--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think people become consumed with…" description: "\"I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.\" — Ann Patchett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/ann-patchett-670_book_i-think-people-become-consumed-with-sell_2727538.jpg" --- # I think people become consumed with selling a book when… ![“I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.” quote by Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/ann-patchett-670_book_i-think-people-become-consumed-with-sell_2727538.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/ann-patchett-670_book_i-think-people-become-consumed-with-sell_2727538.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/ann-patchett-670_book_i-think-people-become-consumed-with-sell_2727538.jpg) > “I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.” [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers often focus on marketing instead of the core task of creating the work itself. **In simple terms:** Writers get distracted by selling rather than writing. Key Takeaway Prioritize writing over promotion. Themes writing marketing focus Mood reflective determined Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - book launch planning - daily writing routine - author workshops - self‑promotion strategies Key Concepts creative process authorial discipline Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance writing and marketing? - What habits keep you centered on creation? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on sales can dilute creative quality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Consumed Selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumed-selling-2930359/) [Consumed Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumed-writing-2930358/) [Need Consumed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-consumed-2929984/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling/) [Selling Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling-book-1446164/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“The need to please her consumed him like an Australian bushfire,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefanie-london/the-need-to-please-her-consumed-him-like-an-australian-bushfire/) [Stefanie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefanie-london/) > [“2. The soft “no” (or the “no but”). I recently received an e-mail inviting me to coffee. I replied: “I am consumed with writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-mckeown/2-the-soft-no-or-the-no-but-i-recently-received-an-e-mail-inviting-me/) [Greg McKeown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-mckeown/) > [Selling one's book to Hollywood is rather like selling someone your house. After it's sold, it isn't yours anymore. They can paint it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/selling-one-s-book-to-hollywood-is-rather-like-selling-someone-your/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [In America there's a tendency to write the same book over and over because that's what sells. So in a way, my success in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-tyler/in-america-there-s-a-tendency-to-write-the-same-book-over-and-over/) [Steven Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-tyler/) > [Selling a book or story has never become absolutely automatic for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/selling-a-book-or-story-has-never-become-absolutely-automatic-for-me/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [I want to write a best-selling book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-abbott/i-want-to-write-a-best-selling-book/) [Diane Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-abbott/) > [I wrote a best-selling book, and if you don't believe me, you can come into my basement; I'll show you every copy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-scaramucci/i-wrote-a-best-selling-book-and-if-you-don-t-believe-me-you-can-come/) [Anthony Scaramucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-scaramucci/) > [If you have sold the film rights to somebody, take your money and leave. If the producers need you, they will call you. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-subramanian/if-you-have-sold-the-film-rights-to-somebody-take-your-money-and/) [Ravi Subramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-subramanian/) > [For many writers, selling a book is the ultimate dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-serle/for-many-writers-selling-a-book-is-the-ultimate-dream/) [Rebecca Serle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-serle/) > [“I am not entirely persuaded that selling a book is like selling a pig.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-a-flynn/i-am-not-entirely-persuaded-that-selling-a-book-is-like-selling-a-pig/) [Kathleen A. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-a-flynn/) > [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Life is pain...anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/life-is-pain-anyone-who-tells-you-otherwise-is-selling-something/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) ## More by Ann Patchett > [She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-sang-as-if-she-was-saving-the-life-of-every-person-in-the-room/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Without worry to protect me, every thought that came into my mind received real attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/without-worry-to-protect-me-every-thought-that-came-into-my-mind/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I wrote the last sentence of The Patron Saint of Liars in early April and stumbled out of my apartment and into the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-wrote-the-last-sentence-of-the-patron-saint-of-liars-in-early-april/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“In the future, he will try to say her name enough, but he never can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/in-the-future-he-will-try-to-say-her-name-enough-but-he-never-can/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/he-was-in-love-and-never-had-he-felt-such-kindness-towards-another/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Gen was sleeping the sleep of the heavily drugged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/gen-was-sleeping-the-sleep-of-the-heavily-drugged/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-was-a-waitress-i-was-too-tired-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-i-came/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-didn-t-know-how-to-hate-her-mother-yet-but-every-time-she-left/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“When you think of love you think as an American. 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It was not crosshatched with roads, overrun with the hard lines of interstate systems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/nebraska-was-white-a-page-as-still-as-fallen-snow-it-was-not/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Clearly he needed a father, but some other father, any other father, would have been preferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/clearly-he-needed-a-father-but-some-other-father-any-other-father/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I don't have any talent for vacations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-have-any-talent-for-vacations/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) [Explore all 413 Ann Patchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. 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