At the Los Angeles Festival of Books, we uncovered the only three pieces of writing advice you will ever need.

In the middle of a panel discussion about “Creativity & Imagination,” one audience member asked three great nonfiction writers if they had any advice for aspiring writers.

1. Magic Hours author Tom Bissell repeated the first piece of advice twice: “Read a lot. Read a lot.”
2. I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts author Mark Dery chipped in a simple response: “Write a lot.”
3. Is That a Fish in Your Ear? author David Bellos contributed the final, and perhaps most important, piece of advice: “Don’t expect to make any money.”

At the festival we also collected comic book pitch advice from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.