XIV.
FRESH FIELDS AND PASTURES NEW
So far in his writing career Harte & Perkins had been the heaviest purchasers of Edwards’ fiction. They had given him about all he could do of a certain class of work, and he had not tried to find other markets for the Factory’s product. Pinning his hopes to one firm, even though it was the best firm in the business, was unsatisfactory in many respects. For various reasons, any one which is good and sufficient, a writer should have more than one “string to his bow.” Harte & Perkins, jealously watching the tastes of their reading public, were compelled to make many and sudden changes in the material they put out. This directly affected the writers of the material, and Edwards was often left with no prospects at all, and perhaps at just the time when he flattered himself that his prospects were brightest.
In preceding chapters mention has been made of two serial stories in which Edwards had vainly endeavored to interest Harte & Perkins. One of these was “The Man from Dakota,” and the other, “He Was A Stranger.” These, and another entitled “A Tale of Two Towns,” written late in 1900, were ultimately to open new markets.
In a diary for the year 1900, Edwards has this under date of Tuesday, Jan. 2:
“Mr. Paisley called to see me this morning on a business matter. It appears that the proprietor of The Western World had ordered a serial from Opie Read and was not satisfied with it. [] As *The Western World goes to press in a few days they must have another story at once. Later in the day I talked with Mr. Underwood the (as I suppose) proprietor, and he asked me to get “The Man from Dakota” from Mr. Kerr, of The Chicago Ledger. I did so and took the manuscript over to Mr. Paisley. If it is acceptable they are to pay me $200 for it.”
[* What do you think of that!]
Mr. Paisley was a gentleman with whom Mrs. Edwards had become acquainted while attending Frank Holme’s School for Illustration, in Chicago. He was a man of much ability.
Under Thursday, Jan. 4, the diary has a memorandum to this effect:
“Mr. Paisley came out to see me at noon. They like ‘The Man from Dakota’ and will pay me $200 for it, divided into three payments of $50, $50 and $100.”
So, finally, “The Man from Dakota” got into print. While it was still appearing in The Western World; Mr, Underwood conceived the idea of booming the circulation of his paper by publishing a mystery story – one of those stories in which the mystery is not revealed until the last chapter, and for the solution of which prizes are offered. He asked Edwards if he would write such a story. Why should Edwards write one when he already had on hand the mystery story unsuccessfully entered in the old Chicago Daily News contest? He offered this to Mr. Underwood. He read it and liked it. Mr. Paisley read it and liked it. What was the very lowest figure Edwards would take for it?
Mr. Underwood, in getting around to this point, told how he had sent for Stanley Waterloo and asked him to write the mystery story. “What will you pay?” inquired Mr. Waterloo. “I’ll give you $100,” said Mr. Underwood. Whereupon Mr. Waterloo arose in awful majesty and strode from the office. He did not even linger to say good-by.
“Now,” said Mr. Underwood to Edwards, with a genial smile, “don’t you do that if I offer you seventy-five dollars for ‘What Happened to the Colonel.’”
“Cash?” asked Edwards.
“On the nail.”
“Give me the money,” said Edwards; “I need it.”
Now that the diary has been quoted with a reference to Opie Read, perhaps another reference to the same genial and talented gentleman may be pardoned:
Jan. 19, 1900. – “Opie Read made his ‘first appearance in vaudeville’ this week, and Gertie (Mrs. Edwards) and I went to the Chicago Opera House this afternoon to hear him. He was very good, but I would rather read one of his stories than hear him tell it.”
Later in the year Edwards “broke into” the papers served by the McClure Syndicate with “A Tale of Two Towns.” After using this serial in metropolitan papers, the McClure people sold it to The Kellogg Newspaper Union to be used in the “patents” sent out to country newspapers. The story was later brought out in cloth by the G. W. Dillingham Co., New York.
The third novel, “He Was A Stranger,” had already been refused by Harte & Perkins. Late in May, 1900, Edwards again went “prospecting” to New York. Feeling positive that Harte & Perkins had missed some of the good points in the story, he carried the manuscript with him and once more submitted it. Again it was refused, but Mr. Hall, editor of the “Guest,” informed Edwards that he had an excellent story but that it was impossible for Harte & Perkins to consider its purchase. Edwards asked if be knew of a possible market. “Mr. Munsey,” was the reply, “is looking for stories for The Argosy, and I’d suggest that you take the story over there and show it to Mr. White, The Argosty’s editor.” Edwards tucked the novel under his arm and strolled up Fifth Avenue to the offices of the Frank A. Munsey Company. There, and for the first time, he met Mr. Matthew White, Jr.
