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The Forest for the Trees

by Betsy Lerner

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 1,137 ratings · 171 reviews

Personal inspiration and practical advice from an expert in the field who delivers.

Paperback, 304 pages

Published April 1st 2001 by Riverhead Trade (first published March 20th 2000)

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Jun 20, 2011 Lee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very readable reinforcement for those who sort of know a lot of this stuff. Required reading for the clueless. Depressing for writers who seem to pass the psych profiles of the book's first part but haven't had much success with agents, editors, publication -- all of which sadly seem like last century's news. A well-written tour of the sausage factory -- left me feeling a bit grody, like I'd indulged in a guilty pleasure instead of spending weekend time reading something healthier for me. Defini...more

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Feb 19, 2011 KJ Dellantonia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I reread this regularly, and now there is a new edition, with new words I can use for inspiration and self-flagellation. I can't wait.

Marked as "read," but in some sense I'm always reading this.

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May 07, 2011 Adam Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: on-writing

This book has become, almost instantly, one of my all-time favorite books on writing. It's unique. Instead of dealing with matters of technique or style, it gets to the heart of the matter, plumbs the depths of the world of the writer. The first six chapters have to do with the personality and emotions of the writer. Each chapter deals with one or another of writer personalities, filled with profound insight into writer's minds. She really does know exactly what makes a writer tick. The second p...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Amy Plum rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is like a spa for the writer's mind. Helped soothe my "I don't know what the hell's going on in this mysterious world of publishing" angst and reassured me that I am normal (for an author). As much for the unpublished writer as for those who have just published for the first time.

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Jan 01, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the best books about writing, really the writer, and the publishing industry that I have every read. The author of the book is an editor and calls on her years of experience climbing her own way up the ladder in the publishing industry to give insight on such things as the different types of writers there are, the psychology of the writer, and the complex relationship between agent and writer, writer and editor, writer and publisher. Having read several books on writing, mostly de...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Beth Cato rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in, 2011, nonfiction, writing

This book surprised me on many levels. I bought it and expected a dry yet useful commentary on the publishing industry and what writers must do to survive. Instead, I discovered something that was highly readable--as smooth as fiction--and comparable to someone taking a writer by the hand to offer them advice. The Forest for the Trees is a gentle book. Lerner's approach is that she understands writers, with all their angst, writer's block, and depression, and that it takes more than talent to su...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Peter West rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-craft

This is another of those accumulated wisdom books - which is not a bad thing. It is split into sections that cover various writer personality types and issues relating to how publishing really works. That's the intention, but I think you could probably dispense with the chapter titles for the most part and consider this book to be one rambling conversation between yourself and Betsy Lerner, sat in Covent garden perhaps, on a long sunny afternoon. I don't mean that as a criticism; I think it work...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Lynne Favreau rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: writing

Betsy Lerner is a former editor turned agent. In the introduction, Lerner lets us know who she’s trying to help,

“–if you can’t start or finish a project or can’t figure out what to write about, or can’t figure out what you should be writing. – whose neuroses seem to get in their way, those who sabotage their efforts, those ...stalled between projects.”

All I could think was “Hey, I resemble that remark.”

It isn’t the advise in this book that held my interest (though it is very good) as much as it...more Betsy Lerner is a former editor turned agent. In the introduction, Lerner lets us know who she’s trying to help,

“–if you can’t start or finish a project or can’t figure out what to write about, or can’t figure out what you should be writing. – whose neuroses seem to get in their way, those who sabotage their efforts, those ...stalled between projects.”

All I could think was “Hey, I resemble that remark.”

It isn’t the advise in this book that held my interest (though it is very good) as much as it was the descriptions of writers, their lives, their habits, how they work, the quirks, and their characteristic. I see myself but then reject the inference, I am not a writer.

But, as I continue reading, and Lerner continues to describe writers, the fear of writing, the fear of not writing, and the neurotic behaviors, I can’t get away from identifying with it all.

Reading this book sparked a turning pointing for me personally.

