Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205 of 1029

Well, we were the first ones that did it. We innovated with it. First of all, all books are on consignment, so we're certainly not going to send them great masses of books that they're going to dump back. Secondly, our salesmen know the capacity of these areas, and we can often more intelligently make up their order than they can. We know what they should have. It's automatic. And our salesmen make up the orders for these people, and they allow them to, because we very seldom are wrong. Now, when we have a big book we send a lot of books. On a big book you can make a terrible mistake. On some books that have come out in the past year, where these new paperback publishers went into hardback publishing and gave ludicrous advances, which they now bitterly resent and regret, they were stuck with inferior books by the likes of Irwin Shaw and James Jones. They paid enormous advances and the books were failures. They'll get them back by the thousands, to the delight of all the publishers who resented the fact that they went in and pulled these authors in by offering prices we not only couldn't meet but knew were idiotic.

Well, now, you moved your offices. Were you still only Modern Library or had you begun...?

We had the Nonesuch Press.

Had you removed everything from Liveright?

Oh, sure.