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Rough Draft.
PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FINANCIAL SYNDICATE TO ORGANIZE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF BOOKS BY ALEISTER CROWLEY.
General Remarks: Aleister Crowley is a recognized man of great genius, whose literary works have hitherto been available only in privately-printed editions, or not accessible to general readers. It is now proposed to organize and exploit systematically the publication of his writings, including poetry, short stories, works of fiction, drama, technical works on Magick, and his Autobiography. The initial obstacle to be overcome is a widespread prejudice against the character of Crowley himself, which derives from ignorance of his work, fantastic rumours of his mode of life, and principally from systemic attacks upon him in the sensational press, extending over more than thirty years of his life. It is assumed that open publication of his Autobiography, and a thorough selection of his Press-cuttings, showing how the "Legend" has arisen, will give an authoritative denial to the slanders at present current against his personal reputation. At the same time re-publication and new publication of his literary works at popular prices will enable a fair appreciation to be made of his genius and will open a lucrative market for the sale of his voluminous writings.
Details for operation of proposed syndicate. (1) Name: THELEMA BOOKSHOP & PUBLISHING CO. LTD.
(2) Rent premises consisting of Bookshop on ground floor in central position with private office attached.
(3) Acquire sole distributing agency for works by Aleister Crowley already published and to be published, as follows:—
(a) Stock of books issued privately before the war and now remaining unsold in the possession of Aleister Crowley.
(b) Take over from Mandrake Press unsold stock of works recently issued by them and acquire complete editions of works which they are under contract to publish in the near future. (Particulars in schedule appended.)
(c) Acquire from Aleister Crowley stock of book MAGICK [Magick in Theory and Practice], 3000 copies at cost, in sheets unbound, and publish in one volume.
(d) Issue further technical works on Magick, including LIBER 777, THE VISION AND THE VOICE, LIBER ALEPH, THE BOOK OF THE LAW WITH COMMENTARY, etc.
(e) Issue selected poetry and other unpublished work of general interest, including SIMPLE SIMON [Simon Iff], Vol. II, GOLDEN TWIGS, at popular prices.
(f) Immediately issue a selection from the Press cuttings entitled "THE LEGEND OF ALEISTER CROWLEY" to show exactly how prejudice against him has been created in the past.
(4) Issue catalogs of old stock, new books, and works in preparation.
(5) Campaign of press publicity and advertising.
(6) Stephensen [P.R. Stephensen] and Regardie [Israel Regardie] to be in charge of publishing and bookselling respectively, at salary to be agreed.
(7) Remuneration of Aleister Crowley to be guaranteed at £1000 for one year, payable quarterly, said advances to be deducted against his account with the syndicate for royalties, commissions, sales of stock, etc.
SCHEDULE OF BOOKS TO BE TAKEN OVER FROM MANDRAKE PRESS
1. 800 copies of CONFESSIONS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY , Vols. I and II in sheets at cost price of 6/- per copy. Cost of binding is 2/- extra per copy author's royalty 6/3 per copy. Retail selling price is £2-2s. per copy, showing profit of 27/9d per copy sold retail, or profit of 17/3d per copy sold to the trade.
2. 2,500 copies of MOONCHILD at 2/- per copy including cost of binding. Author's royalty 2/3d. Selling price 10/6d. Profit per copy 6/3d retail; trade 3/10d.
3. 1,000 copies each of CONFESSIONS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY Vols. III to VI, inclusive, at cost of approximately £300 per volume.
4. 1,000 copies each of SIMPLE SIMON, Vol. I, and COLLECTED SHORT STORIES at price of approximately £100 each. Selling price 7/6d. Author's royalty 1/1d per copy. Profit per copy 4/5d retail; 1/11d trade. Profits increase with subsequent editions from original plates.
Capital Required for One Year's Operations. £6,000. In four quarterly calls as follows: 2nd, 3rd, and 4th calls to be made only for the difference, if any, between revenue collected and capital required as stated in the following schedule.
FIRST CALL.
SECOND CALL.
THIRD CALL.
FOURTH CALL.
ESTIMATE OF POSSIBLE REVENUE FROM SALES OF BOOKS SPECIFIED IN FOREGOING.
NOTE: This does not include any estimate of sales of old (pre-war) stock, or any estimate of additional revenues including serial and dramatic and translation rights; commissions of sales of paintings, etc.
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