It Takes a Certain Type to be a Writer: Facts from the World of Writing and Publishing

By Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo

Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo are the Queen and King of trivia, relied upon by game shows including Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and game manufacturers. Millions of people read their daily newspaper column and together they've written twenty books. The sixth book in the Totally Riveting Utterly Entertaining (TRUE) Trivia Series puts a magnifying lens on the wacky world of writers. It Takes a Certain Type to Be a Writer will tell you everything you could possibly want, or were afraid, to know about writers, publishing, and the writing life. Bite-sized facts are organized into chapters including "Everyone's a Critic", "Stranger than Fiction", "From Bad to Verse," "Kiddie Lit", "A Word's Worth," and many more. You'll learn things like: where Proust wrote (in bed with gloves on); what Voltaire drank (70 cups of coffee a day); and how James Cain prepared himself for yet another publisher's rejection. (The title The Postman Always Rings Twice had nothing to do with the plot of the best-selling novel. It was a private joke of author James Cain. His postman would ring his doorbell twice whenever the many-times-rejected manuscript came back from a publisher.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
• Release date: Aug 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9781609250737

Erin Barrett

Erin Barrett is the author of a kids' trivia book from Klutz Press; she has written for magazines and newspapers, such as Icon and the San Jose Mercury News, and has contributed to several anthologies, including the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. She and Jack Mingo have also designed numerous electronic and online games. They live in Alameda, California, with their family.