The Lure of the Pen

A BOOK FOR WOULD-BE AUTHORS

By

FLORA KLICKMANN

Editor of
"The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine"

WHO HAS WRITTEN "THE FLOWER-PATCH AMONG THE HILLS,"
"BETWEEN THE LARCHWOODS AND THE WEIR,"
AND OTHER WORKS

G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
1920

Copyright, 1920, by
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

DEDICATED TO
MR. JAMES BOWDEN
WHO HAS FEW EQUALS, EITHER
AS A PUBLISHER, OR AS A FRIEND

PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION

In sending out this new book to the American public, I feel I am addressing a sympathetic audience, since other volumes that have preceded it have been most cordially received, and have added considerably to my long list of friends on the Western side of the Atlantic.

At first glance it may seem as though the difference between the writings of American and British authors is too marked to allow of a book on Authorship proving useful to both countries—but in reality the difference is only superficial, and is largely confined to methods of newspaper journalism, or connected with mannerisms and topical qualities.

Fundamentally, both nations work on the same lines and acknowledge the same governing laws in Literature. American authors, no less than British, derive their inspirations from European classics.

And magazine editors and publishers in both countries are only too grateful for good work from either side.

No one can teach authors how or what to write; but sometimes it is possible to help the beginners to an understanding of what it is better not to write. For the rest I hope the book explains itself.

Flora Klickmann

Fleet Street, London.

CONTENTS