WHY AUTHORS GO WRONG
AND
OTHER EXPLANATIONS
WHY AUTHORS
GO WRONG
AND OTHER EXPLANATIONS
BY
GRANT M. OVERTON
AUTHOR OF “THE WOMEN WHO MAKE OUR NOVELS”
NEW YORK
MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY
1919
Copyright, 1919,
BY
MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | Why Authors Go Wrong | 1 |
| II. | A Barbaric Yawp | 25 |
| III. | In the Critical Court | 39 |
| IV. | Book “Reviewing” | 51 |
| V. | Literary Editors, by One of Them | 103 |
| VI. | What Every Publisher Knows | 119 |
| VII. | The Secret of the Best Seller | 145 |
| VIII. | Writing a Novel | 173 |
WHY AUTHORS GO WRONG
AND
OTHER EXPLANATIONS
I
WHY AUTHORS GO WRONG
THE subject of Why Authors Go Wrong is oneto answering which a book might adequatelybe devoted and perhaps we shall write a book aboutit one of these days, but not now. When, as andif written the book dealing with the question willnecessarily show the misleading nature of Mr.Arnold Bennett’s title, The Truth About anAuthor—a readable little volume which does nottell the truth about an author in general, but onlywhat we are politely requested to accept as the truthabout Arnold Bennett. Mr. Bennett may ormay not be telling