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338 SELLING THE SCRIPT nibble, but if you are writing the sort of stuff tliat company wants and send in a good story every week, or two, even if none are bought, you are making an impression on the Editor and in time he will show you where you fail to suit them and seek to guide you into the right course. He may not be interested in a story now and then. You must show him that you can continue to do good work before he will be interested. 46. Almost any person of average intelligence can turn out one or two good plots. Editors know this, and it is the sole reason why they wade through the piles of scripts that yield so small a result. Always the next story may be a good one. But the Editor also knows that this good story may be the first and the last the author will ever write. He may take the story but he will waste no time on that writer until he has been shown that the story is not a chance hit but an average of the author's output. Then he will use his best en- deavors to advance the good workman. 47. If he does, cultivate patience and courtesy. If the Editor is moved to tell you that the plot is too weak, do not reply that he is blinder than a day-old dog, or suggest that he see an oculist or invite him to a place where eyeglasses will melt. See if you cannot view the story with his eyes. If you are trying to please him, you must adapt yourself to his point of view. One young author once com- plained that a certain Editor was unduly finical in his objections; that he wrote page letters about every story he took. The Editor was asked about it. "I'll have a place here on the staff in a couple of months." he explained. "I'm training him for it." Welcome sugges- tion, appreciate criticism, and profit by it. 48. Play the game fairly. If you see a story on the screen that you know is yours, do not call the Editor a thief. Write him a courteous letter and point out that for some reason no check was sent you. You will feel small indeed if your abuse is met with the courteous reply that they made the story that they might obtain your address as you trusted to the address on the return envelope and had none on your script. Every studio has hundreds of scripts without return envelopes or returned as incorrectly addressed. You may have for- gotten. 49. You are bound to sustain some losses, but what business is there that shows all profits? The butcher, the baker, the physician and the lawyer all have their bad debts, and if a lawyer cannot collect his own fees occasionally you should not expect to be paid for all you do. Now and then a script will be lost in the mails, perhaps in a train wreck or damaged in a pneumatic tube, perhaps a dishonest employee will steal your idea now and then, or perhaps you will sell to a concern that has no intention of paying for anything. You must learn through experience, and sometimes the experience is bitter, but you are no more badly placed than any other professional man. You must experiment until you know the sheep from the goats. After you have them tagged if you play with the goats, you must expect to be