Women in the Literary Market 1800-1900

Getting into Print:
Lady Novelists & Their Publishers

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These letters provide insight into the relationships between female authors and their male publishers and editors. Written by a number of novelists to the London publishing firm George Bentley and Son, the letters reveal how the authors carefully, yet boldly, negotiated their way through the editorial and publishing process in an environment that frequently devalued women’s writing.

Although women did not have uniform experiences in their literary business dealings, these letters show them to be active managers of their own careers and keen advocates for their reputations and financial interests.

The letters address issues of editorial revision, copy-right, book design, contract royalties, printing, and advertising, and sometimes illuminate tensions over issues of control and authority in decision making.

continue to Charlotte Brontë & George Eliot

introduction
early role models
entering the literary market
learned poets
getting into print
charlotte bronte and george eliot
sin and sensation
new women
education
journalism
activism
L.T. Meade
the three volume format
credits
home
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