The Elements of Authorship: Unabashed Advice, Undiluted Experience, Unadulterated Inspiration for Writers and Writers-to-be [Paperback]

Arthur Plotnik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2000

"This is a book for aspiring writers that has few equals." Chicago Tribune Lyrical writing and rock-solid advice distinguish The Elements of Authorship from most writers' guides. No such guide is more engaging, entertaining - or authoritative. Arthur Plotnik, whose classic The Elements of Editing is in its 18th year of print, draws on a uniquely broad background as writer, editor, and publisher. The Elements of Authorship gives clearheaded advice and comic relief to anguished writers - which is to say all writers - aspiring to the exalted state known as "published author." It is, as one reviewer noted, "a heartening foray into the construction and maintenance of a career in writing." Even as it explores the hellish aspects of that career, it reassures new authors that writing - published or unpublished - is worth the pain.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

OK, so, of the 82,000 "employed" authors in the United States, about 50 command seven-figure advances. So what? Who needs to be a millionaire? But for every three Stephen Kings earning $5 million a year, says Arthur Plotnik in The Elements of Authorship (originally published as Honk if You're a Writer), "figure 1,470 hopefuls earning nothing." That's right. Nothing. Writing, says Plotnik, "is a bumper-to-bumper crawl through hell with an occasional jolt to the next level of anguish."

If you belong to the group of people publishers categorize as either "bankable" or "slime," or even if you just daydream of being a writer, Arthur Plotnik is one fine companion to have along for the ride. He's full of information, much of which he imparts via the travails of his "character" Plotnikov, who has vast experience on both sides of the writer-editor relationship, from writing pulp fiction to editing Ray Bradbury. While Plotnik's tips on dealing with editors may not be so different from those of the many other books of this ilk, his modes of expressing them are unforgettable. Where others advise that you not cold-call publishers and say "I'm a writer," Plotnik says that to do so is like saying, "Hello, I am risen from the fetid slime of the Black Lagoon." Where others say that you have to make your query stand out, Plotnik recommends you "say just about anything that will get attention, if it's not too sick." And, unlike the other, cheerleaderly writer-book authors out there ("YOU, TOO, CAN MAKE MILLIONS!"), Plotnik is stridently realistic. He imparts tricks of the trade that "can improve one's odds from Hopeless to Who Knows." He warns that "like their protagonists, serious writers never have a nice day." And even when all is said and published, there is still the struggle to get paid, he says, referring to writers as "mini-collection agencies." A hilarious read, though one wishes the text had been adjusted to accommodate both its new title and the passing of Iris Murdoch. --Jane Steinberg

Review

"This is a book for aspiring writers that has few equals." -- Chicago Tribune

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (February 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059500119X
• ISBN-13: 978-0595001194
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,867,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arthur Plotnik, in spite of his funny name, is a versatile author with a distinguished background in editing and publishing. Two of his works have been featured as Book-of-the-Month Club selections: "The Elements of Editing," a standard reference through some 20 printings, and "The Elements of Expression: Putting Thoughts into Words." Reviewers have consistently praised Plotnik's writing for its accuracy, style, and wit, often ranking it with "The Elements of Style" (Strunk & White)in practicality. However, his popular "Spunk & Bite: A Writer's Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style" (Random House)challenges some of Strunk & White's inhibiting dictates as it guides the writer to more risk-taking, more adventurous, more publishable prose.

His latest book, published in spring 2011 by Viva Editions, is titled: "Better than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives." It offers 6,000 alternatives to "great," "awesome," "amazing" and other shopworn terms of praise and acclamation. (www.freshsuperlatives.com) Former Poet Leaureate Billy Collins calls it "AMEN-ASTONISHING!"

A native of White Plains, N.Y., Plotnik studied under Philip Roth and Vance Bourjaily in the Iowa Writers Workshop. After an Army stint, he served as a staff writer on the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union, where novelist-to-be William Kennedy worked across the city desk, puffing cigars.

Plotnik ground out 22 pseudonymnous potboilers for the Scott-Meredith Literary Agency, some of them while completing work on the second of two master's degrees (English, library service). In his return to respectability, he surfaced in Washington, D.C, as press and public relations assistant to the Librarian of Congress and newsletter editor. He was later a magazine editor in New York, where the second of his two daughters was born.

As a publisher, Plotnik brough five national awards to the American Library Association's book imprint. He won numerous honors also as editor of "American Libraries," ALA's flagship magazine.

Plotnik has written scores of magazine articles and columns, seven nonfiction books (including his first writer's guide, "The Elements of Authorship") and short stories and poems. He has appeared in publications ranging from "La Prensa" (Bolivia) and "Playboy" to "The New York Times" and "Los Angeles Times." A contributor to "The Writer Magazine" and member of its editorial board, he has also contributed to "Britannica Book of English Usage" and the "American English" column of "American Way" in-flight magazine.

A passionate observer of trees, he is author of "The Urban Tree Book: An Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town," illustrated by his wife, the artist Mary H. Phelan. "The New York Times Book Review" called this work "indispensable." On July 4 of the Constitution's 200th birthday year (1987), the National Archives published his "The Man Behind the Quill," a biography of the Constitution's calligrapher, Jacob Shallus. The award-winning book was highlighted in "Time" magazine and praised as "a small miracle of research."

A popular speaker, Plotnik taught briefly in the journalism department at Columbia College in Chicago. Special honors include service as a charter board member, American Book Awards, and first place in the prestigious "Verbatim" national competition for essays on the English language. He is listed in "Who's Who," "Contemporary Authors," "Journalists of the United States, and other directories of writers and journalists. He lives in Chicago and is represented by literary agent Roger Williams of New England Publishing Associates.