Hence every copy was either
purchased by the public at the full price at a news stand, or
subscribed for at its stated subscription price. It was, in short, an
authoritative circulation. And on every hand the question was being
asked: "How is it done? How is such a high circulation obtained?"
Bok's invariable answer was that he gave his readers the very best of
the class of reading that he believed would interest them, and that he
spared neither effort nor expense to obtain it for them. When Mr.
Howells once asked him how he classified his audience, Bok replied: "We
appeal to the intelligent American woman rather than to the
intellectual type." And he gave her the best he could obtain. As he
knew her to be fond of the personal type of literature, he gave her in
succession Jane Addams's story of "My Fifteen Years at Hull House," and
the remarkable narration of Helen Keller's "Story of My Life"; he
invited Henry Van Dyke, who had never been in the Holy Land, to go
there, camp out in a tent, and then write a series of sketches, "Out of
Doors in the Holy Land"; he induced Lyman Abbott to tell the story of
"My Fifty Years as a Minister.
Pages:
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277