession to our enterprise proffers his ware to us at the ridiculously low rate of five hundred American eagles; one idealistic bit, of fantasy by a young woman who has done some nice work, but in this instance must have been suffering from a slight attack of cerebralitis; and one little forty-five-hundred-word first attempt (a good one at that) which we printed in our last issue.

"Please, gentle contributors, leave off for a fortnight your making of pretty lyrics, facile

feuilletons, satirical essays, pungent paragraphs and sophisticated abstractions in the 'modern' manner. Surprise us the next time, if you will, with a good, tingling yarn."

A Colyumist's Removal to a New Office.— To-day the office manager, the man who wears a doubtful smile and is kind to colyumists, came to my room and did look long looks at me. I said why are you looking those looks in my direction? He said, "We are going to make you move moves to a new office." I did speak prayer words in a quick way. Two janitors with understanding hearts came in and made divides of my rolltop. They said in a nice way, "What shall we do with all these papers?" I did have queer feels. We did put all the papers in Gilbert Keith Chesterton, my dear packing case. Sad feels was upon me, when I saw that all the unanswered letters and all the poems from those nice clients were mixed up together. They are most sweet clients, and their ways are ways of gentleness. I did take Victor Smith Remington Underwood, my friendly typewriter, under one arm, and Frank Adams Don Marquis, the big scrapbook, under another, and Amy Lowell, my ash tray, under another, and balanced Jessie Rittenhouse, my letter file, on my head, and Ezra Pound, my waste paper basket, on one shoulder, and did go goes to my new office. This office has an interest look. I did put dear Gilbert Keith Chesterton on the floor and did screwtineyes the papers he was full of. George Washington Jones and Thomas Jefferson Smith, those nice janitors, did set up Horace Greeley, my most dear old desk, in the new room. I said, that is fine, but now the desk is in there, where is there any space for me? It is a most cosey little room when there is nobody in it. The office manager, who has an interest in life, said, "Here is a nice radiator, and when the steam is turned off you can sit on that." I did look long looks at that radiator. He made gentle hissing sounds in a hot way. I named him Gehenna. After I did pray quite a long time I started to work works and clean up my things. And now I do have most of my necessaries, including William Cullen Bryant, that most dear pipe, in the room. I did sit down by Gehenna, that most active radia

The Large Sale of Popular Fiction.Figures showing the sale of popular works of fiction were given by Herbert F. Jenkins of the publishing firm of Little, Brown, & Co.,. in an address at the annual convention of the American Library Association. Years ago "Richard Carvill" made a record of 659,000 · copies sold. Now Harold Bell Wright and Gene Stratton Porter are the twin stars of the popular fiction firmament, the former with a total sale of 7,250,000 up to the first of the year, and the latter with a record of 8,132,432 up to June. The late Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna books, with a combined sale of 753,000, established the Pollyanna school fiction. Zane Grey was king of best sellers of 1920, with his million copies annually. O. Henry did not live to witness the popularity of his volumes of stories - now past the 4,500,000 mark. The increasing vogue of Joseph G. Lincoln's Cape Cod stories has resulted in a demand for approximately 2,500,000 copies. The American sales alone of E. Phillips Oppenheim exceed 2,000,000 copies; while Mary Roberts Rinehart is in the 300,000-a-year class.

f

Authors and Their Earnings. — Chatterton perished miserably in his garret; Milton sold "Paradise Lost" for twenty-five dollars, Goldsmith was reduced to wheedling small loans; but Pope was an example of one who knew how to make poetry pay, and lived affluently from his literary earnings in his Twickenham villa.

It remained, however, for the nineteenth and twentieth cen uries to bring authorship to fruition as a money-winning profession. Figures best tell a story and its contrasts. For example, Dickens, who spent lavishly in his lifetime, left an estate amounting to nearly half a million dollars. Had there been in existence an international copyright, the great American popularity of Dickens would have

doubled his earnings. As it was, his pen earned a steady ten thousand pounds a year from the time "The Pickwick Papers" and Sam Weller launched Dickens on the wave of fame.

