A seminal moment in the course of his aspirations occurred when he met writer Stephen King at a book signing, and told him that he was an aspiring writer. King signed David's copy of "Danse Macabre" with the inscription, "Good luck with your writing career.", which David now inscribes himself onto books presented to him by fans who tell him the same thing. Other authors that David cites as influences include Harlan Ellison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert B. Parker, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Robert Crais and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Specific books he has mentioned as favorites include "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Tarzan of the Apes", "The Princess Bride", "The Essential Ellison", "A Confederacy of Dunces", "Adams Versus Jefferson", and "Don Quixote". David has singled out Ellison in particular as a writer whom he has tried to emulate. David attended New York University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism. David's first professional assignment was covering the World Science Fiction Convention held in Washington in 1974 for the "Philadelphia Bulletin". David eventually gravitated towards fiction after his attempts at journalism did not meet with success. His first published fiction was in "Asimov's Science Fiction". He sold an op-ed piece to "The New York Times", but overall his submissions were met with rejection that far outnumbered those accepted. David eventually gave up on a career in writing, and came to work in book publishing. His first publishing job was for the E.P. Dutton imprint Elsevier/Nelson, where he worked mainly as an assistant to the editor-in-chief. He later worked in sales and distribution for Playboy Paperbacks. He subsequently worked for five years in Marvel Comics' Sales Department, first as Assistant Direct Sales Manager under Carol Kalish, who hired him, and then succeeding Kalish as Sales Manager. During this time he made some cursory attempts to sell stories, including submission of some Moon Knight plots to Dennis O'Neil, but his efforts were unfruitful. Three years into David's tenure as Direct Sales Manager, Jim Owsley became editor of the Spider-Man titles. Although crossing over from sales into editorial was considered a conflict of interest in the Marvel offices, Owsley, whom David describes as a "maverick," was impressed with how David had not previously hesitated to work with him when Owsley was an assistant editor under Larry Hama. When Owsley became an editor, he purchased a Spider-Man story from David, which appeared in "The Spectacular Spider-Man" #103 (June 1985).