frequently asked questions

Will you read my manuscript and tell me what you think?
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No. If I did that for one person, I would feel like I'd have to do it for a great many people and in a lot of cases you can read a page or two or three and just say to yourself, 'This is terrible.' But nobody wants to write that kind of letter, 'Dear so-and-so, I started to read your manuscript but it was just awful so I tossed it aside.' That makes everybody feel bad, including me, so I don't do it. There's another reason, and that's a legal one. I've been sued for plagiarism 8 or 9 times. Any writer who has deep pockets has been sued for plagiarism from time-to-time-that goes for J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, really everyone. For everyone who publishes best-selling fiction, somebody wants to think, 'Oh, he got that idea from me' and so it's just much easier and much safer to say I never read that book at all.