…but what could possibly prepare me for Michael Dirda’s review in today’s Washington Post?

Sometimes a reviewer just can’t wait to write about a book. Even though Lawrence Block’s memoir, “A Writer Prepares,” isn’t available till June, I was recently sent an advance proof. Quite innocently, I started reading it — and couldn’t tear myself away. So consider what follows more a preview than a review of the pleasures awaiting in its pages.

A Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, Lawrence Block began selling short stories more than 60 years ago when he was still a student at Antioch College. That alone is remarkable, but a summer work program in Manhattan changed his life: He landed an editorial job at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. What Block learned there and the people he met there form the heart of this conversational, irresistibly entertaining account of a literary apprenticeship in the late 1950s and early ’60s.

Notorious in multiple ways, the Scott Meredith agency didn’t just represent authors, it would also — for a fee — review manuscripts and supposedly help would-be Hemingways and Colettes understand where they’d gone wrong. These “fee reports” were essentially a scam. Let Block tell it:

“Every letter we wrote was designed to manipulate, and was dashed off with a cavalier disregard for the truth. My fee reports applauded the talent of writers who showed no talent, condemned the plots of stories with perfectly satisfactory plots, and were written with the singular goal of getting the poor mooch to submit another story and pony up another fee.”

During the nine months he worked for Scott Meredith, Block managed to sell a story of his own to Manhunt magazine, which led him to concentrate his youthful energies on crime fiction. To familiarize himself with the market, he tells us, “I bought every copy of Manhunt I could find, and sought out its imitators as well, digest-sized magazines with titles like Trapped, Guilty, Pursuit, Murder, Keyhole, Off-Beat, and Web. . . . I put together a near-complete run of Manhunt along with dozens of copies of its fellows. And I read my way through just about every story.”

Before long, Block was knocking out his own short mysteries, generally around 4,000 words long, all typed in one sitting without a second draft. He also began to produce made-up nonfiction for men’s adventure magazines. Basically, there were three kinds of articles, endlessly recycled, which he sums up as “Reinhard Heydrich, Blond Beast of the SS,” “Grovers Corners — Sin City on the Wabash,” and “Migrating Lemmings Ate My Feet.” Block actually wrote the Heydrich piece using his best-known male pseudonym, Sheldon Lord.

Note that I said “male pseudonym.” From cranking out men’s adventure fantasies, it was just a short step to writing what Block now somewhat wryly refers to as Classic Midcentury Erotica, much of it using female pen names. He began with a cheapy paperback titled “The Strange Sisterhood of Madam Adista,” followed by a more serious lesbian novel, eventually published as “Strange Are the Ways of Love.” Block finished it two days before his 20th birthday.

At this point, young Larry decided he could do just fine without a college degree. Soon, he was providing Midwood or Nightstand Books with a 45,000 word sleaze novel every month. Using the name Benjamin Morse, M.D., he also wrote “Sexual Surrender in Women,” and as John Warren Wells he produced “Tricks of the Trade: A Hooker’s Handbook.” He made up all the case histories.

Astonishingly, Block was still only in his mid-20s, though by now supporting a wife and two very young daughters — and not doing badly at all. In 1962, “the total amount I received from Scott Meredith, after commission, came to $32,000.” The equivalent buying power for 2021 is roughly $250,000.

There’s a lot more to “A Writer Prepares,” which is chockablock with pen portraits of fast-buck operators, eccentrics and fellow writers (notably Donald E. Westlake). It ends — far too soon — when Block finds his real “voice” in the first of his Tanner novels of international intrigue. From there, he would go on to write many more books under his own name, including lighthearted capers about burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr and a much-admired series about ex-cop and recovering alcoholic Matt Scudder. He would also win every major award in crime fiction.

Crikey. That was Michael Dirda? In the Washington Post? I think he liked it.

It does sound that way, doesn’t it?

And now I suppose you’re going to tell us how to get hold of the book.

Yes, and I’ll keep it simple. A Writer Prepares comes in five flavors: ebook, paperback, library-binding hardcover, deluxe small-press limited edition, and audiobook. They all share a June 24 publication date, but all but the audio version are available right now for preorder.

First, the ebook. It’s a mere $6.99, but that price jumps to $9.99 upon publication, so a preorder before that date saves you three dollars, along with ensuring you get the book as soon as it’s out. You can preorder it at any of these platforms: Amazon  Kobo   Barnes & Noble   Apple Books  Thalia

Next, the paperback. It’s a handsome trade paperback, and the price is $14.99. You can preorder it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

The library-binding hardcover is more durable and arguably a shade more impressive on a bookshelf or coffee table. It’s also more expensive at $24.99, and like its soft-covered sibling it can be preordered at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Libraries and booksellers: Please note that you can order paperback and hardcover copies of A Writer Prepares—and, indeeed, of all my self-published titles—from Ingram’s Lightning Source division.

The deluxe limited edition is something special, coming from the fine UK small press, SST Publications. The artwork is by Jérémy Pailler, and the total run is limited to 400 signed and numbered copies, most of which are already subscribed. The folks at Subterranean Press have secured a small quantity of copies, and still have a few left at $48; if you’re in the US, this might be your best source. Or go directly to SST site; they ship worldwide, and payment is easy via PayPal.

Finally, the audiobook. A memoir is a natural choice for the author to narrate himself, but after consideration I knew that my voice was no longer up to it. I lucked out when the people at Tantor Audio were able to enlist Peter Berkrot for the job. Besides several of my early crime novels, Peter has voiced Dead Girl Blues, and teamed up with Teri Schnaubelt on two anthologies, The Darkling Halls of Ivy and At Home in the Dark. He’s just completed work on A Writer Prepares, and I suspect you’ll be able to preorder it shortly.

And that’s all I’ve got. There’s a lot going on, we’re doing exciting new covers for all the Jill Emerson novels, but right now I don’t want anything to get in the way of that WaPo review—or keep you from getting your preorders in.

Cheers,