The first half is dedicated to writing. Lerner’s style is conversational, she’s just chatting you up letting you know what’s what. She discourses on what you should be evaluating, namely, what’s your genre, your habits, your reasons for writing. This information is disseminated for you to use as measurement of your seriousness as a writer. She seems to be asking, are you a writer? Just the question I was asking myself.

Lerner uses lots of references to other writers to showcase the many ways, methods and habits, of writer’s, some meant to be examples of how to do it and some the how not to do it. Certainly, she gives you a lot to think about.

Money, sex, fame, addiction, mental illness, fear, loneliness, ego, perseverance, there is almost too much to think about. If it wasn’t for the ‘we’re just chatting’ tone, it would feel overwhelming.

The second half of the book deals with the actual publishing industry. Along with how editors, agents, and publisher view and deal with manuscripts, is the advise you need to help yourself through the process and counter the pitfalls too many writer’s fall into. What I got out of her advise is, work hard, give it everything you’ve got, do your homework and if you’ve done all the other things, persevere.(less)

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Jun 28, 2011 Londonmabel Mabel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lit-writing, 2own-nonfiction

One of the best books about writing I've read, though it's not a how-to. Lerner was an editor for 15 years at a few houses, and is now an agent (she was also a poet.) She says the first half of her book is meant as an encouragement to those stalled in their writing or afraid of writing; maybe because that's not my problem, I just found it to be a celebration of writers. She tells great stories both from her own career and from the lives of famous writers and their editors, and really gives you t...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Tabitha Blankenbiller rated it 4 of 5 stars

When setting out to write a book the cover touts as “An editor’s advice to writers”, Betsy Lerner immediately has to grapple with the issue of establishing trust. Her audience is writers, many of them unpublished. Unpublished authors are not very likely to trust editors for a couple reasons: one, we aren’t likely to know any and two, they are the “others”, the ones rejecting our work in the first place, hiding behind receptionists and assistants in New York offices away from us. Her challenge is...more When setting out to write a book the cover touts as “An editor’s advice to writers”, Betsy Lerner immediately has to grapple with the issue of establishing trust. Her audience is writers, many of them unpublished. Unpublished authors are not very likely to trust editors for a couple reasons: one, we aren’t likely to know any and two, they are the “others”, the ones rejecting our work in the first place, hiding behind receptionists and assistants in New York offices away from us. Her challenge is to break down the barriers between her profession and her readership, and to build a level of trust that will get her advice and opinions across correctly.
Lerner’s chief strategy throughout the book is to remain humble. She refrains from listing lofty accomplishments or name-dropping, especially in the beginning of the book. Instead she tells us about her humble beginnings as a closeted poet, and how much she respected writers who could put themselves out there—admit that this was their calling and go for it. She claims that she didn’t want to be a professional writer, but she did love books, which lead her to internships at publishing houses. She goes short of calling herself a failure, but from our perspective, we start to sympathize with her. We start to see her as smart and capable, but just not able to do what we can do. Her subtle flattery seduces us as she proclaims how much she loves her writers. She works to see us shine, she assures us, the artists that do. We may even feel sorry for her behind that desk, while we oscillate between joy and torture at the keyboard. This strategy of downplaying her ability to be successful at what we are attempting (and hopefully, someday, doing) creates both a distance and connection with her audience. She is distanced enough to offer us a fresh perspective into ourselves, as she does in the first half of the book, and into her world of publishing, which she describes in the second half. The connection comes from her long experience with people just like us and her attempts at navigating through the writing life, even though she ended up taking a different path.
This initial momentum of trust is maintained throughout the book by healthy doses of humor. Even when she’s calling us on our neurotic bullshit or giving us the hard truth on publishing, it’s done good-naturedly. As she laments the perils of promoting a book, she describes the pitfalls of what is a fantasy in our inexperienced minds—a book tour. “There are the endless flights, the lost luggage, the escort who talks incessantly about her divorce or worse, the book she’d like to write, the hotel that’s lost your reservation, and the final insult: a mini-bar with no gin” (Lerner 265). This isn’t the first place she peppers in a reference to our common problems with drugs and alcohol, along with panic attacks, neurotic tics and paranoia. By bringing it up here and there she reminds us that yes, she knows us and that it’s okay to laugh at ourselves. From an outside point of view we do look pretty crazy, after all. Lerner doesn’t ask us to apologize for it. She just doesn’t want it to be an excuse for wasting our talents.
(less)

