SPOORING FOR CONTRACTS: AGNES HERBERT NAVIGATES THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

Hunting was thought to be preparation for war and self-sacrifice and, therefore, the domain of men. [...]huntresses also had to deal with lingering ideas that women were simply not as capable and that hunting might 'harden' them.12 So, while all kinds of hunting literature was popular befo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Publishing history 2019-01, Vol.80, p.67-5
Main Author: Kosc, Gregory
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Binding
Business
Careers
Cultural identity
Historical text analysis
Hunting
Literature
Negotiation
Probate
Publishing industry
Self concept
War
Women
Writers
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Summary:Hunting was thought to be preparation for war and self-sacrifice and, therefore, the domain of men. [...]huntresses also had to deal with lingering ideas that women were simply not as capable and that hunting might 'harden' them.12 So, while all kinds of hunting literature was popular before World War One, women's share was never great. Authors frequently had to write letters to demand their royalties, which could sometimes be paid up to two years late, and Herbert was no exception in this regard.25 To make such a venture work, Lane had to balance such prestige publishing with more popular works such as Herbert's. [...]without an agent, Herbert had to personally deal with a larger cultural trend pushing against taking women seriously as hunterauthors and compensating them appropriately, all with a publisher that was struggling to stay in the black. [...]we do not know from extant letters just how the manuscript landed at Constable, but Herbert had clearly been trying to create a groundswell and goodwill for it because she had sent it to Sir John Collings Squire in February to review and he had mentioned the book to several people.73 Once Constable swooped in with a superior offer for the manuscript, things took off quickly for Field, and her letters demonstrate she had learned quite a bit from her mother.74 In fact, in Field's very first letter to Constable's manager, she was negotiating her royalties.75 She was also forceful about arranging the binding and cover for her first effort, not to mention where review copies might be sent and who would review the book. [...]it is worth considering whether this self-reinforcing imperial and identity cage that Herbert so masterfully participated in sustaining and marketing was precisely what her first husband could not live up to.
ISSN:0309-2445