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Art. 8.-AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS.

The Truth about Publishing. By Stanley Unwin. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1926.

THERE used to be a belief in a perennial feud between authors and publishers, but I think it was always regarded as a matter for jest rather than for serious discussion. Out of it arose the oft-repeated but fictitious story of Byron's Bible-and the amended verse, 'Now Barabbas was a publisher.' I have the Bible in question which belonged to Lord Byron and no emendation occurs in it, but I use the word 'fictitious' solely in regard to my grandfather, for my father often told me that the joke was made by Campbell, in regard to another publisher— who shall be nameless. It is true that Byron, in his dealings with John Murray, varied in his attitude between signing himself Yours affectionately,' and calling his publisher 'a rugged rhinoceros,' but that was Byron's 'pretty way,' and the world knows what good friends they really were.

I have now had fifty-three years of unbroken association with authors of all ranks and all qualities, and have studied the private correspondence of a century before my day, and can say with all sincerity that the very few disputes which are found in those records and experiences, are sufficient only to add an ingredient of sauce piquante to what might otherwise become an almost monotonous tale of personal friendship and harmony.

For some reason which I cannot explain there used to be a tradition of secrecy about the dealings of a publisher, which naturally gave rise to suspicion, but except for works which require anonymity and therefore confidence and silence, this has long passed away, and if any wisps of fog still hang about, it is to be hoped that Mr Unwin's book will dispel them.

It is in fact an excellent book, based on a full knowledge of all processes which go to the production and publication of a book and written with a clearness of style and freedom from prejudice which should commend it to readers. I wish that all authors, present and prospective, would read it, as this would tend to remove much heart-burning and vexation, but I fear they will

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not do so; to have a grievance is so much easier than to probe it to the bottom and thereby find out if it really exists.

I repeat that authors (a word which of course includes authoresses) are delightful people to deal with, but as a class they suffer from two serious drawbacks, with astonishing uniformity. These drawbacks are 'preconceived notions' and 'friends.'

I will take the friends first. Let us imagine a lady, well known in society and charming in every way, but with literary ability inferior to Sir Walter Scott and George Eliot. She writes a novel which is reviewed in a negative and colourless tone of praise, but does not sell. She tells this to her friends, who at once say, 'Is your book really out? I have never seen it, your publisher has done nothing to make it known.' That the speaker has never looked out for a book advertisement in his life counts for nothing. Evidently the want of success is the publisher's fault. Or the friend may have read the book, and being a shrewd man may have formed a just estimate of its merits, but if he is asked by the fair author for his opinion he must praise it. What else can he do? Again the blame is laid on the publisher.

A short time ago I received a letter from an author, in circumstances such as I have described. 'I have consulted some of my literary friends and they tell me that it is only the publisher who can push the work.' He overlooks the fact that the publisher is just as much interested in promoting the sale as is the author-perhaps more so as he takes all the financial risk-but that he is powerless to force reviewers to review, or booksellers to buy-or readers to read what they don't want.

I have often tried to trace the origin of sudden and great popularity-when the general public suddenly begins to talk about a book, and I can find no satisfactory answer. Advertising alone will not do it; neither will favourable reviews, though a real 'cut up' sometimes has led to financial success.

It used to be said that Mr Gladstone could work this wonder, and that he had done it in the case of 'Robert Elsmere,' but I know of two cases in which he used his utmost efforts in vain. They were the 'Life of Susan Dabney Smedes,' a member of an old family of English

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descent in the Southern States of America, and the 'Life of Daniel O'Connell.' This last was a book which engrossed him for a time-he wrote articles about it, made a speech about it, and told all his friends about it, but from a pecuniary point of view it was a failure.

Among preconceived notions there is one which is almost universal and almost ineradicable, viz. that publishers do not advertise their books nearly enough.

Now this question of book advertising is an extraordinarily difficult one. Each book must bear its own burden. Here is an example.

A publisher prints a certain number of copies of a book, and these cost him, let us say for the sake of example, 100l. to produce. If all the copies printed be sold they will realise a fixed sum-say 180l. The difference of 801. has to pay for advertising and profit: if the publisher spends say 50l. of this in advertising and out of the remaining 30l. has to pay the author, as well as his own share of profit (out of which has to come the charge of warehousing, insurance, staff, bad debts, etc.), the venture is obviously not worth his consideration, even if the whole edition is sold.

