The Busy Writer's One Hour Plot
Marg McAlister - 2012
Non-fiction, writing, how-to book.
Get The Job You Really Want
James Caan - 2011
Now in Get The Job You Really Want James brings his experience to bear to help everyone from recent graduates to CEOs in their hunt for their dream job, from identifying the opportunity to making yourself stand out at interview and finally closing the deal on the job offer, Since publishing the first edition James has been inundated with testimonials from real readers who have used the tricks and tools in this definitive guide to jobhunting to finally land the job that they really wanted.
Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style
Benjamin Dreyer - 2019
L. Doctorow, and Frank Rich, into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best foot forward in writing prose. Dreyer offers lessons on the ins and outs of punctuation and grammar, including how to navigate the words he calls "the confusables," like tricky homophones; the myriad ways to use (and misuse) a comma; and how to recognize--though not necessarily do away with--the passive voice. (Hint: If you can plausibly add "by zombies" to the end of a sentence, it's passive.) People are sharing their writing more than ever--on blogs, on Twitter--and this book lays out, clearly and comprehensibly, everything writers can do to keep readers focused on the real reason writers write: to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. Chock-full of advice, insider wisdom, and fun facts on the rules (and nonrules) of the English language, this book will prove invaluable to everyone who wants to shore up their writing skills, mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping other people's prose, and--perhaps best of all--an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language.
The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life
Allison Fallon - 2021
This practice and pathway is free, it's readily available every day of your life, it takes just minutes of your time, and anyone can do it. Author, writing coach, and speaker Allison Fallon's life transformed when she discovered the power of a daily writing practice. As it turns out, using your words is one of the most powerful means you have for unlocking your life. The Power of Writing It Down is your guide to this transformative tool available to us all. In as little as five to twenty minutes a day, scientific research shows this daily practice can help you: Identify your ruts and create new neurological grooves toward better habitsFind fresh motivation and take ownership of your lifeHeal from past pain and traumaRelieve anxiety and depressionContextualize life's setbacks and minor frustrationsLive a more confident, balanced, and healthy life…and so much more Drawing from years of coaching hundreds through the writing process–from first-timers to New York Times bestselling authors–Allison shares tried and tested practices for getting started, staying inspired, and using this simple habit to shift how you feel and show up to your life. Pen and paper is simply the method, but the reward is the real magic: new depths of self-discovery, creativity, and intentionality for living.
How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon - Power Pack!: Sell Books by the Truckload & Get Reviews by the Truckload
Penny C. Sansevieri - 2015
And How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload teaches you exactly how to do it. Internationally renowned Amazon book marketing expert, Penny Sansevieri, has created the ultimate guide for mastering the Amazon marketing system. And in moments it can be right at your fingertips! The savings in time you’ll gain is enormous—when compared to painstakingly researching this information yourself. When you follow Penny’s time-tested proven formulas you’ll instantly skyrocket the exposure you receive and kick your book promotion campaign into overdrive! Plus, you can bypass all of the misinformation out there about how Amazon works. That’s because every secret you need to know to understand the Amazon marketing system inside and out is right here. Penny Sanseveri takes you step-by-step through simple and dynamic processes that show you how to: Get top visibility for your book on Amazon Increase sales through perfectly-timed pre-order campaigns Leverage a secret tool to get hundreds of reader reviews Use Kindle Unlimited to your greatest advantage Boost sales by knowing when to give away your e-book – it really works! Use keywords and book descriptions that puts your book in front of tons of buyers Identify and locate secret categories that drive bigger sales Get your booked ranked #1 in your category! How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload is your must-read, go-to resource if you want to really understand the inner workings of Amazon, so you can sell more books. Order right now and you’ll also receive these FREE BONUSES: BONUS #1: Free listings to book bloggers, fiction bloggers, and romance bloggers! Includes hundreds of bonus resources! DOUBLE BONUS: Includes a special book marketing discount coupon! Note: If you have bought any of my Amazon Truckload books, this is newly updated. Also, this book is the same as the Bundled book: How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon!
Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author
Z. Winters - 2010
Contents out-of-date. Removed from the market.
