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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1917)
THE SUNDAY FICTION MAGAZINE, MARCH 4. 1917 ,!? '1- a , IS SOME OSPECT By Jack Lait lllutt rated by Cohen Snn OOK agenting is a trained craft, and may even be made a fine art. It re quires much besides the traditional galL It is a mistake to think that literature can be peddled by the man who when kicked out of the front door returns by the back door, smiling and suave. Crust is an element: but the big thing that counts is the value of the book in ratio to its price, as you will here see. Feonle are beonle. wfntthnr thov entertaining a book agent or shopping at a counter. Of course, when one goes seeking merchandise the chances for a sale are much brighter than when one who has merchan- jdise that one may or may not j want or can or cannot afford ; seeks a buyer. But folks are jwary of their money in either event. t Therefore the spieler who can cause the highest opinion I of his wares, so that they seem great, and the price lie j carelessly mentions seems '; mild, is the one who will make the most commission. ' The commission usually is 20 per cent of the price. The i best "proposition" (a book is a . proposition in such cases) is a set of timely or popular mate : rial that can make a hand some home library flash, help J to fill shelves, furnish welcome reading in fancy binding, ob tainable at from $30 to $."0, payable in installments of gen tle size. Book agents are neither born nor- made; they are found. The process of discov ery begins with a classified ad vertisement setting forth a brilliant and lucrative oppor j tunity for light and little work; the word "book" is never mentioned in the ad; it would alarm the candidate. "When he calls to seek the rarest thing under the sun big money for small effort , the proposition is eased to : him. He is shown records, ! genuine or only inspiring, re i vealing that others in the same line Jiave made gaudy pay. ( The popular superstitions and prejudices j against book agenting are deftly attacked j by the "teacher" or district manager who is seeking agents, and the aspirant for j prosperity is probably .hooked, at least ; on a promise to give the game a tryout. i He is then appointed to arrive next morning and begin a week's tuition. lie , is given a prospectus professionally re ferred "to as a "pros") with samples qf the bindings, excerpts from the reading matter, sample illustrations and testi monials from great men wf!o got free copies. The agent has to learn his "pros" by heart, so that he can sing It or whistle it or gargle it or hum it or recite it. He -must. learn, besides, set selling argu ments composed to answer speciously any reasonable question or stifle any, un reasonable argument that might be raised by a prospective purchaser, who . is known tb the trade as a "prospect." The teacher examines the tyro, refus- j lng angrily to buy the books, and expect ing the novitiate to answer him by rote, but as though with spontaneity, why he should why he must buy. Thus the 'agent can prove that, his set of books is a household necessity, an uplift for the children,? diversion for Jhe housewife, distraction for fnebusiness man, a ref erence work of clearest merit, an indis pensable earmark of the intellectual . character of the home, a thing of beauty, j HE butcher could not sell books, but when it came J V to cutting meat he knew of several tricks that put 1 j book selling in the shade. j worth the price asked in the mere paper poundage,. a long-felt want and the con summation of any . earthly desire that normal mortal might contemplate, before he gets into action. When he has memorized .and mastered all this, he takes his "pros," which is al- the two sources that have given the world its adventurers, its crooks, its poets, its self-made men middle aged failures in other endeavors and untried youths just starting out and unwilling to climb the orderly ladders of plodding commerce. 'I, 1MB- J ---- "-:r "" ' ' "Wh-whafs the meaning of this?" "It's an order for forty-six sets," said Hyman as calmly as he could. ways small enough to fold and go into a pocket, so that it will not serve as a danger signal to a prospect, and goes forth into his "territory." Territory is the bounded area in which the agent is franchised to operate. He will not meet competition there from others pushing the same books; and he must not in fringe into the territory of his fellows. Sometimes agents operate in squads, with a submanager along to watch and guide them. They "work" medium-sized towns, subdividing It among the mem bers of the shift, and when they .have sucked it dry they move on,1 en masse, to the next field of prospective prospects for the "pros: - N A city of 25,000, in Indiana, a gang of '. half a dozen