Includes bibliographical references (pages [279]-285).

Introduction 1
Ch. 1 Ambivalent Writer 13
Ch. 2 Natural 31
Ch. 3 Wicked Child 49
Ch. 4 Self-Promoter 71
Ch. 5 Neurotic 93
Ch. 6 Touching Fire 113
Ch. 7 Making Contact: Seeking Agents and Publication 135
Ch. 8 Rejection 162
Ch. 9 What Editors Want 182
Ch. 10 What Authors Want 209
Ch. 11 Book 232
Ch. 12 Publication 257
Bibliography 278
Acknowledgments 285

The shelves are crowded with books on how to write. But as Lerner says, she doesn't plan to Strunk you over the head about style. Instead, on the basis of her close work with writers, she attempts to describe the writer's psyche. Here are stories about those writers who typically help or hurt their own cause as they seek publication. In the first half of the book, she identifies six classic personality types and their attendant behaviors. Lerner understands the anxieties and concerns of writers just getting started as well as those stalled mid-career. In the second half of the book, she takes readers through the publishing process from first contact to first contract to first glowing or gutting review.