John Joseph Adams Quotes

I started out as a novelist and wrote several novels before deciding to publish one, and I fully intend to go back to the form.

I wrote my first novel-length story when I was 14 but had no idea what to do with it. Brisbane was a long way from the publishing industry then. Nowhere's a long way from the publishing industry now.

I feel lucky that I get to read and publish stories that are not necessarily overtly horror in 'Best Horror of the Year.'

I've never really thought of writing books. I've never thought about stories as a part of a collection.

As an editor, I read Charlotte Rogan's amazing debut novel, 'The Lifeboat,' when it was still in manuscript. I read it in one night, and I really wanted my company to publish it, but we lost it to another house. It's such a wonderful combination of beautiful writing and suspenseful storytelling.

I want to write books.

I have been incredibly lucky with my novels but I had absolutely no idea if anyone would be interested in a cookbook. So I started to think about self-publishing.

I would be rejected if I submitted any of my novels as romance novels.

I've never actually even contemplated writing a book or having a book.

People do write books.

I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars.

I always knew writing a novel was a great thing.

You come out of your MFA program with a cogent clutch of stories, trying to get an agent interested, and she or he admits these are quality, sure, but this agent actually needs something the publisher can make money on. So you get kind of bullied by the market into writing a novel.

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that published short stories. Unfortunately, the short-story market has dwindled to almost nothing.

Over a four-month period, I sat down and wrote every day. And then there was a novel, and all of a sudden, there were agents and offers.

I've never written a book before.

A whole bunch of agents and editors looked at my stories, and they all said, in effect, 'You're a pretty good writer and you should probably get these published; when you grow up and write a novel, get in touch.'

It's never really easy to be successful as a writer when you're trying to write literary fiction. You've already limited your readership limited by that choice.

I got nice rejections explaining that historical fiction was a difficult sell. But I kept trying.

Oh you know, I've been writing a novel.

I urge aspiring writers to write three full-length novels before contemplating publication.

I have only one bit of advice to the beginning writer: Be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

In the early 2000s, I started selling some short stories to horror markets. I joined the Horror Writers Association.

One of the epiphanies I had was that I got into publishing because I love literature.

There are plenty of paths to becoming a writer, but I think the most reliable ones involve total commitment: writing for magazines and newspapers, teaching writing, editing books, representing authors.