Springfield Globe Republic

WRITING FOR A MAGAZINE
The Thorns That Beset the Pathway of
Those Ambitious for Literary Fame.

Magazine writing is often mentioned
as a source of profit to litterateurs, but
it is a very limited industry. There are
scarcely half a dozen magazines for
mature readers in the whole Republic,
and he who should appear in all their
pages once a month would seem to be
everlastingly before the public. Hardly
any one contributor is so often in print;
but, if he should be, $900 to $1,200
would be a very generous estimate of
his annual earnings. Nobody outside
the profession has any idea how the
magazines are crowded, and what
masses of MSS. the editors continually
receive. Each periodical has sufficient
accepted matter on hand to publish it
for at least two years, without any addition
to the stock. Consequently the
editors have a habit of returning all
articles regardless of the writers unless
they have been pre-engaged. There is
barely a chance for a new writer, even
if he writes exceedingly well, so great
and incessant is the pressure. A man
who should talk of supporting himself
by contributing to the magazines would
be regarded here as a man who should
talk of gaining a livelihood by picking
up gold eagles in Broadway.

There are fewer magazines than there
have been, and the opportunities for
writers are, therefore, materially less.
Some of them do not pay much more than
half what they used to, and are presumed
to be issued at a steady loss. In
truth, only two of the number are really
prosperous, and they cover the
ground that eight or ten would ordinarily
cover. Several of the monthlies
that have expired richly deserved death,
so badly were they managed, so odiously
unjust were they to contributors.
Their rule was never to pay until publication,
which might be within a season
or a year, or several years. The
poor contributor might starve or commit
suicide meantime, if he chose to;
that was no affair of the editor, always
obliged to pay the publisher and his
exactions. Not infrequently, long after
its acceptance, an article would be sent
back as if it had been rejected, and it
was useless to present the facts. No
redress could be obtained. When an
article had been written to order, and
there had been meanwhile a change in
the editor's mind or the publisher's
opinion, the writer would have to suffer,
of course. His MS. would be returned
and the blame put on him, although
he had fulfilled every condition
to the last iota. A paper would be
carefully prepared by request, with the
assurance that it should appear the
next month, and it might not appear
in twelve months - perhaps not at all.
When the writer would protest against
such violation of a promise, he would
be graciously told that he could take
away his article when he liked. But
no hint of recompense or reparation
would be conveyed. The editor acting
for the publisher was so accustomed to
the grossest injustice as to seem unconscious
of doing wrong.

The editor of a very clever, though
peculiarly administered monthly, was
so wanting in decision that he printed
this form for the benefit of contributors:

DEAR SIR - Your article has been accepted;
but if you should wish at any time to
withdraw it, you may do so by applying
for it, giving the number (as here
in stated). Respectfully yours,

The Editor

Magazines are not so bad as they
formerly were, but they are bad enough,
from the writer's point of view. Some
of them still refuse to pay on acceptance
- the only equitable method, since
it is plain that a worker should receive
his wages when his work is done.
What inducement is there to prepare
an article if one cannot tell when one
will get the money for it? Articles unpaid
for are notoriously naturally neglected
and delayed, and often allowed
to spoil by the passage of time, in
which case the author bears the entire
loss. On him, indeed, the whole burden
and responsibility are placed, and
he is made answerable generally for
every editorial mistake and all the publisher's
vagaries.

Some writers, who are practical and
business-like in their dealings with
publishers, try to make such arrangements
as will prevent them from suffering
disadvantage. But, despite every
precaution and a clear understanding,
they are put periodically in the wrong
and deprived of their proper dues. A
well-known magazinist declares that,
in a long series of years, he has never had
a completely satisfactory transaction
with a magazine editor. Attempts of
some kind were apt to be made to get
the better of him, and if they had failed
of success, it was, he says, on account of
his stubborn resistance. His
experience has been unfortunate.

Many contributors of my acquaintance
attest that they have never had an unpleasantness
with any periodical they
have written for. They have been fortunate,
for misunderstandings with editors,
to put it mildly, are by no means
uncommon.

The editors who are accused of acting
so queer are, it may be supposed,
but doing the behests of their employers,
on whom their situations depend.
Frequently, no doubt, they are simply
agents, and ought not to be censured,
perhaps, unless it be for lack of candor.
In behalf of one magazine there is universal
testimony. Every man and woman
who has had business with it is its
ardent eulogist.

The prices paid by periodicals vary.
The best rate is supposed to be $10 a
printed page, the page ranging from
700 to 1,000 words. But more than
this is often allowed, as high as $13,
and occasionally $20. On the other
hand, $6 and $9 a page is often thought
sufficient compensation. When a particular
contributor is in active demand,
and has been specially engaged, he is
handsomely treated. When a man is
anxious to be a contributor, his pathway
is likely to be full of thorns. - Junius
Henri Browne in Louisville Courier-Journal.