Now I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am. Mickey Spillane More Quotes by Mickey Spillane More Quotes From Mickey Spillane The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book. Mickey Spillane lastswritingbook The most important part of a story is the ending. No one reads a book to get to the middle. Mickey Spillane importantinspirationalbook Those big-shot writers ... could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar. Mickey Spillane peanutscaviarfacts If the public likes you, you're good. Shakespeare was a common, down-to-earth writer in his day. Mickey Spillane likesliteratureearth Inspiration is an empty bank account. Mickey Spillane bank-accountsemptyinspiration I don't like people. I don't like any kind of people. When you get them together in a big lump they all get nasty and dirty and full of trouble. So I don't like people including you. That's what a misanthropist is. Mickey Spillane togetherpeopledirty I have no fans. You know what I got? Customers. And customers are your friends. Mickey Spillane fanscustomersknows Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn't. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still... you look at all this stuff with a grain of salt. Mickey Spillane grain-of-saltbooklooks Mike Hammer drinks beer because I can't spell Cognac. Mickey Spillane cognachammersbeer If you're a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he's good, the older he gets, the better he writes. Mickey Spillane baseballwritingart I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am. Authors want their names down in history; I want to keep the smoke coming out of the chimney. Mickey Spillane coming-outnameswant I started off at the high level, in the slick magazines, but they didn't use my name, they used house names. Anyway, then I went downhill to the pulps, then downhill further to the comics. Mickey Spillane magazinesnameshouse I dont like any of them, because they don't read the books. In Kiss Me Deadly my story is better than his story. Anthony Quinn played in The Lond Wait and he didn't read the book either. Mickey Spillane kissingwaitingbook See, heroes never die. John Wayne isn't dead, Elvis isn't dead. Otherwise you don't have a hero. You can't kill a hero. That's why I never let him get older. Mickey Spillane redneckfirefighterhero Nobody reads a book to get to the middle. Mickey Spillane middlewritingbook I'm a commercial writer, not an author. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book. Mickey Spillane book I'm actually a softie. Tough guys get killed too early... I've got a full head of hair and don't wear eyeglasses. Mickey Spillane eyeglassesguyhair I know an awful lot of Hollywood people, who are so self-important, I can't understand it. Mickey Spillane importantselfpeople I'm the most translated writer in the world, behind Lenin, Tolstoy, Gorki and Jules Verne. And they're all dead. Mickey Spillane behindsworld Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book. Mickey Spillane literaturewritingbook
