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Yesterday’s Amateur
by John A. Kriebel
It was 1940. Yes, there was a war in Europe, but a kid just about learning to drive didn’t think too much about it yet. Hadn’t it been quoted in newspaper headlines, “F.D.R. Promises No Foreign War”? Besides, I was into printing and writing.
My brother had a 5×8 Kelsey and did small jobs on it: business cards, stationery, billheads and the like. We weren’t poor but the old man didn’t hand out money freely, either. I guess my brother Bill liked to earn his own money and he took pride in his printing, too. Later he became editor of the school paper. He had done some writing before that, but he just never put writing and printing or printing and amateur journalism together. When I learned about amateur journalism it was a natural. I could write for it and I could try my hand at letterpress.
It was fun setting up a door (paneled type) on 2×4’s and helping built a printshop in our basement. We had a basement so big you could ride your bike in it if you were careful – or roller skate. Those were the days when you could get orange crates free.
I had a few things published in the school newspaper and resolved that when I went to the (private) high school my brother went to, I’d be editor, too; and I did.
Amateur journalism was a way to get published and I did more writing than printing of journals. I did print two issues of The Pennsylvania Poet for the American Amateur Press Association in 1940 or 1941 (and wish I had copies now) and when I joined the Navy in World War II had one issue of The Jolly Roger printed for me when I was stationed in Portsmouth, Va.
I had done a few printing jobs but nothing big and too many other things came into my life. It was my brother’s press. After the war we both married, left home and went our separate ways.
I remember there were always a lot of political hassles in the associations that seemed pretty unimportant a lot of times. Sometimes I took a side, but mostly I wanted to write or print.
There were one or two families who put out a journal I think, including the kids. A couple of kids even joined and turned out journals on rubber type presses, usually in red ink. Then I guess I was kind of a snob because I had the use of a Kelsey. Now I’d have to hand it to those kids for going to all that trouble and using what they had and could afford.
I know my writing improved. It improved because I wrote for school papers, English classes and for myself. I wrote because I have always needed to write. I was the shy, withdrawn, asocial type (not anti-social) and what I couldn’t say with my mouth, I tried to say with my pen.
When you are new at a school, especially a private boarding school which still had initiations (hazing) of underclassmen, you don’t just break into print and become a member of the school newspaper staff. Following my brother’s advice and extending an idea I had developed in dummy form for some small papers I had hoped to print, I made a small French-fold in a one copy edition. Using pens, I hand lettered it and illustrated it and tacked it on the door of my room.
The dormitory, having been built in 1799, had splintery floors so I called it Splinters. Well, after a few issues of my observations of school life, plus a lot of bad puns I made assistant or associate editor and columnist and my “journal” became a column which I helped lay out, along with headlines and other layout jobs to be done by a local printer. This was the first step to the editorship which I only achieved by flunking my senior year. Then they didn’t think I should spend so much time on editing instead of studying, so I was made a co-editor.
Every high school has a paper or a literary magazine but it seems the hobby amateur journalism and the school amateur journalism don’t meet. Maybe the associations aren’t trying to recruit. If that is true, we’ll all turn into fossils and become extinct. Aren’t we already endangered species?
There are professional writers who make their living at it. I’ve never quite reached that point (though, frankly I’d like to). There are amateur writers who write as a hobby and those amateurs I mentioned who write for school publications. What about the people in between? I guess I’d fall in the semi-pro category, though labels are probably dangerous.
I have written poetry as long as I can remember. My first poem was published when I was seven (a long time ago!). It was the boost a kid with a lousy ego needed. It was amateur journalism, in a broader sense, that nourished me. I mean both school papers and the organized hobby associations. Through these media a person can grow.
Seeing oneself in print can have the effect of lulling one into complacency, but with me it had a more positive effect. Each year I’d look back on my earlier work and realize how poor it had been. Yet I was published. I was given a chance. As a result I grew, developed, both in self-confidence and in skill. As a result of these amateur publications in both areas I have been able to accept rejection slips from magazines, discover little magazines that will publish an occasional poem and even sell to one slick magazine for teachers, Elementary English. My poem, “Fantasy in April,” written in a special vocabulary, appeared in the May 1974 issue.
Maybe you see amateur journalism as a hobby and an end in itself. Fine. Do your thing. I see it also as a helpful training ground by which young (and old) can learn how to write, print and publish.
