Identity area
Reference code
ALL/11/169
Title
Letter from William Harvey to Herbert Allingham
Date(s)
- 03-Apr-18 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
2 pieces, Typescript document
Context area
Name of creator
(1867-1936)
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Headed notepaper: Dundee Advertiser, Evening Telegraph and Post, The Happy Home, People's Journal, People's Friend, My Weekly, John Leng & Co. Ltd., 7 Bank Street, Dundee. Signed. Pencil annotations.
'We have now considered your stroy entitled 'London'. We like the serial, but, as is the case with all your work not specially done for us, it will need a good deal of alteration to bring it into line with our requirements. In order to get the real heroine into the opening number, we would need to condense the first five instalments into one good opening of say 6,000 words. We think the best way to get a satisfactory result would be for you to write a new opening instalment which would carry the story down to the curtain of the present instalment 5. In rewriting this opening matter, we should like you to avoid the strong convict atmosphere of the opening chapters. Indeed, it would be best to begin say at chapter 3 and page 13, and to work into the body of the text of that chapter any necessary explanations.
You would also need to give more prominence to the heroine, but I have no doubt that could be easily effected. If you were able to do that for us, we would ourselves condense the next three instalments into one, and this condensation would enable us to get well into the storay at once, and to leave most of the convict interest behind. With regard to later instalments, we would require to put every two together and bring these within the compass of one. I estimate that the net result would be to give us a story of about 60,000 words, plus the new instalment which you would write. We are willing to pay you sixty guineas for the 60,000 words and we would pay you two guineas per 1,000 for the new instalment you are writing. The total price to be paid would therefore be 72 guineas. We would need a fairly long lease but we would pay you on delivery of the rewritten first instalment.'
'We have now considered your stroy entitled 'London'. We like the serial, but, as is the case with all your work not specially done for us, it will need a good deal of alteration to bring it into line with our requirements. In order to get the real heroine into the opening number, we would need to condense the first five instalments into one good opening of say 6,000 words. We think the best way to get a satisfactory result would be for you to write a new opening instalment which would carry the story down to the curtain of the present instalment 5. In rewriting this opening matter, we should like you to avoid the strong convict atmosphere of the opening chapters. Indeed, it would be best to begin say at chapter 3 and page 13, and to work into the body of the text of that chapter any necessary explanations.
You would also need to give more prominence to the heroine, but I have no doubt that could be easily effected. If you were able to do that for us, we would ourselves condense the next three instalments into one, and this condensation would enable us to get well into the storay at once, and to leave most of the convict interest behind. With regard to later instalments, we would require to put every two together and bring these within the compass of one. I estimate that the net result would be to give us a story of about 60,000 words, plus the new instalment which you would write. We are willing to pay you sixty guineas for the 60,000 words and we would pay you two guineas per 1,000 for the new instalment you are writing. The total price to be paid would therefore be 72 guineas. We would need a fairly long lease but we would pay you on delivery of the rewritten first instalment.'
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