The impression of power, tremendous ability and a big, two-handed grasp of Argosy affairs which the editor made upon Edwards, at this time, has deepened with the passing years. An author, as well as a keen dramatic critic, Mr. White brings to bear on his editorial duties an intuition that closely approximates genius. He has proved his remarkable fitness for the post he occupies by making The Argosy, since Mr. Munsey “divested it of its knickerbockers,” the most widely read of all the purely fiction magazines. And withal he is one of the most pleasant editors whom a writer will ever have the good fortune to meet.
Mr. White was glad to consider “He Was A Stranger.” He thumbed over the pages, noted the length, and asked what price Edwards would put upon the manuscript in case it was acceptable. Edwards named $500, and told of “The Brave and Fair” which Harte & Perkins, a few years before, had bought at that figure. Mr. White replied that The Argosy, as yet, was unable to pay such prices, but that he would read the story and, if he liked it, make an offer. A few days later he offered $250 for serial rights. Edwards took into consideration the fact that the story would establish him in the columns of a growing magazine and, with an eye to the future, accepted the offer. He has never had occasion to regret his decision.
From the beginning of the year Edwards had been doing a large amount of five-cent library work for Harte & Perkins. A new weekly had been started, the writer who furnished the copy failed to get his manuscript in on time, and Edwards was given a story to finish and, a few days afterward, the entire series to take care of.
At the time he sold the serial to Mr. White, he was supplying weekly copy for two libraries – the old Five-Cent Library and the new weekly, which shall here be referred to as the Circus Series.
On the proceeds from the sale of “He Was A Stranger” Edwards and his wife had a little outing at Atlantic City. They returned to New York for a few days, and then went on to Boston. Here, comfortably quartered in a hotel, Edwards devoted his mornings to work and his afternoons to seeing the “sights” with Mrs. Edwards. They haunted Old Cambridge, they made pilgrimages to Salem, to Plymouth and to other places, and they enjoyed themselves as they had never done before on an eastern trip. Later they finished out the summer near Monterey, in the Berkshire Hills.
During all these travels the Fiction Factory was regularly grinding out its grist of copy – so many pages a day, so many stories a week. Two libraries, together with a sketch each month for a trade paper published by Harte & Perkins, kept Edwards too busy to prepare any manuscripts for The Argosy. Much of his work, while in the Berkshires, was done in longhand. On this point Mr. Perkins wrote, July 25:
“I should think you would miss your typewriter. I fear that I shall miss it, too, when I read your manuscript, although I find your writing easier to read than that of any of our other writers.”
In August the Edwards went West, visited for a time in Michigan and then in Wisconsin, finally returned to the former state and, in the little country town where Edwards was born, bought an old place and settled down.
As with the Golden Star Library, misfortune finally overtook the Circus Series. A telegram was received telling Edwards to hold No. 47 of the Circus Series pending instructions by letter. The letter instructed him to close up finally the adventures of the hero and his friends and bring their various activities to an appropriate end. The series was continued, for a while longer, with a brand-new hero in each story; but Edwards was requested to write but three of the stories in the new form.
The year, which opened auspiciously and proved a banner year financially, closed with a discontinuance of all orders from Harte & Perkins. Re-prints were being used in the old Five-Cent Library – stories that had been issued years before and could now be republished for another generation of boy readers. Under date of Dec. 1, 1911, Mr. Perkins wrote:
“I know of nothing, just at present, which you can do for us, but should anything develop I shall be very glad to inform you.”
This left Edwards with a sketch a month for the trade paper, for which he was paid $10 each. That “misfortunes never come singly” is an old saying, and one which Edwards has found particularly true in the writing profession. A letter of Dec. 27, informed him:
“We have decided to dispense with the sketches in our trade paper for the present, at least; therefore the February sketch we have in hand will be the last we will want unless we give you further notice.”
In a good many cases the tendency of a writer, when fate deals hardly with him in the matter of a demand for his work, is to take his rebuffs too seriously. Often he will lock up his Factory, leaving a placard on the door: “Closed. Proprietor gone to Halifax. Nothing in the fiction game anyhow.”
Edwards used to feel in this way. As he grew older he learned to take his disappointments with more or less equanimity, and to keep the Factory running. He thought, now, of Mr. White and The Argosy. Here was a good time to prepare an Argosy serial. He wrote it, sent it, and on Feb. 15, 1901, received this terse letter:
“My dear Mr. Edwards:
We can use your story, ‘The Tangle in Butte,’ in The Argosy at $200. Very truly yours,
Matthew White, Jr.”
This was less than the price paid for “He Was A Stranger,” but the story ran only 60,000 words, while the other serial had gone to 100,000. The acceptance went to Mr. White by return mail.
