The cordial tone of Sam’s letter is just what I expected; but—as you say—he appears to somewhat misapprehend the situation. Not in regard to the financial aspect of the bonanza discovery, for that is substantially all right; but in regard to the compilation and publication of your proposed work. The plan he proposes, of embracing everything in one volume—which is practicable enough, and the thing could be strung together in a month—would probably realize you in the long run $10,000 or $15,000. But this is not Mackey’s, Ralston’s, your own—nor my idea. Without knowing exactly what yours or theirs may be, let me briefly sketch mine. Write your pamphlet on the mines. Give all the necessary facts, but try also to make it sketchy and readable, so as to give you somewhat of a literary reputation. Half a dozen well-told anecdotes will do this. Try and get the whole in less than a hundred pamphlet pages. You can get an edition of such a work published in the East for nearly five cents a copy. Mackey, Ralston, et als., should stand the cost of printing—which for 50.000 would be, say, $2.500. Thus far you have nothing. But contract with them to take say 10,000 copies at full price—which will realize you $2,500. This is your first profit. If they will take double or treble that number—and the different big companies should do even more than that—your gain will be correspondingly larger. The balance of the edition you will place in the hands of the American News Co., we will say. They will gobble 12½ cents for their trouble the first pop. The retail newsdealers to whom they distribute them will want six or eight cents more—so that you cannot reckon on upwards of 5 cents per copy as your profit. This looks small but on 40,000—which I am confident they would sell—it amounts to $2,000. Thus, with the send off Mackey and the rest should give you, you will have $4,500 at least, and the work might have a sale which would double that sum. This is a quicker, easier, and surer thing than Sam proposes. Meantime you have got your hand in the publishing line and your name before the public. Then go at your book of sketches, as Sam advises. Amplify your pamphlet matter and sandwich it in your big book. Put this into the hands of the publisher at his own risk—not asking Mackey or any one else to pay for its publication, and not stipulating that any one takes a single copy.