Firstly, in regard to the author, my contention would be that the first book by an author, however good from a publisher's point of view it may be, should be either sent on sale or made returnable, say within six months. If the book has any literary merit it will be found out by that time, and the copies sent but will be sold. If not, they should be returned, so that the book distributor does not have to share a loss for which the publisher alone is responsible. The author should discourage as much as possible the auction-like action of the literary agent who tries to sell manuscripts to the highest bidder, thus lowering the tone of the relationship between the author and the publisher. And I say with all seriousness that should an author have satisfactory arrangements with a publisher he should stick to him, as I am sure it is best for both parties that a publisher should be able to put all the works of an author in his lists, and not only those issued by himself. By this arrangement a publisher will continue to interest himself in all the books by an author, and by advertising them will materially assist in continuous sales. Secondly, the publisher should discriminate between books in which he is financially interested, and those which he is publishing to please the ambition of a person who wishes to see his or her name in print. He should also fix his terms and stand by them to both the wholesale and retail trader. These are now fairly carried out by some of the older-established publishers, but in some of their cheaper issues they appear to be unable to discriminate between what is a wholesale order and a wholesale trader.