Thus, supposing that a book paid
cent per cent, I shall take ten per cent., and the employees would take
twenty-six and a fraction per cent, and the author would take sixty-four
per cent."
And here an interruption occurred. It came from No. 1, who could no
longer retain his disgust.
"I'll resign," he said; "I'll resign! Meeson's content with ten per cent,
and out-of-pocket expenses, when an author--a mere author--gets sixty!
It's shameful--shameful!"
"If you choose to resign, you can," said Eustace, sharply; "but I advise
you to take time to think it over. Gentlemen," went on Eustace, "I
daresay that this seems a great change to you, but I may as well say at
once that I am no wild philanthropist. I expect to make it pay, and pay
well. To begin with, I shall never undertake any work that I do not
think will pay--that is, without an adequate guarantee, or in the
capacity of a simple agent; and my own ten per cent will be the first
charge on the profits; then the author's ten. Of course, if I speculate
in a book, and buy it out and out, subject to the risks, the case will
be different. But with a net ten per cent certain, I am, like people in
any other line of business, quite prepared to be satisfied; and, upon
those terms, I expect to become the publisher of all the best writers in
England, and I also expect that any good writer will in future be able
to make a handsome income out of his work.
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