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Mar 19, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Before reading this book I feared the book-publishing industry the same way I fear the housing market or a Roth IRA: I know this works somehow, I thought. I know there's some way millions of people do this complicated, scary thing. But how do I do it? Who will dumb it down for my layman's brain?

A: Relax. Betsy Lerner, professional editor, will explain all. In "The Forest for the Trees" Ms. Lerner acts as a Virgil who walks clueless readers like myself down through the concentric circles of publ...more

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Feb 21, 2011 J. Scala rated it 2 of 5 stars

Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers has a bit of an identity issue. On the one hand, it claims to be advice to writers which, in places, it actually is. On the other, it reads like an insider's exposé of what editors and agents really think of we writer types. I couldn't help but wonder if Lerner's audience wasn't actually intended to be other editors who would get the inside jokes and find the stereotypical caricatures of authors funny.

Lerner recently posted o...more

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Feb 16, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Lerner gives us an intriguing look at the process of a manuscript becoming a book, and that process is not magical. It's hard work and heartache and chance and cajoling, and I'm convinced that it's not a world for me. I love books, and I love words, and I am passionate about writing. I wouldn't want to watch a work of art go through a deadline-driven, market-driven process in which the cover for the work someone spent a decade on might be given to an exhausted graphic artist with a short, tight...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Alex Telander rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2002

Like a lot of English majors on campus, I want to get a book published eventually. Also, like a lot of other people, I don’t really know how to go about getting an agent, an editor, a publisher, etc. I just figured I would find answers to those questions when I got the book done.

Thankfully there is now a book that answers all these questions, and much more. The Forest for the Trees should be on every writer’s shelf, right next to Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. The author, Betsy Lern...more Like a lot of English majors on campus, I want to get a book published eventually. Also, like a lot of other people, I don’t really know how to go about getting an agent, an editor, a publisher, etc. I just figured I would find answers to those questions when I got the book done.

Thankfully there is now a book that answers all these questions, and much more. The Forest for the Trees should be on every writer’s shelf, right next to Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. The author, Betsy Lerner, is now an agent for the Gernert Company in New York, and has worked in the editorial departments at Simon & Schuster, Ballantine, and Houghton Mifflin, as well as executive editor for Doubleday.

The book is divided into two sections: one on writing and one on publishing. It does not try to teach you how to write. Lerner offers advice and information to writers who have problems. She uses categories (The Ambivalent Writer, The Natural Writer, The Wicker Child, etc.) through which writers can classify themselves, and with Lerner’s help, avoid the pitfalls and potholes that this category reveals.

The second half of the book is on publishing. Starting right at the beginning, Lerner takes you on a journey, where you are told how to get an agent, how they should be treated, and whether multiple submissions are a must or a must-not. Lerner explains how to deal with rejection, telling you that each rejection is a run on the ladder towards success. She explains what it is that editors want, and what authors want. Finally, Lerner takes you on a unique quest with what happens once you’ve signed the contract and the many steps it takes to get your manuscript into book form and out on the shelves of the bookstores.

The Forest for the Trees is an interesting and entertaining read for the writer or the reader interested in the process of writing. Find out the problems Tom Wolfe had with his editor, or how well did John Grisham’s novel do?

Betsy Learner uses a language that is simple yet detailed, packed with information that everyone can benefit from. Recently issued in paperback, this book is now only $12.

Originally published on February 18th 2002.

