Amazon.com description: Product Description: An exploration of that mysterious place in publishing where art and commerce either clash, mesh, or both. Along the way, a wide range of authors - from the literary greats to today's commercial superstars -editors, agents and publishers share their thoughts, insights and experiences: what inspires writers? (John Steinbeck, for example, wrote every novel as though it were his last, and death was imminent.) Why are some books successful and appreciated, whilst others fall into oblivion? The answers are often elusive, never absolute.