The Product Any Writer Sells Is Himself

"Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is. I often find myself reading with interest about a topic I never thought would interest me—some scientific quest, perhaps. What holds me is the enthusiasm of the writer for his field.... It is not necessary to want to spend a year alone at Walden Pond to become deeply involved with a writer who did."

—William Zinsser, On Writing Well