INTRODUCTION 吀栀is is the business we have chosen. —The Godfather, part two hat’s a famous line from one of the most power- Tful movies ever made. 吀栀e script for that 昀椀lm was written by Mario Puzo—who also, of course, wrote the script for the 昀椀rst Godfather 昀椀lm as well as the novel on which it’s based. Mario Puzo had a lot of great things to say about writing, so we’ll be referring to him and other writers throughout this book. But here at the start I want to focus on one speci昀椀c word in that quote above. 吀栀e word is business. When you start to write a book, you’re doing more than just punching keys on your key- board. You’re entering the book business, and like every other business, it has many di昀昀erent elements. I want to you to be 100 percent successful in dealing with all those elements.