NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION P. 19 The unusual antiquity and…

To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…

— Kingsley Amis

Book burning is a charming old custom, hallowed by antiquity. It has been practiced for centuries by fascists, communists, atheists, school children, rival authors,…

— Richard Armour

I take editing seriously. It's a joy to edit. I always hand a manuscript to several editors and can't wait to get back their…

— Steve Martin

I began writing 'Matterhorn' in 1975 and for more than 30 years I kept working on my novel in my spare time, unable to…

— Karl Marlantes

We have the Annunciation, the Conception, the Birth and the Adoration, as described in the first and second chapters of Luke's gospel; and as…

— Samuel Sharpe

Children ask better questions than adults. "May I have a cookie?" "Why is the sky blue?" and "What does a cow say?" are far…

— Fran Lebowitz

In the usual way I submitted manuscripts to publishers. This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish…

— Tanith Lee

When you print out your manuscript and read it, marking up with a pen, it sometimes feels like a criminal returning to the scene…

— Don Roff

I love the process of cracking the spine for the first time and slowly sinking into a book. That will soon seem old-fashioned, I'm…

— Edwidge Danticat

The usual way - through a long series of rejections, revising my manuscripts, and kept trying again and again. Finally I was fortunate enough…

— Danielle Steel

If Elmore Leonard met Jim Thompson down a dark alley at midnight they might emerge a week later with thick beards, bloodshot eyes and…

— Eoin Colfer

To me, all the juice of a book is in an unpublished manuscript, and the published book is like a dead tree - just…

— Christina Stead

A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript…

— Carolyn Forche

My first three manuscripts were epic fantasy - like high fantasy - and then the fourth one was a historical fantasy about Mozart as…

— Marie Lu

I kept writing short stories and sending out my manuscript, and it kept coming back like a bad penny. It was rejected all over…

— Debra Dean