Echoing Suri's links....

There is a lot of truth to this.... The thing that stuns me is, whatever gave her the idea that her editor would cut down 600 pages of manuscript? Didn't that go out with SHOGUN?

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From Arts Journal:

"Supermaud linked this morning to "The Education of Stacy Sullivan," Gal Beckerman’s story in the current issue of the Columbia Journalism Review about a journalist who wrote a book about Kosovo, then was astonished that it didn’t become an overnight best seller.

Actually, that’s just my jaundiced take. Here’s Maud’s, which is a lot more fair:"

'Beckerman chronicles the many obstacles faced by journalist and debut author Stacy Sullivan in publishing and promoting "Be Not Afraid, for You Have Sons in America," her nonfiction book. Sullivan’s story is familiar to me, mirroring those I’ve heard even from seasoned and extremely well-regarded novelists. The upshot: unless your book is seen as bestseller material, you’re on your own.'

http://www.cjr.org/issues/2004/5/ideas-books-beckerman.asp

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"I close with the Prime Directive of Writing a Book. Print it out, frame it, and place it in a prominent spot on your desk:

Anyone who writes a serious book with the expectation of making a lot of money and/or becoming famous is a fool. If you can’t afford to write a book in your spare time for its own sake, you’re in the wrong business."

terry teachout
http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/archives20040905.shtml#86575