How to write Little Blue Books
instinct (as it were, though the word is hardly apt in its strict
sense) for what is essential in the work you are reducing. If it is a
story, you must have a sense of the dramatic; you must know also what
it is in the original that makes it worthwhile--if it is a classic, you
must have some notion of why it is that generations of readers have
kept the story alive.
Editions of the classics for the Little Blue Books have been of two
kinds. The more ordinary form is an abridgment, where the original
work is too long to fit into a 64-page Little Blue Book, (Plays of
Shakespeare, Ibsen, and some other works are exceptions; these are
published complete, though they may run to as many as 128 pages.)
An abridgment means a cutting down by omitting certain parts. Only
the more famous passages may be retained; or possibly only the more
interesting portions. If the original is a connected whole, then
connecting paragraphs must be inserted in the abridgment to carry on
the thread of the work. For example, see Sir Walter Scott’s _Lady
of the Lake_ (Little Blue Book No. 616) or Daniel Defoe’s _Robinson
Crusoe_ (Little Blue Book No. 559). In these books much of the original
is kept verbatim, the omitted portions being replaced by short
summarizing sentences.
The other way in which a classic may be edited for a Little Blue Book
is to write a wholly new and condensed version, in your own words, so
to speak, making it conform to the required length of 15,000 words.
This was done with Balzac’s _Splendors and Miseries of a Courtezan_
(Little Blue Book No. 1067) and also with the fairy tales of Charles
Perrault (Little Blue Book No. 836). Occasionally, when a philosopher
is treated in this way, the _gist_ or _substance_ of the man’s work is
edited for a Little Blue Book.
_Footnotes._--In any edition of a classic, explanatory notes are
certain to be desirable. It is part of the work of editing a classic,
or any reprinted work, to insert explanatory notes if they are
necessary. Every Little Blue Book must be prepared with the idea in
mind that it may be read by people who have not had the advantages of
either a high school or a university education. These people are eager
to read classics, but they expect the works to be made intelligible to
them, for they have no teacher or professor whom they can ask whenever
anything puzzles them.
Footnotes may also be useful in originally written works, especially
books which deal with technical subjects. Wherever they may be found
advisable, the general remarks set down here about how to insert them
in manuscript will always apply.
Do _not_ use the asterisk, dagger, and other typographical marks
sometimes employed to refer to footnotes. These are inconvenient to
insert in a typewritten manuscript, and their use makes for greater
complexity in paging the books. Little Blue Book typography must be
kept simple--after all, you must constantly remember that the book is
to be sold for five cents.
Use what are called _superior numbers_[3] to refer to footnotes (unless
you have perhaps only two or three footnotes throughout your entire
work, when simply an asterisk is sufficient). Note the manner in which
the superior (raised above the line) number is used to refer to the
footnote at the bottom of this page (the superior number, ^3, is placed
after the words _superior number_, a few lines above, thus indicating
that an explanatory note may be found at the bottom of the page).
[3] Start with No. 1, and number your notes consecutively through your
manuscript. Examine the footnotes in the _Lady of the Lake_ (Little
Blue Book No. 616).
In typing your manuscript, when you come to a place where a
footnote-reference must be inserted, turn your platen slightly downward
so that you can strike the proper number a little above the line _right
after the word or words to which the footnote refers_. Then, when
next you double space, insert your footnote. Place the corresponding
number at the beginning of the footnote. It is not necessary to place
footnotes in manuscript at the bottom of the typewritten page. Insert
the footnote while you have it in mind (otherwise you might omit it),
and also while you have plenty of room in which to type it. Then draw a
line (in pencil, or on the typewriter, as you prefer) clear across the
page _both above and below_ the footnote, separating it from the rest
of the text. This will enable both typesetter and printer to recognize
the inserted matter as a footnote, and it will be handled accordingly.
