Life, 1909-10-14 · page 10 of 36
Life — October 14, 1909 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the publishing industry's control over writers. The main article, "Life's Literary Trust," argues that major publishers (mentioning John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie) now control "nearly all the leading writers" and impose restrictive rules on authors. The top cartoon shows a woman (likely representing a publisher or gatekeeper) examining a manuscript, surrounded by rejection materials—satirizing the gatekeeping process writers faced. "The Fortune Teller" cartoon below uses a fortune teller's grim predictions to mock writers' prospects: "short life line," meeting "great loss," a person with red hair causing trouble, and ultimately changing one's name—suggesting commercial failure forces writers into obscurity or pseudonyms. The satire targets how concentrated publishing power constrains artistic freedom.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE* may Le had for a small fee, he shali take his production first to our legal department, where, for a small fee, he may have it examined to see that it contains nothing libelous. From there he shall take it to.the medical directors, where, for a small fee, it will be put through our approved pharma- copmia test. From there it shall go to the board of ministers, where, for a small fee, it will be examined to see if it is entirely orthodox From there is shall go to our thoroughly equipped political department, where, for a small fee, all the socialism, anarch- ism, single tax, reform and progress of all kinds shall be extracted When it reaches the literary department proper, accor panied by the correct fee, always payable in advance, it w be carefully examined for human interest, sad endings, heart throbs, split infinitives, realism and other literary vagaries, but no production better than those of Laura Jean Libby or worse than those of William Dean Howells will be accepted. Reports upon manuscripts will be made at the close of each fiscal year. Payment for those accepted will be made, third in cash and two-thirds in stock (fourth common) close of the fiscal year following, except in time of panic, when an addit year or two shall elapse. We also wish to announce that Mr. Thomas W. Ba has been placed in charge of our stock promotion department, so that our stock, now selling at 89, will very shortly go to 1 HAVE THE HONOK TO ANNOUNCE, Sik, THAT YOU AKE THE par, 125, 300, 40, and so on, ad lib. SAPPY FATHER: OF THREE SUPERACETTES, Subscriptions, however, will still be received at this office. Send in your money at once. This means you. Life’s Literary Trust HE discovery of the North Pole has not stopped the steady progress of WOMAN to have a complete life must be born three times: Of woman, of the leading American trust. Our stocks love and of motherhood. . and bonds are still the sensation of Wall Street. There are only a few of our non-interest bearing, never- aturing debentures left. We now control nearly all of the ading writers. John D, Rockefel- ler, Andrew Carnegie and the author of The Inner Shrine are still holding out, but they will be compelled to yield when they find every avenue of publicity closed to them The following additional rules have been adopted for the guidance of writers: When a writer has dared to write anything in accordance with rules Tue man who awakes to find himself famous is quite likely to fall asle heretofore outlined, copies of which THE FORTUNE TELLER “YOU MAVE A SHORT LIFE LINE. YOU ARE ABOUT TO MEET WITH A GREAT LOSS. A PERSON WITH RED MAIR IS VERY POND OF YOU, AND WILI. PUT AN END TO ALL YOUR TROUBLES. YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR NAME—IT WILL TIEN BE MUD.’? comicbooks.com