66

Dickens's prosperity had a tendency to irritate his contemporary, Thackeray, but, toward the end of his life Thackeray, too, began to enjoy large rewards. For every one of the short Roundabout Papers" which he contributed to the Cornhill he was paid one hundred pounds (about $500). But the novel that many hold to be far and away his best, "Henry Esmond," he sold outright for the sum of one thousand pounds ($5,000 ). Even that inadequate return for a masterpiece was satisfactory to him. Compared with his meager pen earnings the year before from "Vanity Fair," it seemed a rich reward.

The great French contemporaries of Dickens and Thackeray enjoyed varying degrees of financial prosperity. The prodigal Dumas, though often without a single gold-piece in his pocket, made, in the day of his popularity, between sixty and eighty thousand dollars a year. Balzac was a consistent money winner with his pen, though his earnings were usually mortgaged long in advance through his fondness for embarking in visionary ventures. But Eugene Sue was the glaring example of conspicuous financial success. He was paid twenty thousand dollars for the right to print his "Mysteries of Paris" in daily installments. A fabulous price for the day, but so popular did the tale prove that copies of the newspaper were not sold, but rented out at ten sous for half an hour. Practically the same terms were received by Sue for "The Wandering Jew." On the other hand, a book destined long to outlive all Sue's novels, Murger's famous "Bohemia," was sold outright for twenty dollars.

Hard was the plight of most of the early Americans who depended upon their pens for a living, Washington Irving being the conspicuous exception. For "The Gold Bug" Poe received $100, but that was the prizewinning story in a competition. Many of Poe's most fantastic tales were sold for five dollars apiece. So, considering his vast production in a brief lifetime, it is plain that it was inadequate payment rather than lack of

173

industry that was responsible for his habitual destitution.

To turn to the moderns, either of today or of recent yesterdays. Prodigious moneymakers of the eighteen-eighties were the novels of Archibald Clavering Gunter. His first novel, "Mr. Barnes of New York," was rejected as hopelessly unfit by nearly every publishing house in America before the author brought it out at his own expense and disposed of two million copies. Another great "seller" of the eighties was "Ben Hur." There was, in Indianapolis, an apartment house popularly known as the "Ben Hur flats" for the reason that Gen. Lew Wallace had erected it with part of the profits derived from the famous book.

About twenty-five years ago everyone was talking of "Trilby." The fame of the book was largely American made, just as it was an American who persuaded George du Maurier to forsake for awhile his Punch pencil, and try his pen. Du Maurier's first novel, "Peter Ibbetson," was financially only moderately successful. Then he wrote "Trilby," and was astonished and delighted when a New York publishing house offered him $10,000 for the American rights. Later the publishers generously cancelled the original agreement, substituting a royalty basis that vastly augmented the author's earnings from the book. Fifty thousand dollars was the price paid for the American rights of Du Maurier's last novel, The Martian."

Stevenson was poorly paid till near the end of his life. In his last two years he had to do "the labor of an elephant," as he expressed it, to support his establishment at Vailima, Samoa. The real return from his books came after his death, posthumous royalties amounting to approximately $25,000 a year for a long period. Once Kipling tried vainly to sell some of his best Indian tales for fifty dollars apiece. Now he can command $5,000 for the American rights of a short story. When his rate reached a shilling a word a man sent him a shilling postal order with a request for a sample return. Kipling complied with the word "Thanks." For the first Sherlock Holmes story, "A Study in Scarlet," Conan Doyle was paid $125, or at the rate of about a quarter of a cent a word. For a later series

66

D.

HANDBOOK FOR NEWSPAPER WORKERS. By Grant Milnor Hyde. 224 Cloth. New York: pp. Appleton & Company. 1921. This "Handbook for Newspaper Workers," by the author of Newspaper Reporting and Correspondence" and "Newspaper Editing," is a desk book prepared for office use, and treats of grammatical difficulties, punctuation, faulty English, words and trite phrases to be avoided and words and phrases commonly misused (alphabetical lists filling twenty pages), journalistic structure, typographical style, accuracy, clean copy, copyreading and proofreading, headlines, type, the handling of pictures and cuts, libel, and other matters of newspaper office practice. An index makes the information of the book easily accessible. HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK TIMES - 1851-1921. By Elmer Davis, of the New York Times editorial staff. Illustrated. 434 pp. Cloth. New York: The New York Times. 1921.

The New York Times is generally regarded as the leading American newspaper today. For a quarter of a century it has been under the management of Adolph S. Ochs, who has made it what it is, taking control of the paper when it was in the hands of a receiver and making it one of the most prosperous and influential newspapers in the United States. This story of the Times since its foundation seventy years ago and particularly since it came into the hands of Mr. Ochs is one of thrilling interest, and an especially valuable contribution to the philosophy as well as to the history of journalism. The Introduction by Mr. Ochs is a modest statement of the purposes

64

which he has achieved since he took charge of the paper, which was then running at a loss of $1,000 a day, and with the investment of only $200,000 new capital has made it produce a gross annual income of $15,000,000 a year. He has reason to take pride in saying: The gross income for the period of twentyfive years has been, in round figures, $100,000000, every dollar of which, less an average of $125,000 a year withdrawn from the business. and distributed as dividends, has been expended in making the Times what it is today. Not one dollar of the $100,000,000 was a gift or a gratuity, but every cent a legitimate newspaper income. So far as the management of the Times is concerned, we can say without fear of any contradiction that never a line appeared in its columns to pay a real or an imaginary debt or to gain expected favBest of all, the improvement of the Times from the reader's point of view has kept pace steadily with the material progress of the paper. What this means is set forth in an entertaining way in the chapter, "Conservatism, Independence, Democracy," discussing the editorial policies of the Times, and in the chapter on Modern News-gathering."

ors."

1921.

RULES FOR COMPOSITORS AND READERS AT THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS. By Horace Hart, M.A. Twenty-sixth edition. 120 pp. Paper. New York: Oxford University Press. A valuable reference book for writers is this little manual of rules for the guidance of the compositors and proofreaders of the Oxford University Press, which, originally published in 1893, has now reached its twentysixth revised and enlarged edition. Innumerable practical questions of typographical style are answered in its pages, and there are valuable chapters on style in printing works in French, Italian, and German.

HAITI. Its Dawn of Progress after Years of Night in a Revolution. By J. Dryden Kuser. 108 pp. Cloth. Boston Richard G. Badger. 1921.

The story of Haiti and of conditions and customs there is told from a traveler's point of view by Mr. Kuser in this book, which is illustrated with a score of half-tone pictures. In the chapter, "Every Man's Land," the author gives the history of the country, with the interesting story of Toussaint l'Ouverture, whose death deprived him of the chance of becoming the founder of the Haitian republic, an honor which went to Dessalines, one of Toussaint's generals, who, Mr. Kuser says, is known everywhere today as the founder of Haitian independence, and is far more revered than Toussaint as the great national hero. Another interesting charter is devoted to Voodooism, and the book is full of information about present-day life in Haiti. Anybody who wants to know, or especially to write, about Haiti should read this book. As for the withdrawal of the United States from

It

The fact that with the rapid extension of libraries within the United States there is a shortage of trained librarians to fill positions paying from $1,500 to $3,000 a year makes this book one of special interest to those who are thinking of library work as a career. is the only book available describing different kinds of libraries - public, proprietary and subscription, school, special, agricultural, business, financial, law, medical and institutional, technical, theological, and state, legislative reference and municipal reference libraries from the point of view of the prospective librarian, giving facts useful to those who contemplate entering this profession. The author explains what one must do to begin, how to go about it, and what one may expect as a result of his labors.

ALL ABOUT HAWAII. By Daniel Logan. Illustrated. 56 pp., octavo. Boards. Boston: Chapple Publishing Company. 1921.

