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Tough Neighborhoods

Two recent books with inside information about the publishing industry. Writers, take note.

The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
by Noah T. Lukeman
Fireside
ISBN: 068485743X
208 pp

The Making of a Bestseller: From Author to Reader
by Arthur T. Vanderbilt
McFarland & Co
ISBN: 0786406631
240 pp

In my early, more naive days as an aspiring author, I paid a visit to New York and stood on an avenue of the publishing district, awestruck by what I thought was going on in those skyscrapers above me. I'd read a bit too much about Maxwell Perkins, and had taken the legend too much to heart.

I imagined that publishing house offices were centers of great literary wisdom, ruled over by sage editors who cherished each manuscript and benevolently rewarded deserving ones with greatness.

While I stood there gawking with wonder, I got mugged by a local who knew a rube when he saw one. The experience taught me something. It's good to be realistic about the neighborhood you're in, whether it's a mean city street or an editor's office.

That's also the lesson of two recent books about writing: Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile, and The Making of a Bestseller by Arthur Vanderbilt.

Tough Neighborhoods, Next. . .
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