Published in 1982, before the widespread use of personal computers, the Internet, and electronic publishing, THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER concentrated on writing and selling to the print media—books and magazines. Updated excerpts are now being reprinted electronically on various topics—still focused on those primary areas, but still applicable to the current-day writer.

Theodore Sturgeon called the book "the second best reference book a writer can have, after the dictionary."

Harlan Ellison said, "It may not make you a better writer, but it will keep you from being a poorer one."

Isaac Asimov said, "Thank goodness! I am constantly being asked an infinity of questions about the writing business and can never answer coherently. Now I will stamp cards with a stamp that says: READ THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER. IT WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING, CLEARLY AND INTERESTINGLY. Why on Earth didn't he write the book forty years ago when it would have done me some good?"

This excerpt compares the jobs of magazine and book editors and discusses how to maintain good author-editor relations, as well as how to go about negotiating the terms of sales to your publishers.