Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind (36 page)

With so many copies of
Gone With the Wind
in circulation, Brett at long last considered the possibility that the three-dollar edition had run its course. In August, publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst offered to buy the serial rights for ten thousand dollars and made a compelling argument Macmillan should sell before the movie release.
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Unsure, Brett turned for advice to Waldo McClure of the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. His friend advised Brett not to sell, predicting it would be the death knell of the book to run the entire story in newspaper installments. Brett also sought input from Mitchell, who was entitled to 50 percent of the proceeds of any serialization. She admitted to having little understanding of these types of deals but did have two concerns. First, she was in no particular hurry to sell because a lump sum payment would have increased her taxable income. Second, if now was the time to sell the rights, she wanted to be sure her former employer, the
Atlanta Journal
, would have a chance to bid.
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Brett rejected Hearst's offer but had come to accept that it was time to dip his toe into the low end of the market. That fall, Macmillan announced to the trade plans to issue a hardcover “cheap edition” of
Gone With the
Wind
in time for the 1938 holiday season. Priced at $1.49, it would look like the original book but use a lower quality paper and binding. At Blanton's suggestion, it would be marketed as a Christmas present for those who shopped chain drugstores and cigar stores.
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To create a sense of urgency, the new edition was made available to retailers for two weeks only, from November 1 through November 14.
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Brett had high hopes that this special offer would do well. He wrote Marsh that Macmillan felt sure it had at least $250,000 “in the bag,” maybe even $350,000. “If we do it will be most satisfactory and, in that case, would produce—oh well just chicken feed to the Marshes! but a neat little $17,500.00.” He did not want to count any chickens before they were hatched but predicted the company might sell as many as five hundred thousand copies.
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Marsh responded succinctly: “I won't make any comment on your reports of sales of the new edition except to say that I continue to be amazed.”
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