a quotation on publishing from Orson Scott Card

My husband is an Orson Scott Card fan, and he told me that the afterword at the end of Card's book, "Invasive Procedures", was about writing and that I should read it, I did. And here's a short quotation from that afterword that I really liked:

"(That's what publishers do, of course - they bet thousands of dollars that the writer can actually produce a novel, and many thousands more that readers will actually buy it. And when they lose that bet, I don't see many writers taking up collections to make up their losses. That's why I don't understand the writers who get angry or resentful when publishers reject their manuscripts. It's the publishers' money, and so the publishers get to decide which horse to bet on in the race. If you're a writer and nobody bets on your manuscript, the answer isn't to whine and complain, or even to start your own race; the answer is to get another horse - to write another book or story. And another. And another, until somebody's willing to bet on one of them.)"

Smart man, no?


peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell