Search the Main Collection
Sort Result by NUMBER / RATING




The Main Rules Collection (5130)
Traditional Categories (155)


350 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
SELLING BOOKS
Ten percent of bookstore customers buy 90 percent of the books. Ten percent never buy anything.
Dave Ewan, Wind Chimes Book Exchange, Millville, New Jersey
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5.7 out of 10 based on 24 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

110 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
SIFTING THROUGH BOOK PROPOSALS
Nearly half of all unsolicited proposals for novels will be about disasters.
Walter Pitkin, literary agent, Weston, Connecticut
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5.1 out of 10 based on 32 reviews
Comments (1)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

374 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
LIGHTING A BOOKSTORE
One continuous strip of fluorescent tube eight feet high above the center of the aisle is enough light for a bookstore.
Dave Ewan, Wind Chimes Book Exchange, Millville, New Jersey
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 4.9 out of 10 based on 23 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

4222 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
DETERMING IF A BOOK IS GOOD
You should give a book 50 pages, and if you don't like it, don't bother. If you're over 50, subtract your age from 100 and read that number of pages.
Trevor Diamond, Integrated Systems Librarian, Hackensack, NJ, USA
(1) Contributions from this contributor since (2008-08-13)
Current Rating: 6.7 out of 10 based on 16 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

134 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
ESTIMATING LENGTHS
Most books average 5 letters per word, 10 words per line, and 40 lines per page.
Norman Brenner, Fleetwood, New York
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5.9 out of 10 based on 32 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

398 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
STOCKING A BOOKSTORE
If you stock six of any bookstore item, you'll sell three in one week, two more in one month, and still have the last one when you retire.
Dave Ewan, Wind Chimes Book Exchange, Millville, New Jersey
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5 out of 10 based on 21 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

158 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
BUYING A GOOD BOOK
If you're considering buying a book, open it at random and read a page. Do this three times. If you haven't stumbled onto a vital part of the story at least once, don't buy the book.
Gene Wolfe, Barrington, Illinois
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5.4 out of 10 based on 31 reviews
Comments (2)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

422 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb
LOOKING AT BOOKS IN BOULDER
In any batch of fiction books, there will be more books by authors whose last names begin with "M" than any other letter. "S" will be second.
Ellen Klaver, musician, Boulder, Colorado
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 4.1 out of 10 based on 19 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

182 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
MAKING A MOVIE
Only 1 in 50 published novels gets optioned as a movie, and only 1 in 200 gets made into a movie.
Anonymous
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5.6 out of 10 based on 23 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

446 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb thumb
WRITING A BLURB
It takes 4 times as long to write an effective book jacket blurb that is 5 words long as it does to write one 30 words long. But the shorter copy is 7 times better.
Walter Pitkin, literary agent, Weston, Connecticut
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 5.9 out of 10 based on 22 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.

206 Books thumb thumb thumb thumb
CONSULTING FOR PUBLISHERS
If small publishers contact you, they're usually short on time, money, or knowledge. If they call you more than once, they have boxes of unsold books in their garage. If they insist on hiring you, even if you decline, their partner is on their back about wasting money on the publishing venture.
Cliff Martin, Eugene, Oregon
(LR) Legacy Rule of Thumb from previously published collections
Current Rating: 4.0 out of 10 based on 23 reviews
Comments (0)  Mail It You must login to Rate.



< Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >
Page 2 of 3