Jane refers to specific books on a couple of occasions, and says something\nto the effect that she or a member of her family would buy a subscription to\nthe book. What does this mean? Does she get the book itself, or the right to\nread a circulating copy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Publishing a book by subscription was one of the ways a book could be\npublished in the late 18th\/early 19th century. The other ways were;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1) Publication by profit sharing.
\nHere the publisher paid for the costs of producing the book, and after\ndeduction of these expenses, shared any resulting profit with the author on an\nagreed profit share basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2) Publication by sale of copyright.
\nJA did this with Northanger Abbey and managed to buy the copyright back\n-eventually, in order to get the work published (though this did not happen\nuntil after her death.) I love her letter to the publisher, Crosby, under the\nalias of Mrs. Ashton Dennis which allowed her to sign the missive<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I am etc, etc,
\nM.A.D.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3) Publishing on Commission.
\nHere the author published at “her own risk”. The author was\nresponsible for the cost of the printing process, and the advertising. If the\nbook did not sell enough copies to cover the costs (including a 10 per cent\ncommission to the publisher on every book sold) then the author had to make\ngood the difference out of her own pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4) Publication by subscription.
\nSubscribers to a book paid money in advance for a book, and a list of their\nnames appeared in the book when it was published.
\nJane Austen was a subscriber to the first volume of “Camilla”(1796)\nby Fanny Burney, and is listed as such (Miss J Austen, Steventon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is interesting to note that as an unmarried female JA did not encounter\nthe type of problems in her contracts with publishers that her married\nsister-authors often did. Charlotte Smith, as a married woman was not able to\nenter into a legally binding contract for publication of her novel,\n“Desmond” (1792).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contract had to be signed by her husband, Benjamin Smith, who was\nresiding in Scotland under an assumed name to evade detection by his creditors.\nIndeed it was his inability to cope financially, which prompted Mrs. Smith to\npublish books, in order to provide for her children!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some books were published by “subscription”, which meant that\npeople signed up in advance (and paid at least some money in advance) for a\nbook that was due to come out, possibly in parts. Jane Austen subscribed to\nFrances Burney’s Camilla in this way, and “Miss J. Austen,\nSteventon” is included among the names of subscribers printed in a list at\nthe beginning of the book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jane refers to specific books on a couple of occasions, and says something to the effect that she or a member of her family would buy a subscription to the book. What does this mean? Does she get the book … Continue reading