Part 14 (1/2)
Bok promised Mr Curtis he would look over the field, and meanwhile he sent over to Philadelphia the proossip”
instalested a monthly department, to which Bok consented He also turned over in his ress with the Scribners, and in New York, and began to contemplate the possibilities in Philadelphia and the work there
He gathered a collection of doazines then published, and looked thean to study himself, his capacity for the work, and the possibility of finding it congenial He realized that it was absolutely foreign to his Scribner work; that it meant a radical departure But his ith his newspaper syndicate naturally occurred to him, and he studied it with a view of its adaptation to the field of the Philadelphia azine
His next step was to take into his confidence two or three friends whose judge Without an exception, they advised against it The periodical had no standing, they argued; Bok would be out of syeneral atmosphere after his Scribner environress in New York publishi+ng houses; and, to cap the cliued in turn, he would be buried in Philadelphia: New York was the centre, etc, etc
More than any other single arguh to realize that a man could not be buried in any city, provided he had the ability to stand out fro that cream will rise to the surface anywhere, in Philadelphia as well as in New York: it all depended on whether the cream was there: it was up to thethat, for the want of a better phrase, we call the editorial instinct? That was all there was to it, and that decision had to be his and his alone!
A business trip for the Scribners now calling him West, Bok decided to stop at Philadelphia, have a talk with Mr Curtis, and look over his business plant He did this, and found Mr Curtis even more desirous than before to have hily in favor of an acceptance A natural i led only to a cautiousfactor in the Dutch character The longer he pursued a conscious process of reasoning, the farther he got fro
On his way back froain to consult his friend, George W Childs; and here he found the only person as ready to encourage hie
Bok now laid the matter before his mother, in whose feminine instinct he had supreement But in subsequent talks he found that her opposition was based not upon the possibilities inherent in the position, but on a mother's natural disinclination to be separated from one of her sons
In the case of fanny Davenport's offer the ainst the proposition itself But in the present instance it was the ment
Bok now consulted his business associates, and, to a ed the step, but alulimpse of the truth that there is no man so provincially narrow as the untravelled New Yorker who believes in his heart that the sun rises in the East River and sets in the North River
He realized more keenly than ever before that the decision rested with him alone On Septe the position in Philadelphia; and on October 13 following he left the Scribners, where he had been so fortunate and so happy, and, after a week's vacation, follohere his instinct so strongly led, but where his reason wavered
On October 20, 1889, Edward Bok became the editor of _The Ladies' Home Journal_
CHAPTER XII
SUCCESSFUL EDITORshi+P
There is a popular notion that the editor of a woht, perhaps, this sounds logical But it is a curious fact that by far the larger number of periodicals for women, the world over, are edited by men; and where, as in some cases, a woman is the proclaienerally in the hands of a round
Why this is so has never been explained, any more than why the majority of woer appeal to woely, by reatest instrumental perforer membershi+p of woreatest preachers
In fact, we may well ponder whether the full editorial authority and direction of a azine, either essentially feminine in its appeal or not, can safely be entrusted to a woely executive is the nature of such a position, and how thoroughly sensitive the modern editor must be to the hundred and one practical business e a part of the editorial duties We may question whether women have as yet had sufficient experience in the world of business to cope successfully with the ain, it is absolutely essential in the conduct of a azine with a feminine or home appeal to have on the editorial staff women who are experts in their line; and the truth is that women ork infinitely better under the direction of a man than of a woman
It would seem from the present outlook that, for soe purpose and wide vision is very likely to be edited by a man It is a question, however, whether the day of the wo
Already the day has gone for the worotesque and feeble in the light ofbrought closer with the years, and it will not be long before they will entirelynecessity for the distinctly feazine
Naturally, there will always be a field in the essentially feminine pursuits which have no place in the life of a ratuitously distributed, issued by the manufacturers of distinctly feminine and do employed, and the results are placed within easy access of women, by means of newspaper advertisement, the store-counter, or the mails These will sooner or later--and much sooner than later--supplant the practical portions of the woeneral contents, which are equally interesting to azine with the essentially fe, and it is likely to contract ether different when Edward Bok entered it in 1889
It was not only wide open, but fairly crying out to be filled The day of _Godey's Lady's Book_ had passed; _Peterson's Magazine_ was breathing its last; and the hoazines that had attempted to take their place were sorry affairs It was this consciousness of a void ready to be filled that made the Philadelphia experiment so attractive to the embryo editor He looked over the field and reasoned that if such azines as did exist could be fairly successful, if woreater response would there be to a azine that would be an authoritative clearing-house for all the probleht itself closely into contact with those proble and efficient way; and yet a azine, in other words, that would give light and leading in the woman's world
The azines of 1889 was also distinctly vague and prohibitively ile editor of a azine; there was no personality that stood out in the mind: the accepted editorial expression was the indefinite ”we”; no one ventured to use the first person singular and talk inti had taught him that the American public loved a personality; that it was always ready to recognize and follow a leader, provided, of course, that the qualities of leadershi+p were demonstrated He felt the time had come--the reference here and elsewhere is always to the real to a very wide audience--for the editor of soe and to convince the public that he was not an oracle re who could talk and not e popular e success because it wrote down to the public--a grievous mistake that so many editors have made and still make No one wants to be told, either directly or indirectly, that he knows less than he does, or even that he knows as little as he does; every one is benefited by the opposite implication, and the public will always follow the leader who coy There is always a happytoo far under it
And it is because of the latter ai that, in so many instances, it is to-day
It is the rare editor who rightly gauges his public psychology
Perhaps that is why, in the enorazine, there have been produced so few successful editors The average editor is obsessed with the idea of ”giving the public what it wants,”