—Are the office-boys often called into consultation?
—Mr. —— finds his stenographer a very great help in passing upon certain points—illustrations, etc.
—Does it appear to you that the sales department would be the one best qualified to pass on points of design?
—Well, there, you see—the books have to be sold—that is what we make them for—and the sales department is the one in closest touch with the people that buy the books—that knows just what they want.
—The standards of quality, then, are set by the people who buy the books?
—Oh, absolutely so. How else would you move the books? It is a merchandising proposition, you must remember.
—But do you not think that people would buy decently made books as willingly as poorly made books?
At the same price, yes. No question about it. The book-buying public doesn't worry its head about the way books are made. It doesn't know anything about it. And well made books cost more. The trade is committed to a dollar-and-a-half article and can't risk going above it.
—Your opinion is that the price of a well made book would be so high as to prevent its sale?
—In the case of fiction, yes. The price has become almost a fixture.