Why You Should Buy This Book (Everybody Loves a Good Story).....1

BARRY EISLER
The Three J’s: Judo, Jazz, and Japan..........................................3

C.J. BOX
“Did You Know Your Agent Died?”................................................6

DONALD BAIN
Say No to Nothing—The Right Attitude..........................................7

CHRISTOPHER MOORE
Practical Demonkeeping...........................................................11

CLIVE CUSSLER
I Decided to Take a More Devious Approach...............................14

INTERVIEW WITH DAVE BARRY..................................................17

J.A. JANCE
My Life in Writing....................................................................19

F. PAUL WILSON
How I Got Started and How I Keep Going...................................23

LEE GOLDBERG
How Do I Become a TV Writer If I Don’t Have Any Contacts?........32

RAY WHITE
The Secret to Getting Published................................................37

GAYLE LYNDS
I Didn’t Know Any Better...........................................................43

GREG BEAR
Getting Started Getting Published..............................................48

J.A. KONRATH
There’s a Word for a Writer Who Never Gives Up … Published.......50

JOHN GILSTRAP
Above Movies.........................................................................59

DAVID BRIN
A Long, Lonely Road: Some Informal Advice to New Authors.........62

JOHN J. GOBBELL
Write Two Novels.....................................................................71

JOHN LESCROART
Becoming a Published Author....................................................72

CASSIE MILES
Tough Cookies.......................................................................74

DAVID MORRELL
The Mild-Mannered Professor With the Bloody-Minded Visions.......76

RAY WHITE
Writing the (Ugh) Synopsis.......................................................79

KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK
With a Little Help From My Friends.............................................82

KYLE MILLS
The Wall of Shame and Tom Clancy..........................................86

MARIO ACEVEDO
How Nymphos and Vampires Got Me Published............................88

PATRICK MCMANUS
The Twelve-Letter Expletive Made My Novel Interactive.................90

RAYMOND BENSON
Bondage Paraphernalia............................................................93

GILLIAN ROBERTS
Seven Ways to Avoid the Risk of Being Published........................96

STEVE ALTEN
Finding a Literary Agent...........................................................99

STEPHEN WHITE
Just Put Your Butt in the Chair.................................................103

TROY COOK
Plan of Attack.......................................................................107

DUANE LINDSAY
A Gripping Title and a Short, Catchy Tag Line............................111

M.J. ROSE INTERVIEW
Bucking the Cross-Genre Issue:..............................................115

HALLIE EPHRON
Five Rules............................................................................118

K.J.A. WISHNIA
Don’t Try This at Home..........................................................121

KEITH RAFFEL Dayenu.................................................................................124

JACK BLUDIS
Send the Damn Thing Out......................................................128

STEPHEN COONTS
Photographed in President Reagan’s Office...............................129

SIMON LEVACK
Write a Bit of a Novel.............................................................132

STEVE HOCKENSMITH
The Write Stuff......................................................................135

SUE ANN JAFFARIAN
“No One Wants to Read This Crap!”.........................................138

DUANE LINDSAY
Getting to Know Literary Agents and Editors...............................142

THOMAS PERRY
The Most Powerful Force Is Luck..............................................145

BRIAN FREEMAN
People Who Need People.......................................................148

CARL BROOKINS
Writing Lies for Fun and Glory, But Very Little Money (So Far)......151

HILARI BELL
The Poster Child for Persistence..............................................154

JEREMIAH HEALY
Never Give Up.......................................................................156

KEN KUHLKEN
On Agents..................................................................................158

MARK ARSENAULT
Romeo and Juliet With Needle Marks.......................................161

MICHAEL SIVERLING
Everything I Knew Was Wrong.................................................164

DUANE LINDSAY
The Best Query Letter Ever.....................................................169

P.D.CACEK
In Search of … a Publisher......................................................173

ROBIN HATHAWAY
Who Done It?.......................................................................176

SANDRA BALZO
A Snowball’s Chance..............................................................180

