m anything that is mere trash or that simply wastes the publisher's
time. Some time ago a publishing house wrote to an agent telling him
they wanted a certain kind of novel for the next season, and
describing, with a good deal of particularity, the kind of book they
wanted. The agent, after thinking the matter over, submitted two
manuscripts. The publisher considered them and accepted both. In such
a case the agent had certainly been of great use to the publisher. He
had given him what he was looking for, and had saved him the nuisance
and the actual expense of reading through a large number of
manuscripts before finding the right one.

It may be admitted frankly that the agent is sometimes accused of
asking more for his wares than they are worth. In reply to this
accusation it may be said that asking is not getting, and the agent
who asks more than the market justifies, and thereby spoils the
chances of a satisfactory arrangement, is not serving the best
interests of his client. On the other hand, he will get the best price
obtainable in the market, taking into consideration the character of
the publishing house, its prestige and ability in pushing books, and
as he is offering and selling every day he can generally obtain a
better price and make a better arrangement than the author can.
Realizing that the author and publishers are partners in an enterprise
whose success depends upon a frank and clear understanding, he will do
his best to make such relations friendly and harmonious and to the
mutual advantage of both parties to the contract, never forgetting,
however, that his especial client is the author, and that it is his
duty to represent the author's interests.

One of the notable features of the times is the growth of magazines.
The arrangement for the serialization of a long story in a magazine,
the placing of short stories and articles in magazines, the selling of
stories, articles, and books in England, and arranging the
simultaneous issue in both countries,--all this involves an immense
amount of detail which one has to encounter fully to realize.
Sometimes, where an author is putting out a good many manuscripts, the
complications are numerous and perplexing. In the case of one author
living abroad whom we will call Smith, a book was arranged with a
house A, and a second with a house B. The author was taken ill, could
not finish the first book in time so that A had to postpone it till
the next year, and thi