I have done a little printing. Not much, I admit. A few letterheads at most, and one or two tiny journals. I appreciate the work involved in letterpress. In a journal there should be more than quality printing; it should have something to say. It can be about printing, it can be literary, biographical, lots of things. Sometimes I see journals that are beautifully printed and the printer-editor fills it up with shop-worn quotes he must have found in some dusty morgue, joke book or cranial nook.
To me letterpress is best used for one of two things: small job printing or the publishing of artistic and literary journals. The latter can be undertaken as a hobby or with the intention of trying to recover part of the cost through selling a collection of writing. The latter isn’t really profit-making or “professional” because not many people will buy a small literary magazine as opposed to Playboy, Cosmopolitan or Sports Afield, to name but a few.
If I have some of my writing printed at my expense and at my direction, I have designed it, laid it out, edited, proofread it and now must distribute it best as I can. I will need to give away some copies in the hope that it will be reviewed – which it probably won’t be. This means I must try to sell some unless I am able to foot the whole bill, which I might wind up doing anyway.
If I am lucky enough to be able to write something people might be interested in and print it myself, my time, talent and investment of capital are worth something. I know I won’t come out ahead. So long as there’s a loss it is still in the hobby class because I am doing it to express my ideas or feelings.
At a recent convention I heard someone say that some writers won’t have anything to do with an organization that calls itself “amateur.” Maybe that’s snobbishness. But what about the amateur who won’t have anything to do with someone who writes because he loves to write but tries to sell it to help defray costs. He becomes “tainted” as a “professional.” Isn’t that reverse snobbishness?
Let’s face it – hobbies cost money. Doing some printing for others can help pay for some type, ink or paper, the cost of which has spiraled. If prices continue to rise a lot of us may not be able to afford the luxury of a hobby.
Some people begin a craft as a hobby and finding (1) they love it, (2) they are becoming proficient at it, (3) it is increasingly expensive – they begin selling what they make. If they become successful enough they may use it as a retirement income or turn it into a full-time business.
When I send poems to little magazines occasionally I am lucky enough to have one accepted. The “pay” in these “professional” (?) little magazines ranges from zero (in which case I have to buy the magazine to see myself in print) to $2 for a poem or maybe $10 for an article. Mostly the “pay” is one or two copies of the magazine. A generous printer-editor in amateurdom who published a couple of my poems very kindly paid me, if you want to call it that, with some extra copies, for which I am grateful.
This article started as a nostalgic assignment, but its turn touches a point of much concern to me.
This is a great hobby, but writing is more than just that to me. It is my vocation in the sense of a “calling.” It has helped me get where I am.
Whither the Manuscript?
by Lea Palmer
Article VIII, Section 12 of the National Amateur Press Association constitution requires the manuscript bureau manager “solicit manuscripts from members and supply them to publishers affiliated with the association. He shall record by date, author and title, all contributions received and supplied. He shall make every possible effort to ensure early publication of every manuscript which he furnishes a publisher.”
There are no further formal instructions. The replies to the following queries have been devised and practiced through experience since 1968.
Material is solicited mainly by numerous letters and personal contact with writers and authors, supported in addition with bulletins and articles in the National Amateur. Records and follow-up letters are part of normal business practice insuring early publication.
Here are some questions frequently asked by new members, and my replies:
Q. Is it permissible to mail material directly to a publisher? A. Yes, but first make inquiries and describe the contents of your manuscript.
Q. In what ways are manuscripts filed and cataloged when first received? A. All manuscripts are recorded by date, author and title in a loose-leaf filing system.
Q. What kind of information should a printer give when he asks for manuscripts? A. Length of material and theme preferred. Category desired: poetry, prose, story, article, etc.
Q. How long is a manuscript kept in the bureau before it is discarded or returned because no one wanted to publish it? A. Rarely are manuscripts discarded. They are usually withdrawn by the author.
Q. What kind of manuscripts are most in demand by editors? A. When specified, the most popular subject matter requested are articles on the hobby, especially about writing and printing.
Q. Do manuscripts have to be typed or prepared in certain ways? A. It is suggested that writers type all copy, double space on one side of 8½x11 page. Allow ample margins for editor’s markings and instructions to the compositor. Include your name and address on the first page of your manuscript.
Q. Must a writer furnish a self-addressed, stamped return envelope? What about Canadian postage – that won’t work so easily? A. Most amateurs do not supply postage for return of their manuscripts, but as a matter of common courtesy the manuscript bureau returns them. Canadian postage is rarely obtainable in the U.S., but post office coupons are available.
