Product Description

: Arthur Plotnik’s The Elements of Authorship animates writing advice with wryly told episodes from the author and other successful authors. No such guide is more engaging, entertaining—or authoritative.

Lyrical writing and rock-solid advice distinguish The Elements of Authorship from most writers' guides. No such guide is more engaging, entertaining—or authoritative. Arthur Plotnik, whose classic The Elements of Editing is in its 18th year of print, draws on a uniquely broad background as writer, editor, and publisher.

The Elements of Authorship gives clearheaded advice and comic relief to anguished writers—which is to say, all writers—aspiring to the exalted state known as "published author." It is, as one reviewer noted, "a heartening foray into the construction and maintenance of a career in writing." Even as it explores the hellish aspects of that career, it reassures new authors that writing—published or unpublished—is worth the pain.

Its twenty-two chapters move briskly through the phases of the literary pursuit. Along the way are answers to the usual quandaries, such as who should write, how to start and keep writing, where to learn, what makes good writing, and how to break into print, understand contracts, and plug into the electronic age. For poets, Plotnik's interview with leading American poet Billy Collins yields tips for that genre.

Shunning the inspirational pabulum of most writers' books, Plotnik animates his advice with wryly-told episodes from his own travails and those of other successful authors. Plotnik's true experiences include study in the Iowa Writers Workshop under Philip Roth, news reporting with William Kennedy at a city daily, hacking out twenty-two potboilers for an infamous publisher, writing for the government in Washington, special-interest magazine writing and editing, and self-attained breakthroughs as a nonfiction book author.

The practical resources of the book are unparalleled, thanks to Plotnik's background in the library as well as publishing professions. A 48-page appendix entitled "The Writer's Pocket Advisor" describes scores of opportunities and connections for writers found in no other single guide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #712817 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .75" h x 5.55" w x 8.55" l, .89 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Amazon.com
OK, so, of the 82,000 "employed" authors in the United States, about 50 command seven-figure advances. So what? Who needs to be a millionaire? But for every three Stephen Kings earning $5 million a year, says Arthur Plotnik in The Elements of Authorship (originally published as Honk if You're a Writer), "figure 1,470 hopefuls earning nothing." That's right. Nothing. Writing, says Plotnik, "is a bumper-to-bumper crawl through hell with an occasional jolt to the next level of anguish."

If you belong to the group of people publishers categorize as either "bankable" or "slime," or even if you just daydream of being a writer, Arthur Plotnik is one fine companion to have along for the ride. He's full of information, much of which he imparts via the travails of his "character" Plotnikov, who has vast experience on both sides of the writer-editor relationship, from writing pulp fiction to editing Ray Bradbury. While Plotnik's tips on dealing with editors may not be so different from those of the many other books of this ilk, his modes of expressing them are unforgettable. Where others advise that you not cold-call publishers and say "I'm a writer," Plotnik says that to do so is like saying, "Hello, I am risen from the fetid slime of the Black Lagoon." Where others say that you have to make your query stand out, Plotnik recommends you "say just about anything that will get attention, if it's not too sick." And, unlike the other, cheerleaderly writer-book authors out there ("YOU, TOO, CAN MAKE MILLIONS!"), Plotnik is stridently realistic. He imparts tricks of the trade that "can improve one's odds from Hopeless to Who Knows." He warns that "like their protagonists, serious writers never have a nice day." And even when all is said and published, there is still the struggle to get paid, he says, referring to writers as "mini-collection agencies." A hilarious read, though one wishes the text had been adjusted to accommodate both its new title and the passing of Iris Murdoch. --Jane Steinberg

Chicago Tribune
"This is a book for aspiring writers that has few equals."

About the Author
An award-winning journalist, magazine executive and book editor, Arthur Plotnik is also the author of The Elements of Authorship and the best selling The Elements of Editing. A former publishing executive for the American Library Association and a member of American Forests, he lives in Chicago with his wife, artist Maty Phelan.