Mr. Logan's authoritative book about Hawaii is written with knowledge gained by a residence of thirty-six years in Honolulu, where his journalistic experience rounded out forty-six years of writing for the press and fifty-three years as a member of the printing craft. The book answers the questions most commonly asked about Hawaii by visitors on the ground and persons abroad, giving a compact summary of the attractions, industries, commerce, institutions, and people of the islands. It is illustrated with fine half-tone pictures, which make it an album of Hawaiian scenes. It is the best book available about Hawaii.

JOAN AND PETER. By H. G. Wells. 594 pp. Cloth. New York. The Macmillan Company. 1921.

"Joan and Peter," one of the author's most successful novels, is now issued by the original publishers in a new popular edition sold for a dollar a most attractive price nowadays for a complete novel, well printed n good paper and attractively bound in cioth

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[ Readers who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed for copies of the periodicals containing the articles mentioned in the following reference list will confer a favor if they will mention THE WRITER.]

CONFESSIONS OF A MUSIC CRITIC. W. J. Henderson. Scribner's for November.

WOOD-BLOCK PRINTING TO-DAY. Illustrated.. Frank Weitenkamp. Scribner's for November. THE MENACE ΤΟ JOURNALISM. Roscoe C. E.. Brown. North American Review for November. AMERICAN SPEECH AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Archi-. bald Marshall. North American Review for November.

A NEAPOLITAN SONNETEER (Salvatore di Giacomo). Ruth Shepard Phelps. North American Review forNovember.

MAURICE DOUNAY AND HIS PASSING SHOW. Virginia Taylor McCormick. North American Review for November.

THE SOUL OF SWINBURNE. Augustus Ralli. North, American Review for November.

JOHNSON AND WORDSWORTH IN THE HIGHLANDS. E. S. Roscoe. North American Review for Novem-ber. THE LITERARY SPOTLIGHT. I - Louis Untermeyer. With portrait. Bookman for October. GEORGE ADE. With portrait. Thomas L. Masson.. Bookman for October.

IRISH POETRY. Padraic Colum. Bookman for Oc.. tober.

THE SINS OF Book REVIEWERS. Henry Seidel Canby. Bookman for October.

EDGAR SALTUS: A POSTSCRIPT. Carl Van Vechten.. Double Dealer for October.

"SERIOUS" USES OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE. John Van Alstyne Weaver. Double Dealer for October.

ARTHUR SYMONS AND THE PURITANS. Howard' Mumford Jones. Double Dealer for October. PUTTING A CRIMP IN WRITER'S CRAMP. Betty Knight. Physical Culture for October.

FRIEDRICH ROSEN. Current Opinion for October. WHY GENUINE POEMS RARELY MAKE GOOD SONGS. W. J. Turner. Reprinted from the New Statesmanin Current Opinion for October.

THE MYSTERY OF HERMAN MELVILLE. With por-trait. Current Opinion for October.

EMILIA PARDO BAZÁN. Manuel Gálvez. InterAmerica for October.

HOW TO WRITE A PLAY. (Interview with Avery Hopwood.) John Van Doren. Theatre Magazine for October.

THE SCENE IS LAID. Brander Matthews. Theatre Magazine for October.

JOHN GOULD FLETCHER. With portrait. Mrs. K. G. Writer Tallqvist. Arkansas for SeptemberOctober. THE ART OF THE THEATRE. Delmar J. Edmondson. Drama for August-September.

THE PHILOSOPHIC BASIS OF THE GERMAN DRAMA. Huntley Carter. Drama for August-September. CLINTON T. BRAINARD. President of Harper & Brothers. With portraits. Bookseller and Stationer for October 1.

THE PROGRESS OF POETRY. Thomas Walsh. Nation for September 14 and 21.

THE PANTOMIME AND THE PICTURE. Alfred B.. Kuttner. Nation for October 5.

THE INDEPENDENT MERGES. Nation for October 5..