“You can learn a lot, but you can’t learn talent.”

Lawrence Block

“Writing is one of the loneliest and most solitary jobs you could have, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. To be able to create from nothing a story that makes people laugh — or even just think — is a talent that nobody should waste.”

Carl Hiaasen

“I am not very bright or very witty or very inventive after the sun goes down.”

Toni Morrison

“If you imagine, all the while while you’re copy-editing, that your manuscript is the work of a slipshod and possibly feeble-minded soul,  you’ll find it easy to adopt the most effective copy-editing attitude: suspicion. Go slow and question everything.”

Judith Appelbaum

“A query letter is really a sales letter without the hype.” It should show that you have our market in mind, indicate the kind of color and life you can bring to your subject, and represent your best writing efforts.”

Lisel Eisenhemer, Editor

“Don’t ever defer to my judgment…for a writer of any account must speak solely for himself.”

Maxwell Perkins, Editor