753. Readers’ Guide Book.—A guide book for good reading which can be sold for $1 is a desideratum. Enumerate a few of the best books of all the great departments of literature with a short critique upon each. The list of the books as well as the critiques can be condensed from any of the ponderous reference lists in our great libraries.
754. American Eloquence.—There should be a book published which would preserve the different types of American eloquence. If it could be made a kind of text-book on oratory, it would have an immense sale. Tens of thousands of young men are fitting themselves to be lawyers, preachers, elocutionists, and public speakers in various capacities. They want a book which will give them the rules and models of effective speech. A book written with so much care as to make it a kind of standard of eloquence and oratory would pay well for the painstaking task. Our standard schoolbooks have proved mints of money to their authors.
755. Racers’ Record Book.—A book which should be a reliable record of the fastest times made in horse races, bicycle meets, and sporting matches, ought to have a ready sale. It should consist of condensed tables of all the records of all the great races, interspaced with blank leaves for the jotting down of new records. There are at least a million men interested in racing, and at a very moderate estimate one-quarter (250,000) ought to buy your book, which, we will say, sells for twenty-five cents.
756. Your Own Physician.—We want a book on health, written from the latest point of view of hygiene and physiology. Get a symposium of physicians to write on such topics as dress, diet, exercise, sleep, medicine, baths, etc. Most physicians would regard the advertising benefits of these articles as sufficient remuneration, while at the same time their names would help to sell the work, but if necessary pay them for their services. Entitle the work, “Your Own Physician,” and sell it on subscription, the canvasser showing how much cheaper it is to keep well at $2—the price of the book—than to get well at $200—the charge of a physician for services in a long spell of illness.
757. The Boy’s Astronomy.—A small book about the sun, moon and stars, made attractive for beginners. It should teem with illustrations, and the youthful reader should be fascinated as he follows the sun and moon in their courses, learns how eclipses occur, and understands about meteors, comets, and nebulæ. There should also be directions for finding the principal stars on any night of the year. Such a book should command a ready sale, for he who writes for boys and girls has the largest market.
758. Recreations in Chemistry.—A bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church once wrote a book entitled “Recreations in Astronomy,” which has had a very large sale. But there is just as much room for “Recreations in Chemistry,” if written with as much imagination and skill. It should contain such fascinating chapters as “Chemistry of a Candle,” “The Dynamics of a Dewdrop,” “The Evolution of an Oak.” The chief points in the authorship should be accuracy and a charming style.
759. The Curiosity Book.—A book packed with the curious things in every department of human research. People like to read about the rare and the curious. A hundred chapters, short, spicy, and containing each a few wonderful things in a special field of learning, would be very popular with both young and old. As a gift book it would be unexcelled. There is money in it.
760. The Child’s Bible.—A Bible which shall contain the numerous stories so connected in narrative form as to make a continuous history from beginning to end. It should be very simple, and in no way do violence to the sacred record. If properly written, this book could be sold by canvassers in almost every home, and should bring much gain to the author.
761. Guide to Trades.—A complete guide to all the important professions, occupations, callings and trades. This work should show the opportunities in each trade, the comparative chances of success, the remuneration, and a few simple rules for guidance. It should bristle with facts, and should also give one or two examples in the form of stories—short autobiographies still better—of men who have been successful in each department of work. The advantage of this book is that it has no competitor, covering an entirely new field in authorship.
762. The Pleasure Book.—Here is a unique idea for a book. Let there be three hundred or more sections, one for every week day in the year, and let each section contain a different form of amusement. Books on games, riddles, sports, etc., can be drawn upon for supplies. As you must provide enjoyment for all kinds of weather, it will be well to have a short alternative for rainy days in each section. The amusement should be of the greatest possible variety, from the fox-hunt in the fields to the thimble-hunt in the parlor. As a large number of people have leisure only at night, perhaps a work entitled, “Three Hundred Happy Evenings” would be better than the suggestion above, though it would necessarily have to leave out most outdoor sports. Holidays should have a more elaborate programme.