“In order to write and edit a book and sell it to a publisher, you must be creative and conscientious. WHICH IS A PERFECT STORM FOR DEBUT PAIN. Bc you can imagine grand successes and then feel completely to blame when they do not come to pass. Honey, it ain't you.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“I mean, publicity is hard. Publicists LOVE books and they LOVE their authors, but... Imagine you've got 30 sled dogs to feed and not enough food. You give each dog the bare minimum to keep it alive and sneak extra food to the strongest pullers. You've got to keep pulling.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“The really important point here is that your debut book/series/year DOES NOT PREDICT YOUR CAREER. It's not any indicator of future success. Publishers know and understand this. Just keep writing the best books you can. Keep innovating without fear. Keep that hope.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“If I could change 1 thing about my debut year as an author, I wish someone in power had looked me in the eye and said, 'You wrote a good book, and you're a good writer, but we are not pushing your book. There is no way it will hit list. Just have fun.' Truth > disappointment.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“Publishing is hard, yall. Support the authors in your life, even if they're at the edge of your life.”— Olivia A. Cole, twitter.com
“I can't stress enough how many private emails were sent, by many people, and how much we did NOT want this to go so badly. We're tired. We want to write our books and go to public events and not be touched and harassed. That is all. Please.”— Ally Condie, twitter.com
“Because in spite of what the mainstream publishing industry wants us to believe, white people’s experiences aren’t universal – they’re actually informed by privileges that people of color don’t have.”— Ashley Truong, everydayfeminism.com
“Writers of color are talented, fierce, and have important things to say – and it’s about time we started making room for their voices.”— Ashley Truong, everydayfeminism.com
“The thing is, if it’s going to change, white people need to be part of the effort. The reality is that publishing isn’t a business where you make it based solely on talent. If that were the case, then more writers of color would be famous and successful.”— Ashley Truong, everydayfeminism.com
“The only updates you need to send an agent reading your query is if you've received an offer of representation or the Nobel Prize. Everything else irrelevant.”— Kate McKean, twitter.com
“The hard thing about publishing is you need professional feedback to grow your skills, but you can't get professional feedback until you have skills. I feel like this is why so many people lose hope in the query trenches. The solution: Take a class, go to a conf., join a group.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“I'm still with my 1st agent, but from what I hear, some red flags with an agent are: 1. If they take more than a week to return a simple email, more than 6 weeks w edits 2. If you've been working on a book for over a year and still haven't gone on sub. 3. That sinking feeling...”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“Yes, books are spendy. BORROW IT FROM A LIBRARY. Libraries buy more copies if they're in demand. Ta-da! Paper trail, happy publishers.”— Maggie Stiefvater, twitter.com