_Forewords and Introductions._--If you ever edit or abridge any work
for the Little Blue Books, it will be useful to future readers if
you add an explanatory foreword or introduction to the work. In this
introduction you should give a brief biography of the author, if the
work is a classic; you should also explain why the work _is_ a classic,
why it is perpetuated in the world’s literature. You might quote some
critical opinions from outstanding commentators on literature.
In the larger clothbound books it is customary to place the foreword
or introduction before the Table of Contents. The order of precedence
in large books is usually thus: Title Page, Foreword or Introduction,
Table of Contents, List of Illustrations, Body of the Work, Appendix or
Appendices (if any), Bibliography (if any), Index.
However, the Little Blue Books are of such a size that this order makes
for a certain strangeness. We have therefore always made the order in
Little Blue Books thus: Title Page, Table of Contents, Body of Work
preceded by Foreword or Introduction (if any), Bibliography (if any),
Index. An appendix is rather out of place in a work so short as a
Little Blue Book. If inserted, it may be placed before the Index or
before the Bibliography.
Incidentally, the Bibliography is a list of works used for reference
(as sources of information) during the preparation of the manuscript.
These credits are better given, in a Little Blue Book, within the text
itself wherever credit is due, or possibly by suitable footnotes. There
may also be a bibliography of books to read along the same lines or in
the same field, as in Joseph McCabe’s volumes of _The Key to Culture_.
POSSIBLE SUBJECTS
I promised, earlier in this book, to insert some suggestions about
possible subjects for future Little Blue Books. I add here a paragraph
or two in which I shall state briefly some of the gaps existing in
the series when I write this book (January, 1929). These gaps may, of
course, be filled before you happen to secure and read my informal
instructions and advice. The proper procedure is for you to write for
an assignment, outlining your ability and experience; if you get the
assignment, good luck to you!
The sports titles in the Little Blue Books are sparse. At the moment,
baseball, golf, swimming, and hiking or camping are the only “sports”
covered. Tennis, I believe, will be taken care of shortly. But there
is room for someone who knows sports to handle football, basketball,
winter sports, outdoor games, gymnasium stunts, calisthenics, boxing,
racing (of various kinds), track, angling, etc. Mind you--write to the
Editor first, before you begin work! Even then, you must deliver a
satisfactory manuscript after a subject is assigned to you, or it will
not be accepted.
Many commercial subjects are possibilities. There are stenography,
bookkeeping, accountancy, office management, and so on. Possibly a book
explaining taxes, or telling how to figure your own income tax, might
be acceptable. If you are an accountant and know how to write, there
are some chances here for you!
All sorts of _how to do_ books are in demand. Plumbing, electricity,
repairing automobiles or radios, engineering, aviation, carpentry,
metallurgy, and so on--the field is vast. But you must both know your
subject and know how to write understandably--slipshod methods are not
tolerated in Girard.
We have _How to Play the Piano_. Simple lesson books for other musical
instruments: the drums, the saxophone, the cornet, the trombone, etc.,
might all prove acceptable.
Travel books are a new field, just now being tried. If the first
experimental titles go well, there might be more in demand.
Topics of the hour are often pretty good bets. For example, such
topics as the following have already been covered: Companionate
marriage, prohibition, capital punishment, petting parties, the younger
generation, etc. A new topic may leap into prominence any day.
Hobbies are an untouched field as yet. Some riders of hobbies who can
pound out well-phrased sentences on a typewriter should write to E.
Haldeman-Julius. I think something might come of it one of these days.
You may have other ideas. Perhaps they are good ideas. Write to the
Editor about them. If he takes a fancy to one of your suggestions, you
will be sure to hear from him!
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Page 11: typo in “vocabulary” corrected.
Page 18: originally incomplete word “leaving” in “leaving space for the
printer ...” has been restored.
Page 24: one occurrence of “Brown Street” has been corrected to “Brown
street” in line with the context.
Page 28: an instance of the superscripted number “3” has been
represented as “^3”. That number in that specific instance is not
intended to represent a footnote.