Publishers Quotes - Page 22

'A Wrinkle in Time' was almost never published. You can't name a major publisher who didn't reject it.

Madeleine L'Engle

Wrinkles, Names, Wrinkle In Time

"Penguins and Golden Calves: Icons and Idols in Antarctica and Other Unexpected Places". Book by Madeleine L'Engle, 1996.

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I don't know why the world has changed so much that writers are now expected to appear in public and talk about their work. It's something I find very difficult. And yet, one does have some sense of responsibility towards one's publishers, to the people trying to sell the book.

Jonathan Lethem

Book, Responsibility, People

Source: www.believermag.com

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I am asked to submit a 2-3 page synopsis to my publisher ahead of time, so by the time I begin writing, I have a fair idea of where the story will begin, the main conflicts, and the basic ending point. But that still leaves plenty of room for changes and discovery along the way.

Julie Klassen

Writing, Discovery, Ideas

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An artist has to be humble, an editor must be officious, and a publisher must be somewhere out in the galaxy enjoying godhood. It was a caste system, pure and simple. And it was accepted that way. Nobody thought of contracts, nobody thought of insisting on better deals.

Jack Kirby

Humble, Artist, Simple

Interview with Gary Groth, www.tcj.com. February 1990.

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The artist is the lowest form of life on the rung of the ladder. The publishers are usually businessmen who deal with businessmen. They deal with promotional people. They deal with financial people. They deal with accountants. They deal with people who work on higher levels. They deal with tax people, but have absolutely no interest in artists, in individual artists, especially very young artists.

Jack Kirby

Artist, People, Ladders

Interview with Gary Groth, www.tcj.com. February 1990.

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When I receive a new novel from a hopeful publisher - "hoping that I like the book as much as he does" - I check first of all how much dialog there is, and if it looks too abundant or too sustained, I shut the book with a bang.

Vladimir Nabokov

Book, Hopeful, Bangs

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (1973). “Strong opinions”, McGraw-Hill Companies

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I had an idea for a medical conspiracy thriller. Since it was non-horror, I didn't want the publishers and editors bringing a lot of baggage - my history as a genre writer in the SF and horror fields, for instance - to the novel when they read it. I wanted them to consider the book solely on its own merits. So I called myself Colin Andrews. I was tired of seeing my books at floor level. Not that Herman Wouk and Phyllis Whitney and William Wharton are bad company, but I wanted to be up at eye level for a change, where people with bad backs could get a chance to see my books.

F. Paul Wilson

Book, Eye, Tired

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I just hope that readers and publishers continue to appreciate good writing and good storytelling in all their various forms. And I hope that people continue to read books, even though we have so many other options for entertainment.

Karen Thompson Walker

Book, Writing, People

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I started with small-press publishers, who were willing to publish all sorts of forms. I didn't move to the larger presses until they knew what they were getting in for.

Lydia Davis

Moving, Form, Willing

The New Yorker Live Chat, www.newyorker.com. December 16, 2009.

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Maybe just as many women writers as male writers could be billed as the next great American writer by their publisher. Maybe book criticism sections could review an equal amount of female and male writers. Maybe Oprah could start putting some books by women authors in her book club, since most of her audience is women.

Jami Attenberg

Book, Criticism, Males

"Interview With Jami Attenberg, Author of 'The Melting Season'". Interview with Teddy Wayne, www.huffingtonpost.com. March 18, 2010.

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