For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.(less)

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Dec 21, 2009 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Every. Single. Writer. I’ve given this to has called to thank me. Every. Single. One. Ignoring the not so fashionable accessory of sleep deprivation that comes with an infant, one started reading in the evening and didn’t stop till she finished in the early morning hours. It’s such a damn good book. And if you’ve ever longed to write that novel or that exquisite piece of history or collection of essays, let me offer a little piece of advice: – Stop reading this right now, grab this book and run...more

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Aug 31, 2009 Randy Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars

An Instant Shrink
for Writers

The Ambivalent Writer, The Natural, The Wicked Child, The Self Promoter, The Neurotic: which one are you? These are the first five chapter titles of Betsy Lerner’s (agent, writer, editor) book, The Forest for the Trees. It was published in 2000, and I’ve probably read it yearly since I buying it. (Note picture of worn book reflecting clutching, bathtub reading, and talismanic lifting to heart, kissing, and offering to God)

Lerner’s book will always be on top of my con...more

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Jun 07, 2009 Phoebe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: writhing-drawling-and-fainting-in, nonfic

I picked up Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice for Writers expecting a practical handbook on editing. Instead, Lerner's book is comprised of a series of anecdotes about writers, about their myriad of troubling and irresponsible ways. I wasn't particularly disappointed--Lerner's writing is stylistically quite strong, perhaps thanks to her past life as a poet, not to mention incredibly juicy. Lerner exposes the ugliness of the literary world, as she experienced it in both...more I picked up Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice for Writers expecting a practical handbook on editing. Instead, Lerner's book is comprised of a series of anecdotes about writers, about their myriad of troubling and irresponsible ways. I wasn't particularly disappointed--Lerner's writing is stylistically quite strong, perhaps thanks to her past life as a poet, not to mention incredibly juicy. Lerner exposes the ugliness of the literary world, as she experienced it in both Columbia's MFA program and her experiences as a writer.

I found myself dog-earing many pages, not because I found them particularly instructive, but because I recognized in them something of my own experiences in MFA-land. For example:

When I was getting my MFA, it became eminently clear to me that being in the program meant being indoctrinated with very specific ideas about taste. The people who were highly praised and encouraged were those who worked in a particular vein, whose voices most closely approximated those of the writers who were held up as masters. One woman working on a novel based on her own experiences as an undercover cop was told by a professor that solely because of the subject matter he could not possibly read or respond to her book. There was absolutely no room in the program for any kind of genre writing and absolutely no humor. I'll never forget the humiliation I felt when I thought I had finally made a breakthrough in my own writing by allowing my sense of humor into my work. A professor whom I worshiped sniffed a few of those new poems before he cocked his eyebrow and sad, "Well if you want to be the poetic equivalent of Fran Lebowitz that's fine, but I can't possibly help you."

This kind of apt description of genre ghettoization hit extremely close to home for me, though of course not all professors or peers were quite so brashly unsupportive of exploring genre work in my program (and, I'm sure, those who were would feel they were doing so for good reason).

But, though I enjoyed these stories and little, jarringly honest, reflections on the literary life, I did feel a bit like the presentation of Lerner's book was deceptive. The cover looks like a standard non-fiction handbook; the first section of the book is called "writing" but instead describes in it various personality archetypes/stereotypes of working writers. By the second section, purportedly on the editing and publishing process, the generalities about writers and literary folktales wear a bit thin on the reader. Lerner glosses over practical advice (she mentions, briefly, that one shouldn't submit writing on colored paper) in favor of whining about the dangers that electronic journal and agent submissions pose to the literary world. But its the readers who would pick up a book such as this one, I can imagine--the writers without MFA programs to expose them to not only the personalities she describes but also the real conventions of the field--who would most strongly benefit from both her anecdotes and more concrete, useful advice. It's not that I necessarily disliked the existing content of the The Forest for the Trees (though I certainly disagree with her stance on online journals), but I felt that it could have been better framed in another--perhaps any other--way.(less)

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Feb 06, 2013 Tim rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'll be honest, I haven't read most of this book at the time of writing this. Reason being that, given the books title one could surely be forgiven for thinking that this book could help provide some clarity to the subject of writing and getting published. That it may do, but it is presented in such a manner that I'm not sure I'm going to bother finding that clarity - my point being that I was hoping I wasn't going to have to look too hard for it.

