--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think people need to remember that a…" description: "\"I think people need to remember that a book isn't done after a few rewrites and a publisher isn't going to buy an 'undone' book so the hard part is mak..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/jacqueline-woodson-1482_book_i-think-people-need-to-remember-that-a-b_1439306.png" --- # I think people need to remember that a book isn't done… ![“I think people need to remember that a book isn't done after a few rewrites and a publisher isn't going to buy an 'undone' book so the hard part is making it a book that at least ten other people want to pay for to read.” quote by Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/jacqueline-woodson-1482_book_i-think-people-need-to-remember-that-a-b_1439306.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/jacqueline-woodson-1482_book_i-think-people-need-to-remember-that-a-b_1439306.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/jacqueline-woodson-1482_book_i-think-people-need-to-remember-that-a-b_1439306.png) > “I think people need to remember that a book isn't done after a few rewrites and a publisher isn't going to buy an 'undone' book so the hard part is making it a book that at least ten other people want to pay for to read.” [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing requires iterative refinement and market appeal to succeed. **In simple terms:** Books need revisions and audience demand. Key Takeaway Revise and test with readers. Themes writing editing marketability Mood pragmatic inspirational Type creative business When to use this quote - Draft workshops - beta readers - author pitch meetings Key Concepts Iterative process reader feedback publishing economics Questions to Reflect On - How many drafts are enough? - Who is your target audience? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Publishers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publishers/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I think it is always a long shot getting a book made into a film. Making that book into a film is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-think-it-is-always-a-long-shot-getting-a-book-made-into-a-film/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I never made kimchi before. I talk about my first time making it in the book, and I'm not a big baker, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-zauner/i-never-made-kimchi-before-i-talk-about-my-first-time-making-it-in/) [Michelle Zauner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-zauner/) > [Since I spend such a long time making each book, I only choose books that I'm really interested in and that I really love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-selznick/since-i-spend-such-a-long-time-making-each-book-i-only-choose-books/) [Brian Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-selznick/) > [Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/making-a-book-is-a-craft-like-making-a-clock-it-needs-more-than/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Yet I'm making a book and I'm going to care immensely about what words get bound in the pages, and I want the object…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/yet-i-m-making-a-book-and-i-m-going-to-care-immensely-about-what/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Making a book is such a big enterprise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/making-a-book-is-such-a-big-enterprise/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [Most of the pleasure of making a book would go if it held nothing to be shared by other people. I would write for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/most-of-the-pleasure-of-making-a-book-would-go-if-it-held-nothing-to/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [I often lose myself in the Sudoku-like challenges of making a book work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-often-lose-myself-in-the-sudoku-like-challenges-of-making-a-book/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [The last thing that we find in making a book is to know what we must put first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-last-thing-that-we-find-in-making-a-book-is-to-know-what-we-must/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Nothing can compare to creating characters and worlds out of thin air with your friends and making a book exactly the way you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-remender/nothing-can-compare-to-creating-characters-and-worlds-out-of-thin-air/) [Rick Remender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-remender/) > [The plain fact is that she never really liked me, and never wanted me. I had been a mistake; and that, to some extent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-coe/the-plain-fact-is-that-she-never-really-liked-me-and-never-wanted-me/) [Jonathan Coe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-coe/) > [All of us, whether guilty or not, whether old or young, must accept the past. It is not a case of coming to terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-von-weizsaecker/all-of-us-whether-guilty-or-not-whether-old-or-young-must-accept-the/) [Richard von Weizsaecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-von-weizsaecker/) > [“George's hand lifted and fell away again. It seemed an insult to imply that anything so small as a touch could stop the raw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mette-ivie-harrison/george-s-hand-lifted-and-fell-away-again-it-seemed-an-insult-to-imply/) [Mette Ivie Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mette-ivie-harrison/) > [God is greater than anything that man can do or has done. He is not undone by just a train of powder. "Our God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/god-is-greater-than-anything-that-man-can-do-or-has-done-he-is-not/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) ## More by Jacqueline Woodson > [A lot of times, when people send me books to read - new writers mostly - I find that the book is still in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/a-lot-of-times-when-people-send-me-books-to-read-new-writers-mostly-i/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I think, even though homophobia still exists, there is much more of a dialogue and a taboo around being homophobic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-think-even-though-homophobia-still-exists-there-is-much-more-of-a/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I still love Carson McCullers and Raymond Carver and Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-still-love-carson-mccullers-and-raymond-carver-and-toni-morrison/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I'm usually working on several things at once. If I get bored with one, I can go on to another. That way, I never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-m-usually-working-on-several-things-at-once-if-i-get-bored-with-one/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [You have those walls up all around you...Come a day you gonna want to tear them down brick by brick and gonna find that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/you-have-those-walls-up-all-around-you-come-a-day-you-gonna-want-to/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [“That's all anybody is-themselves. People all the time wanting to change that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/that-s-all-anybody-is-themselves-people-all-the-time-wanting-to/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I don't know how women stop being friends with other women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-don-t-know-how-women-stop-being-friends-with-other-women/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [Who are you without your girls? I truly believe that. Who are you without the people who help you make sense of the misogyny,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/who-are-you-without-your-girls-i-truly-believe-that-who-are-you/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [“And freedom? Oh, freedom. Well that's just some people talking. Your prison is walking through this world all alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/and-freedom-oh-freedom-well-that-s-just-some-people-talking-your/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I've learned about marrying poetry and prose and making both accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-ve-learned-about-marrying-poetry-and-prose-and-making-both/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [You're a part of me...You're in my heart. Forever and always, all right? —D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/you-re-a-part-of-me-you-re-in-my-heart-forever-and-always-all-right-d/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I wouldn't mind the early autumn if you came home today I'd tell you how much I miss you and know I'd be okay.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-wouldn-t-mind-the-early-autumn-if-you-came-home-today-i-d-tell-you/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > ['Another Brooklyn' came to me in this kind of dreamlike series of vignettes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/another-brooklyn-came-to-me-in-this-kind-of-dreamlike-series-of/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [“They're all inside of us,...past people and present people. And probably even the people we'll become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/they-re-all-inside-of-us-past-people-and-present-people-and-probably/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [When I was a kid, I got in trouble for lying a lot, and I had a teacher say, 'Instead of lying, write it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/when-i-was-a-kid-i-got-in-trouble-for-lying-a-lot-and-i-had-a-teacher/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) [Explore all 237 Jacqueline Woodson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) ## 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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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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