"A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down. If it is a good book nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book nothing can help him."
— Edna St. Vincent Millay

"I finished my first book seventy-six years ago. I offered it to every publisher on the English-speaking earth I had ever heard of. Their refusals were unanimous: and it did not get into print until, fifty years later; publishers would publish anything that had my name on it."
— George Bernard Shaw

"Publishers are notoriously slothful about numbers, unless they're attached to dollar signs - unlike journalists, quarterbacks, and felony criminal defendants who tend to be keenly aware of numbers at all times"
— Hunter S. Thompson

"Magazines all too frequently lead to books and should be regarded by the prudent as the heavy petting of literature."
— Fran Lebowitz

"It has been our experience that American houses insist on very comprehensive editing; that English houses as a rule require little or none and are inclined to go along with the author's script almost without query. The Canadian practice is just what you would expect--a middle-of-the-road course. We think the Americans edit too heavily and interfere with the author's rights. We think that the English publishers don't take enough editorial responsibility. Naturally, then, we consider our editing to be just about perfect. There's no doubt about it, we Canadians are a superior breed! (in a letter to author Margaret Laurence, dated May, 1960)"
— Jack McClelland (Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland)

"It can be depressing when no one takes interest, and a lack of response makes the writer question why they’re writing at all. To have one’s writing rejected is like you, yourself, are being rejected. "
— Lizz Clements (Apollo Weeps)

"It began to falter not when the book publishers who loved books gave way to those who preferred profits to reading. It happened when publishers and editors cut back on their drinking. If there is one national flower in book publishing, it is the martini."
— Al Silverman

"The book trade invented literary prizes to stimulate sales, not to reward merit."
— Michael Moorcock

"Always be "opportunity-ready" - The greatest door-opening opportunities often come in the form of objections. "
— Lisa Washington

"NEWSPAPER: What great paper is the Earth; what a typeface is the Day; what ink is the Night! – Everyone prints, everyone reads; no one understands."
— Xavier Forneret

"We do not like the truth because it is simple, we do not want the truth because it is hard, and we do not trust the truth because it is free.

Perhaps because many are idealists and publishing is so frustrating, writers are particularly vulnerable to believing in those who offer hope in exchange for cash. Writers know life is tough and we all want to think of an easier way. Maybe for a rare few, there is. If you count on that, you are a chump and somebody is going to take your money and break your heart."
— Pat Walsh (78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might)

"You have made some notes, read some writing books, and done some research. Mostly what you've done is talk about writing a book. An idea for a book is not a book; it is a waste of time. There is no singular thing that makes someone a writer, but there is one thing that makes someone a joke--talking about writing a book without doing any work."
— Pat Walsh (78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might)

"America is another country and they do things differently there. As far as books go they do things differently in two particular ways. Firstly, American books are designed and produced in a far less appealing manner than their European counterparts. An American book is printed on cheap paper, bends too easily and features an odd and unattractive ratio of text to pictures on its gaudy, glossy cover."
— Tymon Smith "Call a Book a Book " The Times South Africa May 22 2009

"I have always believed in the principle that immediate survival is more important than long-term survival."
— Jack McClelland (Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland)

"The thing you don't realize, my dear girl, is that I have been forced by the economic realities to start taking publishing very seriously. For example, it has been brought to my attention that our ability to continue to pay the hordes of people employed by M&S (God knows how many mouths have to be fed) depends directly on the number of copies of your new book [Life Before Man] that we are able to sell between September and Christmas. In past I have been able to treat this whole thing as a fun game. I have never been troubled by the cavalier explanations about lost manuscripts and fuck-ups of various sorts. Now I have learned that this is a deadly serious game. I don't laugh at jokes about the Canadian postal service. I cry. (in a letter to author Margaret Atwood, dated February, 1979)"
— Jack McClelland (Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland)

"I would not employ an author to referee a Ping-Pong match. By their very nature they are biased and bloody-minded. Better put a fox in a henhouse than to ask an author to judge his peers. (in a letter to the Governor General about the GA's Literary Awards & his issue--among others--with the judging system, 1981)"
— Jack McClelland (Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland)