A Quote by Oscar Wilde

A publisher is simply a useful middle-man. — © Oscar Wilde
A publisher is simply a useful middle-man.
No publisher should ever express an opinion on the value of what he publishes. That is a matter entirely for the literary critic to decide. I can quite understand how any ordinary critic would be strongly prejudiced against a work that was accompanied by a premature and unnecessary panegyric from the publisher. A publisher is simply a useful middle-man. It is not for him to anticipate the verdict of criticism.
Oppression tries to defend itself by its utility. But we have seen that it is one of the lies of the serious mind to attempt to give the word "useful" an absolute meaning; nothing is useful if it is not useful to man; nothing is useful to man if the latter is not in a position to define his own ends and values, if he is not free.
What is a good man? Simply one whose life is useful to the world. And a bad man is simply one whose life is harmful to others. There are, however, those who are harmful and yet enjoy a good reputation, and who manage to profit by a show of usefulness. These are the worst of all.
I didn't think I would be an exceptional writer, and I thought I might be a useful publisher. I've never regretted it.
As soon as I finished 'The Finkler Question,' I was in despair. I'd changed my English publisher because they'd been lukewarm about it and not offered enough money. The American publisher didn't like it. The Canadian publisher didn't like it... I'd been bleeding readers since my first novel, and I could see my own career going down.
The Buddha's insight into the middle way is not simply about a balance between extremes. This conventional understanding misses the deeper revelation of the middle way as being the very nature of unexcelled enlightenment. The middle way is an invitation to leap beyond nirvana and samsara and to realize the unborn Buddha mind right in the middle of everywhere.
A successful self-publisher must fill three roles: Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur—or APE.
the study of the law is useful in a variety of points of view. it qualifies a man to be useful to himself, to his neighbors, & to the public.
Last week, I had to offer my publisher a bottle that was far too good for him simply because there was nothing between the insulting and the superlative.
As a publisher what you are trying to build is a long life for a book, to help it find its readers in many different ways, whether or not it made this list or got that review, etc. I'm sure some of that thinking has been useful to me as a writer as well.
If you want to publish two books a year under your own name and your publisher doesn't, maybe you need a different publisher.
Growing up in England, people told you why you couldn't do things. Suddenly, I had a publisher banging on my door, and was given the creative green light to simply make.
You want to publish with a publisher because a publisher knows how to publish a book. And you don't. You really don't.
No author is a man of genius to his publisher.
We had tried to get a couple books that were written about Ray Kroc, and one of the books, we called the publisher. The publisher actually said, "Call McDonald."
As difficult as it is for a writer to find a publisher-admittedly a daunting task-it is twice as difficult for a publisher to sort through the chaff, select the wheat, and profitably publish a worthy list.
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