Sometimes an author has been so convinced that he is right, and his publisher wrong, that he has said, Very well, I will lay out 107. or 207. of my own on advertising. Supposing his book to be priced at 15s., then 10s. per copy is the price paid by booksellers for each copy, and at least twenty copies must be sold as the direct result of the expenditure in order to cover the expense. In no single case have I known this to succeed. This question is very fully dealt with by Mr Unwin, and those who desire to understand it had better consult his book.

If an author is paid a royalty it is sometimes difficult to persuade him or her that the publisher may have realised a loss, and now and then when persuasion has seemed desirable I have shown the figures, but whether even this has carried conviction, I cannot say. It may be that this arises from the difficulty in understanding what the Americans call overhead expenses.' It is obvious to all that to print and bind a book costs much money, but some say, ' When the book is ready, surely it can't cost anything to sell it.' They forget that a

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Lipublisher has to pay rent, rates, and taxes; to maintain a large staff; to insure his goods; to run the risk of bad debts, etc., and that all this has to be paid for out of his 'profits'- -in other words, that every pound he receives becomes 10s. or 158. before it is turned to the payment of authors, printers, binders, and so forth.

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In this connexion I have often had to defend the booksellers from the attacks of authors. They divide the proceeds of sales into fractions and show that what they regard as a disproportionately large share goes to the bookseller, but they forget that it is not one bookseller we are dealing with, but many hundreds, and every one of them has to bear his own independent overhead expenses' and to keep a very large stock which is specially liable to deterioration and to becoming dead.

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I do not propose to dwell longer on these and similar details but will now turn to other aspects of the question.

Some forty or fifty years ago the late Sir Walter Besant laid hold of certain abuses which undoubtedly did exist in the book trade, and with the best intentions in the world, started a raging campaign-or crusadeagainst all publishers. Like all eager reformers he had a touch of the fanatic and could only see his own side of the question. Controversy raged; his facts were often disputed and his arguments refuted. I doubt if he could ever have passed a rudimentary examination in the subjects about which Mr Unwin writes, but he founded the Authors Society on the general broad premises that all authors are shorn lambs and all publishers are ravening wolves. That society has grown in wisdom, and unquestionably does useful work, for there are, or there have been, publishers, even in very recent years, whose practices can hardly be regarded as a credit to the trade. In due course the publishers and the booksellers formed their own societies, a step which has led to more open dealing all round; to removal of many unworthy suspicions, and to the benefit of all concerned.

I have had many dealings both personal and official with the chairmen of the Society of Authors and look back on them with unmixed pleasure and satisfaction, for they recognise that our interests are in the main interdependent and not conflicting.

The authors and publishers, after long discussion and

negotiation, have now come to a general understanding as to the principles, terms, and conditions on which publishing contracts should be based. This has been a long step towards friendly relations. Of course, cases differ widely, and no form of contract for universal application has been or can be framed.

Of the various methods in existence, I should say that the worst is the purchase of a copyright, which must almost invariably be a gambling speculation, and the most equitable is a profit-sharing arrangement, always provided (and this is most important) that the author is not living from hand to mouth, and that the publisher is honest in all his dealings.

My father, who like myself lived from birth intimately in an atmosphere of publishing and books, always used to warn me against purchasing copyrights as no one can estimate their value beforehand, and one party or the other is sure to be dissatisfied with the ultimate result.

After my father's death, Sir Henry Layard, who was one of his most intimate friends, said to me, 'When I first came home from Nineveh I went to your father, and as I wanted money I asked him to give me 2501. for my MS. He refused to do this, but published it at his own expense, giving me a handsome share of the profit. The first year I received 1500l., and in no one of the fifty years which have passed since then, have I failed to receive something.'

Publishing on commission (i.e. at the author's expense) is a most unsatisfactory method. The amount of commission used to be 10 per cent. and is now, owing to increased cost, generally 15 per cent., but unless the sales are large the proceeds barely suffice to cover a publisher's establishment expenses, and authors may as well realise the fact that books likely to win profit or even credit are not likely to be turned down' by a publisher, who generally has some business acumen.

When Lord Campbell published the first volume of his Lives of the Lord Chancellors my father took the risk, and the book proved an unexpected success. Thereupon when the succeeding volumes appeared Lord Campbell brought them out on commission which proves (what no one ever doubted) that he was a thorough Scotsman.

The mention of his name recalls an answer given to

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