THE contributor to the magazines stands in a relation entirely
different from that of the novelist to his publisher. In this case,
the author has no joint interest with the publisher, being but one of
many contributors to the magazine as a whole. In an article in their
"Bulletin," the Authors' League refers to these dealings as follows:
"In his relations with the magazine publisher, the short-story
writer may be considered either as an independent merchant,
peddling his wares, or as an employee,--on the same plane with the
ink-dealer and the paper-house, say, or on the same plane with the
sub-editor and the cashier. The magazine publisher, for selfish
reasons, generally prefers to consider him as a merchant. Your
committee, for reasons equally selfish but perhaps better founded,
considers him rather in the light of an employee. First, and most
importantly, the ink-dealer and the paper-house have capital; the
magazine writer brings nothing to his business but his brain and
his two hands. In the second place, a great deal of the writing for
our periodicals is done by men and women employed on salary, and
economically in the same category as the cashier or the sub-editor.
The man or woman who writes 'on the outside,' either on speculation
or on order, it seems to us, is no less a temporary employee of the
magazine.
This consideration enters into the first grievance which has been
urged by many of our members against certain of our magazines,--the
deferring of payments after the acceptance of the article or story.
As every one knows, the custom of our leading periodicals varies
greatly in this regard. Some pay upon acceptance, not nominally
but really. Certain others pay within the month. Still others pay
just about when the author can get it. The staff writer receives
his regular salary every week; the free-lance writer, working on
order, temporarily just as much a part of the magazine staff as
any regular employee, often has to wait for weeks and months.
Certain of the magazine publishers interviewed by your committee
have their ready-made answer to this: 'The ink maker and the paper
manufacturer give us time: they wait one, two, or three months for
their money; why should we be any more prompt with the author?'
This position, on the theory that the magazine writer is only an
outside employee, is of course untenable."