Lisa Gardner Quotes

The Fiction Writer's Co-op has 51 members, from celebrated NYT bestsellers to promising newcomers, and a waiting list.

After 20 years of writing in basically a vacuum, I love being part of a community. I've vetted other writers' contracts for them and do publicity for free just because I like a book. Some people think of it as hubris or careerism, but I love to champion books. You can't use your whole sphere of influence just to help yourself.

Smart authors, faced with storms, chose to create umbrellas. That's why a diverse group of authors banded together to create The Fiction Writer's Co-op, which will work to find innovative ways to promote each other's work and cheer each other on in a very competitive field.

All prizes have a role, if they are run with integrity and with a clear focus on reading and quality writing. I don't think any of them is necessary, but they all play an incredibly important role in building a body of literature, in introducing new authors to new readers, and extending reading.

A writers' ring is where a group of four or five authors agree to promote each other's work on their own websites and via their social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

We must absolutely take care of one another.

As an author and a burgeoning screenwriter, the fact of the matter is I cannot do this alone.

Pittsburgh was the first chance to be in a classroom with other writers, to have conversations with other writers. In fact, after graduate school, I lived in Japan, Ohio and New Orleans, and only upon leaving Pittsburgh did I see what a special community it was for poets, so I was eager to come back. It's a strong arts community across the board.

Here's the thing: Authors live or die by recommendations. [That's one of the reason I review so many books on Goodreads.] Giving books you love good reviews is one of the nicest things you can do for an author. What's more it's good for the entire community.

It may take a village to raise a baby, but hell! it takes an army to produce a book.

From the start of our relationship Clint told me that he wanted us always to be together and that he would take care of me forever. Clint repeatedly assured me that, regardless of whether we were married, everything he had was ours together.

The YA author community is generally pretty friendly, and they care.

Cancer doesn't just happen to me; it happens to my best friend; it happens to everyone who means something in my life... The truth is, it does take a village to take care of somebody who's sick, and so we just, at all times, tried to be authentic to the actual experience we had.

In a small town, residents don't wait for the government or far-flung strangers to take care of their ailing neighbors; they do it themselves. When a farmer gets sick, the community drops everything to harvest his crops.

It's all about the team first, then myself. As I continue to help the team, I'll continue to build on my success, but it all starts with the team.

I am not a contest-enterer by nature. But contests - and their entry fees - are often the main way literary journals raise money to, you know, publish their issues. So entering contests helps support the journal, which also helps support the writers they publish.

People fall in love when they are working together constantly.

Poets are not meant to be in competition.

It's nice when you join another club that you know a couple of players.

I guess I feel it's funny to be looked to for advice on writing when I am still taking in so much from other people.

We should always choose to work with people we love. They are the ones who will watch our back and our future.

You have to do it by yourself. You can not do it alone.

A marriage is a partnership.

The connection between authors, printers, and booksellers must be kept up.

We have much to do together. Let us do it in wisdom and love and joy. Let us make this the human experience.