We're basically after Joe's beer money, and Joe likes his beer, so you better make sure that what you give him is at least as pleasurable to him as having his six-pack of beer would be.

Quote by Jerry Pournelle

Topics: Jerry Pournelle Quotes

One the other hand, the publishing trend is ghastly, isn't it? Two hundred and something...

One the other hand, the publishing trend is ghastly, isn't it? Two hundred and something...

Asimov was the reason why we changed some rules in the SFWA, and I'm not...

Asimov was the reason why we changed some rules in the SFWA, and I'm not...

You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to...

You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to...

Write a lot. And finish what you write. Don't join writer's clubs and go sit...

Write a lot. And finish what you write. Don't join writer's clubs and go sit...

And meanwhile, the storytellers like me and Anderson, Silverberg... we tell stories. People like them....

And meanwhile, the storytellers like me and Anderson, Silverberg... we tell stories. People like them....

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with...

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with...

The importance of information is directly proportional to its improbability.

The importance of information is directly proportional to its improbability.

I have more information in one place than anybody in the world.

I have more information in one place than anybody in the world.

I started in this racket in the early '70s, and when I was president of...

I started in this racket in the early '70s, and when I was president of...

We do a hard fantasy as well as hard science fiction, and I think I...

We do a hard fantasy as well as hard science fiction, and I think I...

And that's another piece of advice I'll give junior writers; when you get to the...

And that's another piece of advice I'll give junior writers; when you get to the...

The Aztecs believe they started up in what's now New Mexico, and wandered for 10,000...

The Aztecs believe they started up in what's now New Mexico, and wandered for 10,000...

Heinlein never had a best-seller. Even, I think, with Stranger in a Strange Land, I...

Heinlein never had a best-seller. Even, I think, with Stranger in a Strange Land, I...

Somebody's always getting me to come lecture to their writing class, and I don't talk...

Somebody's always getting me to come lecture to their writing class, and I don't talk...

In any ethical situation, the thing you want least to do is probably the right...

In any ethical situation, the thing you want least to do is probably the right...

The hard part of writing at all is sitting your ass down in a chair...

The hard part of writing at all is sitting your ass down in a chair...

And in down times it shakes a lot of the bad SF out, a lot...

And in down times it shakes a lot of the bad SF out, a lot...

Because Tom Doherty and people like that are not stupid. If they could have streamlined...

Because Tom Doherty and people like that are not stupid. If they could have streamlined...

I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that...

I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that...

There were probably, what, 300 science-fiction members in the SFWA, of whom probably a hundred...

There were probably, what, 300 science-fiction members in the SFWA, of whom probably a hundred...