The script of Erskine Caldwell’s play, “Tobacco Road,” which is now running on Broadway, will be published by Viking Press. Behind simple announcement lies a story that demonstrates neatly some of the problems of the publishing business.
Viking Press are the publishers of Mr. Caldwell’s novels. He was originally published by Charles Scribner & Company but after two flops went over to Viking. His “God’s Little Acre” was fairly successful. He then submitted a book of short stories which didn’t do quite so well. His next venture was a novel about which there was much discussion and word of this possible rupture, having gotten around, other publishers immediately made tracks for Caldwell’s haunts with fat contracts dangling in the offing but Viking jumped into the breach and decided to publish the book without further ado.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