This book, in the Kindle edition at least, is pre...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Ry rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: writers, editors, publishers, readers

Betsy Lerner's book is great because it addresses the realities that writers will need to face at some point--both before their books are published as well as after. The first half of the book is Lerner discussing the act of writing and the personality and psychological makeup of writers, showing her sensitivity and deep knowledge of the confusing, pitiable, and self-conscious being known as the writer. Lerner then switches in the second half of the book, titled "Publishing," which is where Lern...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Tamela Rich rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: writing, publishing

How refreshing that someone at the top of her profession, a profession characterized by snobbery and back stabbing, would begin her book revealing her own fecklessness in trying to find her place in the publishing sun.

"To calm my nerves before going in (to an interview with a Putnum editor arranged through her mother), I wolfed down a Haagan-Dazs ice cream cone. In the elevator I realized the chocolate had stained my jumper...Thirty resumes and a half-dozen interviews later, I had failed the ty...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Elizabeth Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first discovered Betsy Lerner through her wonderful and witty blog, and when I saw her talking about how a revised version of this book was coming out I thought--well, why not? I do love her blog!

I may I love her blog, but I LOVE this book. Lerner knows publishing--she's been an editor, an author, and is currently an agent and she is just--her chapters on writers (the ambivalent, the natural, the wicked child, the self-promoter, etc--are all *spot-on.*

But even better than that, this book is br...more

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Aug 04, 2010 Darcy Conroy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: writing, wordplay

The Forest for the Trees is not a how-to-write manual like Donald Maass’ books, nor a right-to-write inspirational like Julia Cameron’s, rather it is a memoir-style book, along the lines of Stephen Kings’ On Writing. The book has everything that keeps me reading Betsy’s blog; it is written with grace and humour, generous with her insight, blunt when necessary but never cruel, and it is peppered with just enough industry gossip to make us feel clever but not dirty.

I highly recommend this book to...more

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May 04, 2013 Barbara Bryant rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, but I was probably pre-disposed to as I love reading about reading, writing, editing, grammar and so on. Lerner is a literary agent who has also been both an author and editor. As such, she has insight into all phases of the publishing business. This is a useful guide to the hopeful writer, as well as an enjoyable read for an onlooker who is not there yet or may never be.

The most enjoyable parts for me were the anecdotes Lerner tells, both from her own experience with...more

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Feb 04, 2010 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, nonfiction

As an amateur writer who has long fancied a career in editing, this book naturally piqued my interest. In chapters that first detail different types of writers and then move to varying perspectives on the process of publishing, Lerner takes the writer by the hand and on a tour through the miry maze of publication.

Lerner begins with the starting point of any piece of writing: its author. I thoroughly enjoyed the characterizations, sometimes perhaps caricatures, of different ways the need to write...more As an amateur writer who has long fancied a career in editing, this book naturally piqued my interest. In chapters that first detail different types of writers and then move to varying perspectives on the process of publishing, Lerner takes the writer by the hand and on a tour through the miry maze of publication.

Lerner begins with the starting point of any piece of writing: its author. I thoroughly enjoyed the characterizations, sometimes perhaps caricatures, of different ways the need to write manifests itself. There are different types of writers, and while we all might not fit tidily into one box, the observations are accurate.

Not only is the book revealing about the writer, Lerner steeps the pages with beautiful prose:

People are motivated to write for a variety of reasons, but it's the child writer who has figured out, early on, that writing is about saving your soul.

And in another passage...

But I believe there is still enormous value in the piece of writing that goes no farther than the one person for whom it was intended, that no combination of written words is more eloquent than those exchanged between lovers or friends, or along the pale blue lines of private diaries, where people take communion with themselves.

