“The endorsements on books aren’t entirely impartial. Unbeknownst to the average reader, blurbs are more often than not from the writer’s best friends, colleagues or teachers, or from authors who share the same editor, publisher or agent. They represent a tangled mass of friendships, rivalries, favors traded and debts repaid, not always in good faith.”

“An attentive reader will always learn more, and more quickly, from good authors than from life.”

“There are certain authors out there whose books I'll read no matter what they're about. More often than not I don't even need to read the blurb to know that I'll love it. It's that kind of confidence in my work that I hope to earn from my readers someday.”

“A good story is a dream shared by the author and the reader. Anything that wakes the reader from the dream is a mortal sin.”

“In TIME June 7, 2010On the sustainability of the publishing industry, in the Chicago Tribune:"I think that book publishing is about to slide into the sea. We live in a literate time, and our children are writing up a storm, often combining letters and numbers.... The future of publishing: 18 million authors in America, each with an average of 14 readers, eight of whom are blood relatives. Average annual earnings: $175." - 5/26/10”

“Before publishers' blurbs were invented, authors had to make their reputations by writing.”