FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91  
92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   >>   >|  
for publicity. One day while waiting in the anteroom of a publishing house to see a member of the firm, he picked up a book and began to read it. Since he had to wait for nearly an hour, he had read a large part of the volume when he was at last admitted to the private office. When his business was finished, Bok asked the publisher why this book was not selling. "I don't know," replied the publisher. "We had great hopes for it, but somehow or other the public has not responded to it." "Are you sure you are telling the public about it in the right way?" ventured Bok. The Scribner advertising had by this time attracted the attention of the publishing world, and this publisher was entirely ready to listen to a suggestion from his youthful caller. "I wish we published it," said Bok. "I think I could make it a go. It's all in the book." "How would you advertise it?" asked the publisher. Bok promised the publisher he would let him know. He carried with him a copy of the book, wrote some advertisements for it, prepared an attractive "broadside" of extracts, to which the book easily lent itself, wrote some literary notes about it, and sent the whole collection to the publisher. Every particle of "copy" which Bok had prepared was used, the book began to sell, and within three months it was the most discussed book of the day. The book was Edward Bellamy's _Looking Backward_. Meanwhile, Mr. Beecher's weekly newspaper "syndicate" letter was not only successful in itself, it made liberal money for the writer and for its two young publishers, but it served to introduce Edward Bok's proposed agency to the newspapers under the most favorable conditions. With one stroke, the attention of newspaper editors had been attracted, and Edward concluded to take quick advantage of it. He organized the Bok Syndicate Press, with offices in New York, and his brother, William J. Bok, as partner and active manager. Edward's attention was now turned, for the first time, to women and their reading habits. He became interested in the fact that the American woman was not a newspaper reader. He tried to find out the psychology of this, and finally reached the conclusion, on looking over the newspapers, that the absence of any distinctive material for women was a factor. He talked the matter over with several prominent New York editors, who frankly acknowledged that they would like nothing better than to interest women, an
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91  
92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
publisher
 

Edward

 

newspaper

 
attention
 
public
 
editors
 

newspapers

 

prepared

 

attracted

 

publishing


concluded
 
anteroom
 

stroke

 

organized

 

brother

 

William

 

waiting

 

offices

 

conditions

 

Syndicate


advantage
 

successful

 

liberal

 
letter
 

syndicate

 
Beecher
 
weekly
 

writer

 

introduce

 

proposed


agency

 

served

 
publishers
 
favorable
 

active

 
material
 

factor

 

talked

 

matter

 

distinctive


publicity

 

absence

 
prominent
 

interest

 
frankly
 
acknowledged
 

conclusion

 

reached

 
reading
 

habits