On Easter Sunday of 1903, April 12, Jack London accidentally cut off the tip of his thumb.
Earlier that year, London had sold The Call of the Wild - TWICE. Advances in technology had enabled quick and inexpensive printing, and the popularity of magazines was exploding, along with the market for fiction.
London sold The Call of the Wild to the Saturday Evening post for $750. Macmillan bought the book rights for $2000 and promoted it heavily.