agents arrived to "plant" sets of the "Unabridged Library of Mark Twain's Classics," together with the "Life of the Author by One Who Knew Him Intimately. The mess! went with a year's subscription to a weekly Journal and a monthly magazine for scarcely more than the price of the Ink to print . the order-form terms, a dollar down M and a collector a week for the remainder of lifetime of this generation. They were a motley lot, drawn from I Of the latter classification there were two an honor student fresh from an academy, who had worked his way through school by washing laboratory blackboards, and whose parents were bitterly. poor; and a recent high school 'graduate iu a fresh water city whose parents were dead and who had a small inheritance that would sustain him while he experimented with life. Of the ones who had pulled up lame after losing races 'round the flint .tracks of competition there were three a for mer drug clerk in Atlantic City who had been run out of town because he couldn't help flirting with the girl customers; a former butcher's apprentice ia New York who had been refused a raise; and a lubricated,, slender, wiry, quick -eyed, weir dressed man of about 46, who didn't tell much about his past, but who let it be guessed that he had been an' impor tant cog in the machinery of a metro politan broker's affairs. His name was Tripp, and he was soon nicknamed "Pierp." a take-off on the Christian name of a famous financier, in acknowledg ment of his superior manner and his .Wall street genesis. - r Tripp took his "pros" and went forth on the very first day and sold seven sets. which wai going it strong, for the next and nearest Cass, the quondam pill roll. er bagged only six, whereas Hyman. the steak slapper, came back havtnr mM nnna Th-A4 . ' " -. - v..i. A 1 . V. vA emy youth!, Leonard, had sold three: Ma- gill, the high schooler, had landed two, They all ate together In the dingy .. dining-room of the second-rate American plan hotel where they had all put up, and they exchanged experiences and views and hopes. "Picrp" had earned more than 50 'that' day!. The gushlnr 1 promises of the teacher were not, then, impossible. If a man could keep up that ' pace he could get rich. Even Leonard ' had coined $15, and Magtll, who never before had earned a dime, had made 1Q: Po every one except Hyman was in high spirits that night. . ' On the second evening, re union the total score stood: Tripp., 13; Cass, 9; Leonard, 4; Magi 11, 2; Hyman. 0. It will be' seen that the initial enthusi asm had brought extraordi nary results, and that no on could keep up the first day's pace except Hyman, who was , still empty handed. The road manager, a book agent of many y ears' training, -railed the ex-butcher aside after the second evening meal , and asked him what was the .matter. Hyman couldn't ex plain he ; only knew that no--body would let him finish his talk; he knew it word for word, and though he mispro nounced a few of tte longer ones, he got them all Jn- as long as anyone would listen but they all cut the butcher off and begged to be excused; that is. they begged at first, and when Hyman resisted they insisted. The manager filled him with excellent and sage advice and told him to be of good cheen-he would surely; bring home a little bacon 'en the third day; to sharpen his wits -and cleave to his courage, to rib up his ambition. - So, Hyman smiled and said he'd try. But it was futile. Not every one made a sale on -that day, but "Hyman hadn't made one at any time, and his jawxsagged as he sat about and heard the others tell how they had cajoled this or that prospect into beln interested or remaining good natured and the like, up to the. climax of each Inci dent, th star ! performance and opus majus of each operation getting tt vic tim to sign. "' :.'v, Hyman wished himself back behind the counter on Second avenue, hacking off pigs' knuckles or skinning a gopse, tr whatever it is that is to the butcher's clerk like kicking high and faking a mel- . ody is to a chorus girl-plain', humdrum -work. s But he had solid stuff in him. had Hyman. He resolved that ha would sell ; a set of the Mark Twains if it took him a year. "Pierp" had turned in mors than twenty signed slips, meaning; that he hud " earned beyond I $100. by Saturday, ths sixth night;" Cass panted behind -with thirteen. Leonard had sold seven, and MagiU. In his frank, sweet, civil way, ' convinced enough prospects to let him turn in six. Hyman, with a hang-dog look and a puzzled sensation, regretted to report that nothing doing. Granger, the manager, threw, up the Kponge. As decently as hs could and the book business Is not famous for its parlor manners he served notice on Hy man that hs would be given Tils railroad fare back to th city next day, that h was hopeless, and no more hotel bills i