THE USUAL PATH TO PUBLICATION 27 stories about 27 ways in Edited by Shannon Page It looks straightforward from the outside, doesn't it? Write an amazing book, get an agent, get a book deal, and voila Fame and fortune As you will see in these essays, however, a writer is vastly more likely to follow a complex, switch-backing trail than a straightforward path, one strewn with the boulders of rejection letters, the quicksand of endless revisions, and the snake pits of publishing house reorganizations, business failures, and would-be scammers. To the right is the sheer cliff of despair; to the left, the impassible mountain of the slush pile. Fear not, brave writer There is a destination at the end of that journey. Here are twenty-seven tales to inspire and encourage you-if they don't send you off to a more accessible pursuit, like lion-taming or rocket science or spinning straw into gold. Personal Essays by Jo Walton, Cherie Priest, Jim C. Hines, Tina Connolly, Ken Scholes, Katharine Kerr, David D. Levine, K. Tempest Bradford, Ada Palmer, Trisha Leigh/Lyla Payne, Alma Alexander, Laura Anne Gilman, Chaz Brenchley, Randy Henderson, Nancy Jane Moore, Jennifer Brozek, Rhiannon Held, Chris Dolley, Brenda Cooper, Elizabeth Bourne, John A. Pitts, Mindy Klasky, Amy Sterling Casil, Deborah J. Ross, Phyllis Irene Radford, Sara Stamey, and Mark Teppo.