Fortunately, one unabashed fan wants passionately to give Melville's masterpiece the broad contemporary audience it deserves. In his National Book Award-winning bestseller, In the Heart of the Sea, Nathaniel Philbrick captivatingly unpacked the story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex, the real-life incident that inspired Melville to write Moby-Dick. Now, he sets his sights on the fiction itself, offering a cabin master's tour of a spellbinding novel rich with adventure and history. Philbrick skillfully navigates Melville's world and illuminates the book's humor and unforgettable characters—finding the thread that binds Ishmael and Ahab to our own time and, indeed, to all times. A perfect match between author and subject, Why Read Moby-Dick? gives us a renewed appreciation of both Melville and the proud seaman's town of Nantucket that Philbrick himself calls home. Like Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life, this remarkable little book will start conversations, inspire arguments, and, best of all, bring a new wave of readers to a classic tale waiting to be discovered anew.

    They do, however, reveal some interesting things about his insomnia and persistent fears (he hates darkness), his literary sources, work habits (he writes two hours a day, seven days a week) and how his scary novels are linked to his childhood insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. The interviews, conducted by various journalists over the past decade, originally ran in media ranging from Penthouse to the Baltimore Sun. Shrugging off critics who dismiss his work as derivative, King explains his fascination with the horrific and calls himself a good writer, not a great one. His comments on his novels and their movie adaptations are often astute, as when he interprets Carrie as a parable of women's consciousness or pans Stanley Kubrick's frigid direction of The Shining.

    Each piece compels readers to rethink not only how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs but also the extent to which they share them with others. Featuring a well-known list of contributors--including Isabel Allende, Colin Powell, Gloria Steinem, William F. Buckley Jr., Penn Jillette, Bill Gates, and John Updike--the collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer; a part-time hospital clerk from Rehoboth, Massachusetts; a woman who sells Yellow Pages advertising in Fort Worth, Texas; and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring and provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of people whose beliefs--and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them--reveal the American spirit at its best.

    The book has special interest for aspiring writers, students of literature and language, and anyone who finds joy in reading and writing.". . . Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style, generally recognized as the best study of sentence style." Brooks Landon, University of Iowa, in Building Useful Sentences, page 122.

    The end point of a story determines its meaning, and one of the main tasks a writer faces is to define the duration of a plot. Silber uses wide-ranging examples from F. Scott Fitzgerald, Chinua Achebe, and Arundhati Roy, among others, to illustrate five key ways in which time unfolds in fiction. In clear-eyed prose, Silber elucidates a tricky but vital aspect of the art of fiction.

    Lewis's classic analysis springs from the conviction that literature exists for the joy of the reader and that books should be judged by the kind of reading they invite. Crucial to his notion of judging literature is a commitment to laying aside expectations and values extraneous to the work, in order to approach it with an open mind.

    The world says that writing doesn't matter much. Our families and jobs need us. We have to make money. The ugly voices in our head tell us we're not good enough. There are a ton of reasons why we choose to not write. . . and yet, if we are writers, we must find a way to the page. Over and over again. Often one of the hardest things for writers is allowing ourselves the time and space to write when so many other obligations fill our time. Writing Day in and Day Out is a book for writers who would like to find that time and space and build a practice of writing in their daily lives.In this intimate volume, Cumbo-Floyd tells about her own writing practice, shares suggestions - but never rules - for how you might find a way to more words in your daily life, and offers encouragement for the days when writing seems to be too far away or too painful.

    We don't want to just go to work and build someone else's dream, we want to do our life's work. But how do we find out what we're supposed to contribute? What are those key ingredients that push those who succeed to launch their ideas high into the sky, while the rest of us remain stuck on the ground?Don't Keep Your Day Job will get you fired up, ready to rip it open and use your zone of genius to add a little more sparkle to this world. Cathy Heller, host of the popular podcast Don't Keep Your Day Job, shares wisdom, anecdotes, and practical suggestions from successful creative entrepreneurs and experts, including actress Jenna Fischer on rejection, Gretchen Rubin on the keys to happiness, Jen Sincero on having your best badass life, and so much more. You'll learn essential steps like how to build your side hustle, how to find your tribe, how to reach for what you truly deserve, and how to ultimately turn your passion into profit and build a life you love.

    Regan Arts has teamed up with the literary charity 826National, which will receive a portion of the book’s proceeds to provide students ages 6–18 with opportunities to explore their creativity and improve their writing skills.Contributors include Al Roker, Carl Hiaasen, Dave Eggers, Emma Straub, Eric Idle, Fay Weldon, Fran Lebowitz, Gillian Flynn, Gregory Maguire, Jeff Kinney, Jim Shepard, Laura Lippmann, Lev Grossman, Liev Schreiber, Margaret Atwood, Mayim Bialik, Nelson DeMille, Rosanne Cash, Susan Orlean, Tim Gunn, and Tommy Hilfiger, among others.