After identifying different types of writers, Lerner explains the differing roles of agent and editor, how a manuscript moves from the cutting room floor to the bookshelf, and the many trials and hurdles that await the unsuspecting author. I must confess that her description of the publishing process took some of the tint from my own rose-colored glasses. But whether I end up pursuing a career in publishing, or just attempting to push a piece of writing through to "mass" dissemination, I will have benefited from the insights Lerner shared from her experiences.

The one criticism I might offer is that at times I felt her literary background was obvious. Although the book is not a novel and is not meant to be read as one, at times I was pulled out of the "trance" by segments of writing I felt would have been better suited to an academic essay.

But English-major-ness aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and plan on recommending it to any friends who have interest in writing and publication.

(originally posted at http://www.read-all-over.net/nonficti... )(less)

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Nov 30, 2008 Catherine Grant rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: serious writers, anyone who wants to publish, anyone interested in the publishing business

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't the best book I have ever read on the subjects of writing and publishing, nor gives the best advice. However, I did glean some information about myself and established some realistic expectations about the publishing experience. I have learned some ways that I can help my career as a writer and work with my future agent and editor instead of sabotaging myself by not understanding the limitations of those people who, at this time, I see as the editorial/publishi...more

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Nov 11, 2009 Schuyler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books

NOT a how-to-write book but really I think I've read enough of those (though I may read a few more, a guilty pleasure). One of the best books on writing I've read. Lener captures the frantic, fragile, manic pysche of writers perfectly. I feel that the first chapter, called 'The Ambivalent Writer', was written for me. The second section, about the publishing process, was informative and terrifying.

"One day a long time from now, you'll cease to care anymore whom you please or what anybody has to...more

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Jun 29, 2010 Ali M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

An eye-opening look into the world of publishing, and a great read besides - I really enjoyed Lerner's voice and snarky commentary, even when she was talking about books and authors I'd never heard of. I understand that a lot has changed in the publishing industry since this book was written, but I still feel vastly more informed about the author/editor/agent/publicist relationship(s), and all the various stages a book goes through before it pops up in stores.

Oh, and I felt almost relieved to k...more

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Apr 24, 2012 C.B. Wentworth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finally! There’s a book that gives honest advice to writers about the publishing industry. Lerner’s experience as an editor and agent offers priceless information about an industry that often seems shrouded in mystery. She’s tough and doesn’t sugar coat anything, but remains sympathetic to players on both sides of the fence. There’s nothing easy about trying to get published and that goes for writers, agents, editors, and publishing houses. Lerner tries to dispel the “us” vs. “them” mentality th...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Liza rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: on-writing

Betsy Lerner warns that The Forest for the Trees is not a prescriptive formula about rules and style. Instead, you learn about the various writing personalities she has often encountered and gives compassionate advice so that aspiring writers may overcome their most damning psychological roadblocks. Whether you're the writer with a million ideas you can't choose from or the self-promoter who wishes to gain fame and notoriety, she has practical advice to help you.

She acknowledges that the writin...more

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Feb 15, 2011 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

Long-time editor Betsy Lerner has written a book that's part literary memoir, part self-help for writers, and part behind-the-scenes in publishing. All of it is entertaining or useful, and often both. As a writer, I appreciated everything from the tough talk on getting down to work (without excuses) to the thoughts on staying creatively focused in an industry that sometimes knocks that spirit down. And of course, I loved the behind-the-scenes stories that pull back the curtain, like in the Wizar...more

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Quotes from The Forest for the Trees

“When an editor works with an author, she cannot help seeing into the medicine cabinet of his soul. All the terrible emotions, the desire for vindications, the paranoia, and the projection are bottled in there, along with all the excesses of envy, desire for revenge, all the hypochondriacal responses, rituals, defenses, and the twin obsessions with sex and money. It other words, the stuff of great books.” — 4 people liked it

“...but every person who does serious time with a keyboard is attempting to translate his version of the world into words so that he might be understood.” — 4 people liked it

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