SHANE GERICKE
Fear? We Don’t Need No Stinking Fear!.....................................183

ZOË SHARP
Writing in the Cracks of the Day Job........................................188

A.J. HARTLEY
Holding Back the Years..........................................................192

CHARLES BENOIT
Your Goal Is Not to Be Published.............................................197

CHRISTINE GOFF
Being Orphaned....................................................................200

ANN PARKER
Life Is Not a Four-Letter Word.................................................202

RAY WHITE
Fish Where the Fish Are Biting................................................206

DARRELL JAMES
A Guy Can Dream, Can’t He?..................................................209

MARIAN KEYES
How I Started.......................................................................212

JESS LOUREY
My Scabby Ego......................................................................217

JONATHAN SANTLOFER
The Fiery Road to Publication.................................................220

KATHY BRANDT
Follow the Yellow Brick Road...................................................223

LAURA BRADFORD
Little, But Mighty...................................................................225

MICHAEL A. BLACK
A Sixth-Grade Education.........................................................228

KRISTINE SMITH
Confessions of a Late Bloomer................................................232

KAREN ROSE SMITH
Two Books in One Week.........................................................234

JERRY B. JENKINS
The Bob Richards Story..........................................................236

RAY WHITE & DUANE LINDSAY
A Killer Nonfiction Proposal......................................................238

INTERVIEW WITH STUART WOODS
Chiefs Did the Trick:..............................................................245

LOUISE PENNY
Things I Wished I Knew..........................................................247

L.L. BARTLETT
Critiquing and the Green-Eyed Monster.....................................253

MARILYN MEREDITH
Despite Lazy Agents, Crooked and Dead Publishers, Perseverance Paid Off...............................................................................256

MARTHA POWERS
When I Couldn’t Get an Agent.................................................259

MICHELLE GAGNON
Are You Sure You Don’t Want to Be a Lawyer?...........................262

RITA LAKIN
Talk About Naive...................................................................266

ROBERT S. LEVINSON
F. Scott Fitzgerald Had It Wrong..............................................269

SUSAN OLEKSIW
The Rule of Twelve................................................................273

GRANT BLACKWOOD
Love It or Leave It.................................................................276

RAY WHITE
Join a Critique Group.............................................................280

CHRIS KNOPF
When Writers Write About Writing............................................282

KATE PEPPER
If the Shoe Fits.....................................................................285

DAVID J. WALKER
Don’t Go Through That Door...................................................289

DIANNE EMLEY
Act Two................................................................................292

JOYCE & JIM LAVENE
How to Market a Five-Hundred- Pound Gorilla...........................295

JULIA POMEROY
Look Away From the Review...................................................299

CHRIS GRABENSTEIN
When to Read Rejection Letters? After You’ve Been Accepted Somewhere Else...................................................................303

CATHY PICKENS
The Path?.............................................................................307

JEFF SHELBY
When Expectations Are Gone..................................................311

VICTORIA HOUSTON The Three Major Life Mistakes I’ve Made That Force Me to Write These Mysteries...........................................313

RAY WHITE & DUANE LINDSAY
The Ten Steps to Getting Published ........................................316

AIMEE AND DAVID THURLO
Tenacity Over All...................................................................317

T.A. RIDGELL
A Bathroom Attack................................................................320

ANTHONY BIDULKA
Accountants Can Do It (So Can You).......................................322

M. DIANE VOGT The Lucky Writer’s Path...................................326

NATHAN WALPOW
If It Doesn’t Sell, Write One Better..........................................331

SIMON WOOD
I Want It Now, If Not Sooner...................................................334

SUSAN SLATER
More With Less—Lessons Learned By a Beginner.......................337

WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER
Sunrise at the Broiler.............................................................340

JEANNE MUNN BRACKEN
Someday We’ll Laugh About That............................................343

JENNY SILER
My Mother, My Secret Weapon.................................................347

RAY WHITE
Semper Persistence...............................................................351

Acknowledgments..................................................................353

Index..................................................................................354

About the Editors...................................................................358