Writing for Publication

Potter maintains that to get published, an aspiring writer must be ``merely competent,'' not great nor even necessarily good. With this pragmatic outlook, the retired publisher and editor offers advice and pointers in areas ranging from journalism, memoirs and history through fiction and poetry to how-tos, cookbooks, business and technical writing, and humor. Potter presents a pedantic discussion of what constitutes ``good,'' ``better'' and ``best'' writing, larded with examples from Plutarch, Nabokov, Audubon, Pepys, Lincoln Steffens, physicist Stephen Hawking, etc. Part publishing memoir, part pep talk, this guide covers too broad a field too sparsely, although beginning writers will find many useful tidbits drawn from the author's own experiences. (Jan.)