On the day following there came a letter from Harte & Perkins ordering work in the old Five-Cent Library – work that would keep Edwards busy for the rest of the year. Ten of the old stories which Edwards had written were to be revised and lengthened by 10,000 words. For this work he was to be paid $30 for each story. When the ten numbers had been revised and lengthened, he was to go on with the stories, writing a new one each week. Fifty dollars apiece was to be paid for the new stories.
There was an order, too, for more sketches for the trade paper, to be done in another vein.
On Aug. 5 the length of the Five-Cent Library stories was cut from 30,000 words to 20,000, and the remuneration was cut from $50 to $40. Another juvenile paper was started and Edwards was asked to submit serials for it. In fact, 1901 might be called a “boom” year for the Fiction Factory, although the returns, while satisfactory, were not of the “boom” variety.
Perhaps the reader may remember the serial, “A Vassar Girl,” referred to in a previous chapter as having been submitted to Harte & Perkins and rejected. Edwards had faith in this story and offered it to Mr. White. Mr. White’s judgment, however, tallied with that of Harte & Perkins. Under date of June 13 Mr. White wrote:
“I am sorry that ‘A Vassar Girl’ has not borne out the promise of the opening chapters. The interest in it is not sufficiently sustained for serial use. The story might be divided into several incidents, which do not grow inevitably the one out of the other. For this reason it has, as a whole, proved disappointing and I am returning the manuscript by express. We should be glad, however, to have you continue to submit work to us.”
With faith undiminished, Edwards forwarded the story to McClure’s Newspaper Syndicate. It was returned without an explanation of any kind. Again he prevailed upon Harte & Perkins to consider it. It came back from them on Sept. 13, with this message:
“I am sorry to say that we do not feel inclined to revise our judgement with reference to your manuscript story, ‘A Vassar Girl.’ I am inclined to think from looking over the review of the story that it would be well for you to sell it just as it is, and we hope you will be able to find a market for it somewhere. It would not pay us to publish.”
Edwards knew that the story, wrought out of his Arizona experiences, was true in local color and good of its kind, and he failed to understand why it was not appreciated. Then, on Sep. 14, came this from the S.S. McClure Company:
“During July we had under consideration a story of yours entitled, ‘A Vassar Girl.’ On July 31 we wrote you from the Syndicate, informing you that we hoped to be able to use the story as a serial in the very near future. The serial was taken back for consideration in the book department by one of the readers who wished again to examine it, and from there it was erroneously returned to you. Now if you have not disposed of the serial rights of ‘A Vassar Girl’ we should like you again to forward the story to us, and we will submit it to some of our papers as we had always intended to do. We will then give you a prompt decision.”
The story was purchased, and Edwards’ faith in it was confirmed.
It was during this year of 1901 that Edwards had a fleeting glimpse of fortune as a playwright. His story, “The Tangle in Butte,” had been read by an actor, a leading man in a Kansas City stock company, who wanted dramatic rights so that he might have a play taken from it and written around him. Edwards proposed to write the play himself. He did so, and was promptly offered $5,000 for the play, payable in installments after production. Following a good deal of correspondence it was decided to put on the piece for a week’s try-out in Kansas City. Edwards waived his right to royalties for the week, models of the scenery were made, rehearsals began – and then the actor was suddenly stricken with a serious illness and the deal was off. When he had recovered sufficiently to travel he went East, taking the play with him. For several months he tried to interest various managers in it, but without effect.
The year 1901 closed for Edwards with the sketches for the trade paper no longer in demand; but, otherwise, he faced a steadily brightening prospect for the Fiction Factory.
1900:
Circus Series, 28 @ $40 each $ 1120.00
Circus Series, Completing unfinished story 20.00
Five-Cent Library, 23 @ $40 each 920.00
Trade Paper Sketches, 10 @ $10 each 100.00
"He Was A Stranger," 250.00
"The Man From Dakota," 200.00
"What Happened to the Colonel," 75.00
-------
Total $ 2685.00
1901:
Five-Cent Library, 10 rewritten @ $30 each $ 300.00
Five-Cent Library, 8 @ $50 each 400.00
Five-Cent Library, 16 @ $40 each 640.00
Four Boys' Serials @ $100 each 400.00
"The Tangle in Butte," 200.00
"Tale of Two Towns," 150.00
"A Vassar Girl," 100.00
Trade Paper Sketches, 9 @ $10 each 90.00
-------
Total $ 2280.00Very Often.
Poeta nascitur; non fit. This has been somewhat freely translated by one who should know, as “The poet is born; not paid.”