Q. When an editor asks to see manuscripts, how long can he take to look them over? A. Preferably within two weeks after receipt, but certainly not more than thirty days.
Q. What is a fair time-frame within which an editor should publish the manuscripts he keeps? A. From three to four months, approximately.
Q. Is the writer notified of acceptance when an editor accepts his manuscript? A. The writer is notified when the editor advises the bureau of its use.
Q. Is the publisher expected to furnish the writer a certain minimum number of copies of the journal in which his piece appeared? If so, how many copies? A. Extra copies would be welcomed by the writer and would be a gracious gesture by the publisher.
Q. What if a publisher doesn’t use your manuscript within the time limit? A. The publisher should notify the bureau and request an extension so that our files will be up to date. If this is not done, the bureau will query the publisher.
Q. Can a writer set his own “kill” date? A. Seldom does a writer place a time limit on a manuscript. If so, the bureau honors the request and will ask its return.
Q. What happens when a writer drops his membership in the association? A. A six-month leeway period is allowed in the event and hope of reinstatement.
Please direct any questions to me if they are essential to your understanding of the operation of the manuscript bureau. The above questions and answers are primarily for new members and were originally prepared for an introductory booklet a few years ago. However, it is good for all to review the basics.
The Second Time Around
by Harold Segal
“Congratulations! You have been elected to head an illustrious organization. There are few others that can boast as long and continuous a history.”
And then there follows 14-plus sheets of single-spaced typed instructions on how to be president of the National Amateur Press Association.
With such knowledge one can don the mantle of office and pick up one hundred years of continuity and hardly miss a step.
This valuable guide was conceived and written in 1955 by Victor Moitoret to aid newly-elected presidents who may not yet be aware of all the responsibilities and duties required. Two pages of footnotes by Helm Spink amend some of the original instructions. Other presidents, Verle Heljeson in 1959, Sally O’ Rear in 1962, Rolfe Castleman in 1963 and J. Ed Newman in 1970, have added notes or explanations of actions they had taken during their incumbencies.
So, with all this valuable information at hand, all one has to do to be a successful president is to be active, exhort others to be active, publish, write letters, make great appointments, see that all officers are doing their job and then sit back and relax – when your successor is elected.
When I was elected president in 1933 it was an entirely different ball game. In retrospect it seemed effortless, but the files of the National Amateur and my own journals say it wasn’t so. Details do not reappear easily; they are hidden in a dim haze.
Forty-two years between terms – that certainly looks like an error – or is it the son of an ex-president with the same name? – when some future hobby researcher runs down the list of presidents. A whole lifetime has existed in that 42-year period – depression, first job, business venture, war, marriage, responsibilities, births, deaths, heartbreak: all the ingredients are there – but mixed between was the pleasure and relaxation of printing an amateur journal.
Those who know Robert S. Williams will tell you he is a man of many talents. A visit to his home will attest this statement. Printer, writer, machinist, gardener, cabinet maker, designer, tailor, ceramics and glass artisan – and I’m sure I’ve missed another half dozen crafts at which he is adept.
One of the more popular sellers at NAPA auctions at recent conventions has been material designed with letters, alphabets and graphic arts items. This sparked an idea with Bob to design appropriate material for a shirt or blouse with appropriate NAPA centennial designs. Bob volunteered to undertake the entire project, design and production by silk screen.
So, if you want to sport a very special shirt – or blouse – at the convention, write Bob Williams quickly. Only 50 kits are to be prepared and about half are already reserved. Address? Chevy Chase, Md. 20015.
We have been urging NAPA convention goers to make their reservations early this year. Tradition bound, the centennial celebration had to be on the Fourth of July, and it had to be in Philadelphia where Richard Gerner, John Winslow Snyder, Evan Reed Riale and 62 others started this peculiar organization. Were it not for the fact that the nation is celebrating its bicentennial, rooms would be plentiful and cheaper. Anyhow, make your reservation now and take advantage of the special rates.
Campane has been published since 1941 in the interest of the National Amateur Press Association and the hobby of amateur journalism by Harold Segal, Margo Gardens, Bristol, Pa. 19007. Hand set in Baskerville types and 440 copies printed on 60-lb. Offset stock on an 1890 7×11 Pearl treadle press.