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Tough Neighborhoods

Arthur T. Vanderbilt joins in the praise of persistent writers in The Making of a Bestseller, from Author to Reader. This isn't a how-to book that guarantees you a bestseller in a dozen easy steps. It's a sobering true history of how hard it's been even for some of our literary giants to find their way into print.

Talent is just one part of getting published; luck and persistence are also required. Thousands have been published without talent, but few have been without heroic persistance and incredible luck. If you don't believe that, Vanderbilt has all the inside stories to prove it.

Of course, any seasoned writer knows that, in the words of Ecclesiastes, "The race is not to the swift, nor bread to the wise." Vanderbilt confirms our worst suspicions with historical anecdotes about the publishing tribulations of famous writers, while also challenging us to do what they did -- never to give up on ourselves or on our work.

Think of The Making of a Bestseller as a writer's version of John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, about publishing instead of politics. Vanderbilt's true stories about the likes of Truman Capote, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway are as inspiring as they are fascinating, and often comical. In the chapter "Hats Off to Jackie!" he even presents Jacqueline Susann as a modern writer's folk hero in her triumphs over an entrenched publishing world. By the end, you may find yourself cheering for her.

To judge by the sales, Vanderbilt hasn't made a bestseller with this book (at least not yet), but he has written a surprisingly witty and captivating social history about writers and publishers. You should help him out and buy your own copy.

Why? Because it's fun -- what can you expect in a book with other chapter titles like "Winning the Genetic Sweepstakes" and "Your Stupid Book Stinks"? And because it says things that all writers, especially fiction writers, need to know about the business.

In fact, get a copy of both. Lukeman's book will make you a better writer. Vanderbilt's will make you a sadder but wiser one. Each in its way will help you not get mugged.

Tough Neighborhoods
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