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Untitled Article
partly from curiosity , and still more from provocation , people exclaim * what is this book so incessantly haunting me , turn which way I will V—others by profuse expenditure , either in gross or insidiously-conveyed puffs and paragraphs , in the *
independent'journals , have sought to take by storm or stratagem , that general opinion which , like a citadel of deaf stone , had hitherto remained impervious to all rational means of attack ; some by acting on the notion that good books need no advertisement after their first introduction bv the periodical Dress tisement after their first introduction by the periodical press
: ; others b y the contrary position , that all books of a good title , are nearly equal in their effect—the contents being of secondary importance—provided the publisher knew how to ' work a book / as the veteran Colburn technically expresses it ; all these
and numerous ' unheard-of manoeuvres , fancies , and anticipations , have been essayed with a spirit , perseverance , and expenditure of capital , quite sufficient to prove the truth or fallacy of the several plans of action . But all the different methods have met with a result , which , when taken in the
average , generally brought the question to a pretty even balance between success and failure . It should be observed that we are not speaking of books which * sell of themselves / but of those which will not move at all without help , for therein lies the core of the mystery which involves the fate of the majority of publications . The problem of commanding even a moderate success lias not yet been mastered . On this point so much careful thought on the part of authors—and probably of the best heads of their time—as well as the continuous action
* with all appliances and means' of the most energetic men of business , has been expended , that it is perhaps fair to conclude we cannot know before-hand what the public will ' take up . ' This admission should nevertheless be qualified , for it is made chiefly with reference to time . We know that publishers smile , as well they may , at the sanguine calculations and subtle theories of authors ; but we would hazard one opinion on the
subject , viz ., that a book of sterling and original merit , written in a popular style , and not depending on any mere ephemeral subject , is sure to sell sit some time or other , provided its proper moment is watched and seized , so as to prevent other works from neutralizing its effect . In this , most of the great publishers , would probably coincide ; but then say they , ' what mercantile business can ever be carried on successfully , where
the capital is suffered to remain dead for a long period , perhaps from three to six years , with a doubtful prospect of ever recovering either principal or interest , not to mention profit V It is not easy to find a convincing reply to this ; and we do not know any better can be offered than the fact that certain haut-ton jewellers , tailors , and others , have saved fortunes under circumstances as trying and precarious ; because one lucky hit' will often compensate for many ft miahap .
Untitled Article
272 Spirit of Modern Publishers .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1836, page 272, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2657/page/8/
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