Quotes About Achievement

I got the writing bug in the fourth grade when a poem of mine was published in the school newspaper. Music criticism came a little later, when I was in high school.

For me, just being published feels like success.

'Britain's Royal Families' became my first published book, in 1989, from The Bodley Head, and the rest of the story is - dare I say it? - history!

I wrote two plays before I was cast on 'The Neighbors.' They actually got published, which was cool.

I never thought my ideas would actually get published.

It took seven years from the day I decided I wanted to write fiction to actually getting a book published.

I had a high school English teacher who made me really work at writing. And once, when I got an assignment back, she'd written: 'This is so good, Andrew. This should be published!' That made a big impression on me.

I've had over a dozen and a half novels published since late 1994 when my first novel, 'Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls' came out.

At 18, my first short story was published - I was paid a penny a word by a science fiction magazine. I continued to write, and five years later I published my first novel, 'Sweetwater.'

The story wrote quickly. I called it 'Where You're From,' and I sent it out, as I had numerous other stories over the years. Except this time I got a letter back saying that it would be published. Someone out there had liked the story. I was thirty-one years old.

My first published work was when I was 19, in 'Playgirl.' It was an odd experience but exciting.

I used my NEA fellowship to write my novel, 'In Country,' which was published by Harper & Row in 1985.

I wasn't entitled to dream so big. The idea of me being a writer wasn't even possible in my mind. Even when I began to write and first published, I couldn't call myself a writer.

I feel like I never would have been a success and gotten published without my family.

There's still, even now, a part of me that can't believe that I got published. That part of me has never gone away.

Several elementary school teachers had described me as a 'future authoress or poetess.' Mother took me to meet Chicago's leading black librarian, who published a poem of mine in the magazine she edited for Negro children.

I always grew up with the idea that in order to be a successful writer, I should have a book published.

All I've wanted to do is write. In school I just wanted to be a writer but I was afraid to be a writer because I felt I couldn't. It didn't really feel like my writing was interesting enough, so getting a book published was a huge kick.

Having my novels published is a dream come true.

Getting your work published is a major struggle.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning could write a poem two pages long. Could she have brought it to a music publisher?

I was never confident about finishing a book, but friends encouraged me. When I finished my first book, it was accepted by a publisher right away and became an instant bestseller. One male critic called it the most shocking book he ever read.

I do what I love and what I always dreamed of doing for a living. I write love stories, and I have always had a publisher willing to publish them. I have a sizable and loyal audience. I have made best-seller lists and won awards. What more could anyone ask for?

I don't chase publishers. Publishers chase me.