Only As Good As Your Word : Writing Lessons from My Favorite Literary Gurus

In this funny, moving, and revealing ride, Susan Shapiro recounts her obsessive quest for success as a professional writer and the beloved mentors who saved her life—and career—along the way.

Growing up in the Midwest, Susan Shapiro knew at a young age that all she wanted in life was to become a writer. And so, as soon as she graduated from college, she headed straight to New York City, determined to break into the biz. A few hard knocks later, she learned that it takes more than being a good writer to make a living at it-the most successful professional writers, she discovered, have great mentors to support, promote, advise, admonish, inform, infuriate, and sometimes give them a good kick in the pants along the way. 

Only As Good As Your Word is a rollicking chronicle of Shapiro's coming of age as a journalist and author. It's also a revealing memoir that proves what Shapiro's been saying all along: The most important lessons about writing really are, at heart, important lessons about life. A must-read for all writers in the publishing trenches, from the very green to the veterans.

Sue Shapiro is the author of Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up, and Secrets of a Fix-up Fanatic. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Village Voice, Nation, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Jane, People, US Weekly, and Salon.com. She lives with her husband in Greenwich Village, where she teaches writing at NYU and the New School.