The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers »

A former star editor, literary agent Betsy Lerner has been known throughout New York's elite publishing circles as an ace for the last 20 years. Her new book, Food and Loathing, is Lerner's revelatory look at the eating disorder and depression she has battled since adolescence -- the literati she ran with had no idea.

Quickly established as an essential and enduring companion for aspiring writers when it was first published, Lerner's sharp, funny, and insightful guide has been meticulously updated and revised to address the dramatic changes that have reshaped the publishing industry in the decade since. From blank page to first glowing (or gutting) review, Lerner is a knowing and sympathetic coach who helps writers discover how they can be more productive in the creative process and how they can better their odds of not only getting published, but getting published well. This is an indispensable user's manual to both the inner life of writers and the increasingly anxious place where art and commerce meet: the boardrooms and cubicles of the publishing house.

Nan A. Talese

Betsy Lerner has three great qualities for an editor: intelligence, sensitivity and passion. She writes with wit and astounding perceptivity. Writers, take heed!

—Publisher and Editorial Director of Nan A. Talese/Doubleday.