    It can be as inventive and creative as the writer can make it, a whirlwind of images and plot twists, but it cannot be built on a foundation of air. The world must be identifiable with our own, must offer us a frame of reference we can recognize.--Terry BrooksThis is your complete guide to the realm of the fantastic. Whether you write science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance or historical fiction, here you'll find the factual information you need to construct a fantasy world full of wonder, imagination and spellbinding detail.From fabled creatures to occult religions, every page of this intriguing guide reveals the hidden realities of all things mystical, mythical and supernatural.Featuring charts, lists, illustrations and timelines, each chapter focuses on a different facet of fantasy, including:* Pagan orders, secret societies, witchcraft and the rites and rituals of magic* Detailed profiles of fantastic societies and ancient civilizations, from the Incas and Aztecs to Egypt and the Far East* Medieval trades, occupations, laws and punishments* Dragons, naiads, kelpies and other creatures of myth and fantasy* Legendary races, including elves, dwarfs, giants and more* A comprehensive look at the anatomy of a castle, describing the forms and functions of everything from barbicans to trebuchetsThis guide also goes well beyond standard reference books, offering sound advice on the writing styles and structures of this complex genre, with important tips on how to weave the elements of fact and fantasy into an absorbing narrative.Fascinating and authoritative, The Writer s Complete Fantasy Reference is the resource you need to create fiction that is compelling, fresh and wildly fantastic.

     That's the power of a hook. And, it just worked on you. A book hook is a statement or question designed to generate immediate curiosity and entice readers to want more. Why is a hook important? Language is the power of the book sale. As an author, you don’t sell books to machines. You sell books to human beings. A book hook uses powerful language that naturally piques a person’s interest. Book marketing expert, Rob Eagar, has coached over 450 authors and worked with several New York Times bestsellers. In this concise guide, he skillfully explains: • How to create a book hook • The difference between fiction and non-fiction hooks • Where to use a book hook to maximize sales Mastering Book Hooks for Authors will teach you how to create attention-grabbing language for your book, regardless of the genre. Capture more reader interest for free by using the power of a hook. Also includes free access to “The Ultimate Book Marketing Plan Template for Authors” by Rob Eagar that takes the guesswork out of launching your new book.

    Be warned, though. If you plan to lend out your copy, start out with two. Once it leaves your hands you’ll never see it again.”—Denver Post (on Not Quite What I Was Planning)The editors of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning are back with its much-anticipated sequel, It All Changed in an Instant. With contributions from acclaimed authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Wally Lamb, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, and James Frey, and celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Suze Orman, Marlee Matlin, Neil Patrick Harris, Ann Coulter, and Chelsea Handler, It All Changed in an Instant presents a thousand more glimpses of humanity. . . six words at a time. In the vein of the popular Post Secret books, It All Changed in an Instant, in the words of Vanity Fair, “will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists.”

    Perfect for busy writers or writers who are easily distracted or who want a better way to make consistent progress with their writing. Includes write ups from 15-minute writers who swear by the method. Also covers mindset, getting into a writing flow, how to clear mental clutter so you can focus during your writing session, and more.

    Editors strive to create books that are enlightening, seamless, and pleasurable to read, all while giving credit to the author. This makes it all the more difficult to truly understand the range of roles they inhabit while shepherding a project from concept to publication. In What Editors Do, Peter Ginna gathers essays from twenty-seven leading figures in book publishing about their work. Representing both large houses and small, and encompassing trade, textbook, academic, and children’s publishing, the contributors make the case for why editing remains a vital function to writers—and readers—everywhere. Ironically for an industry built on words, there has been a scarcity of written guidance on how to actually approach the work of editing. This book will serve as a compendium of professional advice and will be a resource both for those entering the profession (or already in it) and for those outside publishing who seek an understanding of it. It sheds light on how editors acquire books, what constitutes a strong author-editor relationship, and the editor’s vital role at each stage of the publishing process—a role that extends far beyond marking up the author’s text. This collection treats editing as both art and craft, and also as a career. It explores how editors balance passion against the economic realities of publishing. What Editors Do shows why, in the face of a rapidly changing publishing landscape, editors are more important than ever.

    “Fresh” produce, “wholesome” food. Your boss. Your former boss. Your coworkers. Your crush. Doctors. Customer service. Who can you call to get that monkey off your back? You can’t call anyone because they won’t return your calls. Isn’t it time to have a little ammo of your own? Here you go: fifty custom maledictions for situations you run into every day, and for people you know and wish you didn’t. In step-by-step, user-friendly detail, The Little Book of Curses puts the power back in your hands. Learn how to place spells, incantations, hexes, and more. Authentic, ancient curses from around the world are tweaked for easy, contemporary use. The book covers the four essentials to practicing any kind of magic: what to do and say, what materials to use, what frame of mind to be in, and what limits to set. In some cases it even matters where you are when you set your curse, what time of day it is, and who’s around. All that is here, too. It’s foolproof!