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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

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Mickey Spillane
Age: 88 †
Born: 1918
Born: March 9
Died: 2006
Died: July 17
Author
Novelist
Television Actor
Writer
Brooklyn
New York
Next
Pages
Ends
Mystery
Firsts
Nobody
Book
Middle
Letdown
First
Literature
Reads
Writing
Lasts
Page
Last
Sells
Read
Anymore

More quotes by Mickey Spillane

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Imagine this guy hits Mike Hammer over the head with a wooden coathanger and knocks him out. You hit Mike Hammer over the head with a wooden coathanger, he'll beat the crap out of you.
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I'm actually a softie. Tough guys get killed too early... I've got a full head of hair and don't wear eyeglasses.
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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.
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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
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Oh yeah, I was one of the first guys writing comic books, I wrote Captain America, with guys like Stan Lee, who became famous later on with Marvel Comics.
Mickey Spillane
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I'm the most translated writer in the world, behind Lenin, Tolstoy, Gorki and Jules Verne. And they're all dead.
Mickey Spillane
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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.
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I read all the time... I read a lot of history books.
Mickey Spillane
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If the public likes you, you're good.
Mickey Spillane
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I have no fans. You know what I got? Customers. And customers are your friends.
Mickey Spillane
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If the public likes you, you're good. Shakespeare was a common, down-to-earth writer in his day.
Mickey Spillane
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I'm a commercial writer, not an author. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book.
Mickey Spillane
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I played in a movie called Ring of Fear with Clyde Beatty and Pat O'Brien.
Mickey Spillane
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Inspiration is an empty bank account.
Mickey Spillane
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I'm 82 years old, wherever I go everybody knows me, but here's why... I'm a merchandiser, I'm not just a writer, I stay in every avenue you can think of.
Mickey Spillane
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Those big-shot writers ... could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar.
Mickey Spillane
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The most important part of a story is the ending. No one reads a book to get to the middle.
Mickey Spillane
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The first chapter sells the book the last chapter sells the next book.
Mickey Spillane
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I wrote the original Mike Hammer as a comic, Mike Danger.
Mickey Spillane
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Victor Saville was bad news because he wanted money just to do one big picture.
Mickey Spillane