Literary Birthday – 1 January – Olivia Goldsmith

Olivia Goldsmith was born 1 January 1949 and died 15 January 2004.

Quotes

1. 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.
2. It was considered very bad form to wish authors on their birthdays ‘many happy returns’.
3. Publishing is no longer simply a matter of picking worthy manuscripts and putting them on offer. It is now as important to market books properly, to work with the bookstore chains to get terms, co-op advertising, and the like. The difficulty is that publishers who can market are most often not the publishers with worthy lists.
4. The secret to true happiness is low expectations and insensitivity.
5. As long as you believe in yourself and your own vision, you have something. When you give up that, you are personally bankrupt.

Olivia Goldsmith was an American author, best known for her first novel The First Wives Club.  The book was adapted into the film The First Wives Club (1996). She also wrote several books for children, which were published under the name Justine Rendal.

Source for quotes

by Amanda Patterson

Are you interested in more authors’ birthdays? Please click here: Literary Birthday Calendar