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336 SELLING THE SCRIPT be conveyed by the company to the persons most concerned. It is well to let one or two witnesses see that this is the letter you inclose in the envelope addressed to the company. You will, of course, keep a carbon copy, and you will register the letter and "demand"' a return receipt. Give the company time to reply to this, then copy the carbon and send out the new original. 38. Precisely the same form of letter as above should be sent to the last known address of a company that has gone out of business. It may be that the letter cannot be delivered, in which case you retain the letter to prove that you have complied with, the formalities. Then if some dishonest employee has taken the manuscripts and put them to his own use, you can show that you made an effort to comply with the formalities. Many companies fail to keep going long enough to realize on their investment, the capital being too small to let them continue until the returns come in. If they become bankrupt, there is generally an upset condition and there is no one to see to the return of the manuscripts. 39. This naturally leads to the suggestion that the safest plan is to deal only with known and established companies having an outlet for their product. It should not be necessary to offer such advice, but it is more than necessary as things stand, for some waiters will send out their work to any concern having "film" as part of its corporate title. Even the "junk" dealers, the men who make a business of buy- ing and selling second hand reels and who have to go to some regular exchange if they want to treat their eyes to the sight of a film in decent condition, get all sorts of scripts. They advertise in the' trade papers that they sell second hand film. The advertisement should clearly show that they are dealers in and not makers of film, but they are called the Occidental Film Company, and so the authors rush their stories in. Some of these companies do not know enough to send stories .back. 40. The "wildcat" companies are just as bad. A director out of a job meets a man who has some money and a belief that there is a fortune in the film business. A company is formed. When the backer's funds are exhausted the company goes out of existence again unless another moneyed man can be found. Such companies naturally do not pay for scripts. They either offer to pay on release or ignor§ the author's letters. No reputable and financially solid company offers to pay on release. It can afford to pay on acceptance. Any such offer should be viewed with suspicion. 41. If you do not market intelligently you have only yourself to blame. You are in the position of the grocer who extends credit to a person whom he knows to be unworthy of credit. He is taking a gambling chance of getting his money or some of his money. If you desire to gamble with your scripts, it is your privilege, but if you lose do not advertise your foolishness by asking for sympathy. 42. You are at liberty to offer a script "at usual rates" or to state a price. Each method has its advantages. At usual rates you may