William Boyd Quotes

One, I have a wonderful publisher, Black Sparrow Press; as long as they exist, they will keep me in print. And they claim they sell very respectable numbers of my books, so I guess, and it's true, every place I go, my books are in libraries and on bookshelves.

I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that my books have never gone out of print - none of them.

Early in my publishing career, someone told me I'd need to have five books in print before I could quit my job as a journalist. Turns out it was closer to 10 books. It also turns out that while it's great to see my titles on bookstore shelves, my best customers are schools and libraries.

When I got my very first phone call that I'd hit the 'New York Times' list, I had a small rush of 'I've made it!' But the next morning, it occurred to me I didn't know what it was, so I called my agent and asked what being a 'New York Times' bestselling author really meant. He informed me that I was now a thousand pound gorilla.

I wrote my first full book when I was fourteen, and that was 'Obernewtyn.' It was also the first book I had published. It was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to, and it was short listed for Children's Book of the Year in the older readers category in Australia.

The bewildering success of my books continues to surprise me.

To have been able to write the books I wanted to write, on demanding subjects like war and the history of psychiatry, and for them to have sold in the numbers they have - and then go around saying: 'Actually, I'd also like to have won the Costa Book of the Year?' That would be ridiculous.

I'm not one of those writers that sits worrying about posthumous fame.

I was lucky in getting my first book published; my first book was 'Bunnicula,' which I wrote with my late wife Debbie, for the fun of it.

Saul Bellow never took my advice when he was my friend.

If somebody writes a book and doesn't care for the survival of that book, he's an imbecile.

Being published is a bit like being entered into a race you don't even want to run, but, once running, can't help but not want to lose.

You can't be admitted to the ranks of writers of importance unless you have sales.

I completed my first novel when I was 19 years old.

Whenever anyone calls me 'The new J..K. Rowling,' I think, 'What's wrong with the old one?'

Authors should be honored only for their works.

I got a book deal without even turning in one shred of a writing sample.

To be publishing Stephen King, to be a friend to Stephen, when he is absolutely what got me into this business, is a really neat thing and something I don't take for granted.

My self-publishing adventure led to my work being picked up by a traditional publisher and eventually hitting the bestseller lists. That led to two more bestselling novels.

What makes a publishing house great? The easy answer is the consistency with which it produces books of value over a lengthy period of time.

My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and things like that, but Shiloh was by far the most successful of those first five novels.

The first story I ever sold was to 'Argosy' magazine, which no longer exists. That issue also contained work by several other more celebrated writers, like Ray Bradbury - so I felt I had at least one toe on the ladder.

I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don't agree with me as to their worth.

There's something very strange about associating me with that prize. I had hoped for it in a more directed way as a journalist. Somehow as a journalist you know there are Pulitzers out there and you can work hard and get one. To win it for Fiction seems unbelievable.

It's not as if I've been unlucky. My books have been published and reviewed. I haven't lived through terrible literary suffering!