Be the Monkey: A Conversation About the New World of Publishing
Barry Eisler - 2011
But what does digital mean really, for agents, publishers, and most of all, for authors? What will the industry look like tomorrow, and what should authors be doing to properly position themselves today?Examining the history and mechanics of the publishing industry as it exists today, the way the digital revolution reflects recent events in Egypt and the Maghreb, and a completely inappropriate YouTube video featuring a randy monkey and an unlucky frog, bestselling authors (and friends) J.A. Konrath and Barry Eisler show in this 35,000 word online discussion that digital isn't just the future, it's right now. Konrath, a pioneer in self-publishing, is now making over a half-million dollars a year through his self-published books, and Eisler just turned down a half-million dollar deal from one of the Big 6 NYC publishers to self-publish his latest novel. To find out why and what it all means for you, read on.Please feel free to repost all or any portion of this discussion with attribution and a link back to the authors. About the authorsJoe Konrath is the author of more than twenty novels and hundreds of short stories, written under the names J.A. Konrath (the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels series), Jack Kilborn (Afraid, Trapped, Endurance, Draculas), and Joe Kimball (Timecaster.) Joe has a lot of names, apparently. He began self-publishing on Kindle in April, 2009. As of March, 2011, he's sold over 200,000 ebooks. On his blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, he has chronicled his writing journey.Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA's Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center along the way. Eisler's bestselling thrillers have won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, have been included in numerous "Best Of" lists, and have been translated into nearly twenty languages. The first book in Eisler's John Rain series, Rain Fall, is now a minor motion picture (kidding, it’s reasonably major) starring Gary Oldman. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when he's not writing novels, blogs about torture, civil liberties, and the rule of law. You can find out more on his website, friend him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter. He was also in the movie Freakonomics, which he forgot to tell Joe.
How To Not SUCK At Writing Your First Book: A Book On Writing For People Who Hate Writing
Chandler Bolt - 2015
The whole process seems overwhelming. This conversational and action oriented book is for people who want to write a book (or are thinking about it), but for their whole life, have never been good at writing. Writing has always been difficult for you, and you think you could never enjoy it, much less write an entire book. Every time you start to write anything it’s like all of your ideas disappear. You know the drill. You get ready to do some writing. You’re pumped and think this will be the day all of your great ideas flood the page. Then ... You find yourself staring at a blank screen. You have no idea what you want to write about. After some time, you want to bang your head against the keyboard. You want to write a book. In fact, you know you have a book inside you but, you keep telling yourself: “I’m not a writer. I can’t write a book. I don’t have enough time anyway.” There are TONS of myths, misconceptions, and flat-out lies out there about how difficult it is to write your first book. How to Not SUCK at Writing Your First Book busts those myths and challenges everything you’ve been told about writing. This book is filled with proven solutions, options, and problem-solving methods that every first-time author needs to know—no matter what writing challenges you face. How to Not SUCK at Writing Your First Bookgives you the foundation for your first book through: 4 tried and true writing methods that make the writing process simple, easy & fast A writing method that involves 0 actual writing (your book can be done in as little as 7 hours) Simple strategies for preventing & defeating writer’s block Uncovering the #1 way to actually finish and publish your book (hint: is has nothing to do with writing) Shows you how simple and fast writing a book can actually be (by holding your hand every step of the way). Follow the advice given in this book and by the end, after putting what I have to say into action, you will have easily written a high-quality book. Best of all, the rest of your life doesn’t have to be put on hold to do it either! This book shows you how you can continue to spend most of your time doing what you love instead of struggling through something you hate. Before your buy the book, I have one question for you: What’s stopping you from turning your daily conversations and knowledge into a high-quality book faster than you ever thought possible? Scroll to the top and click the “buy now” button and you will write your first book-- and not suck at it.
Lapsing Into a Comma: A Curmudgeon’s Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print—and How to Avoid Them
Bill Walsh - 2000
However, this not-so-easy-to-use reference of journalistic style is often not up-to-date and leaves reporters and copyeditors unsatisfied. Bill Walsh, copy chief for the Washington Post's business desk, addresses these shortcomings in Lapsing into a Comma. In an opinionated, humorous, and yes, curmudgeonly way, he shows how to apply the basic rules to unique, modern grammar issues. Walsh explains how to deal with perplexing situations such as trendy words, foreign terms, and web speak.
Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Landing a Publishing Deal
Regina Brooks - 2008
Despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft to truly connect with this audience. Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers the advice they need to tap this incredible market. Topics covered include: Listening to the voices of youthMeeting your young protagonist Developing a writing styleConstructing plotsTrying on points of view
Agent Regina Brooks has developed award-winning authors across the YA genre, including a Coretta Scott King winner. She attends more than 20 conferences each year, meeting with authors and teaching.
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life
Twyla Tharp - 2003
It is the product of preparation and effort, and it's within reach of everyone who wants to achieve it. All it takes is the willingness to make creativity a habit, an integral part of your life: In order to be creative, you have to know how to prepare to be creative. In The Creative Habit, Tharp takes the lessons she has learned in her remarkable thirty-five-year career and shares them with you, whatever creative impulses you follow -- whether you are a painter, composer, writer, director, choreographer, or, for that matter, a businessperson working on a deal, a chef developing a new dish, a mother wanting her child to see the world anew. When Tharp is at a creative dead end, she relies on a lifetime of exercises to help her get out of the rut, and The Creative Habit contains more than thirty of them to ease the fears of anyone facing a blank beginning and to open the mind to new possibilities. Tharp's exercises are practical and immediately doable -- for the novice or expert. In "Where's Your Pencil?" she reminds us to observe the world -- and get it down on paper. In "Coins and Chaos," she provides the simplest of mental games to restore order and peace. In "Do a Verb," she turns your mind and body into coworkers. In "Build a Bridge to the Next Day," she shows how to clean your cluttered mind overnight. To Tharp, sustained creativity begins with rituals, self-knowledge, harnessing your memories, and organizing your materials (so no insight is ever lost). Along the way she leads you by the hand through the painful first steps of scratching for ideas, finding the spine of your work, and getting out of ruts into productive grooves. In her creative realm, optimism rules. An empty room, a bare desk, a blank canvas can be energizing, not demoralizing. And in this inventive, encouraging book, Twyla Tharp shows us how to take a deep breath and begin!
The First 50 Pages: Engage Agents, Editors and Readers, and Set Up Your Novel for Success
Jeff Gerke - 2011
Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.As a writer, what you do in your opening pages, and how you do it, is a matter that cannot be left to chance. The First 50 Pages is here to help you craft a strong beginning right from the start. You’ll learn how to:
introduce your main character
establish your story world
set up the plot’s conflict
begin your hero’s inner journey
write an amazing opening line and terrific first page
and more
This helpful guide walks you through the tasks your first 50 pages must accomplish in order to avoid leaving readers disoriented, frustrated, or bored. Don’t let your reader put your book down before ever seeing its beauty. Let The First 50 Pages show you how to begin your novel with the skill and intentionality that will land you a book deal, and keep readers’ eyes glued to the page.
Work It: Secrets for Success from the Boldest Women in Business
Carrie Kerpen - 2018
Packed with actionable tips and stories from the likes of Sheryl Sandberg, Aliza Licht, and Reshma Saujani, this inspiring book reveals their counterintuitive secrets for success, including: - How and when to say "no" - whether it's a dream job that just isn't the right cultural fit or a low salary proposal, as well as when to say "yes"- How to make your career work for you and your family rather than the other way around- How to develop your own FAB PAB (Fabulous Personal Advisory Board) - a support network of women - rather than work with a single mentor- The importance of talking openly about money - from job offer negotiations and cash flow management, to fundraising venture capital dollarsWith advice on everything from mastering social media to navigating office politics and the seemingly impossible work/life balance, Work It arms every woman with the courage and skills to achieve success and happiness on her terms.
The Best Punctuation Book, Period
June Casagrande - 2014
Everywhere you turn, publications seem to follow different rules on everything from possessive apostrophes to hyphens to serial commas. Then there are all the gray areas of punctuation--situations the rule books gloss over or never mention at all. At last, help has arrived.This all-in-one reference from grammar columnist June Casagrande covers the basic rules of punctuation plus the finer points not addressed anywhere else, offering clear answers to perplexing questions about semicolons, quotation marks, periods, apostrophes, and more. Better yet, this is the only guide that uses handy icons to show how punctuation rules differ for book, news, academic, and science styles--so you can boldly switch between essays, online newsletters, reports, fiction, and magazine and news articles.Style guides don't cover everything, but never fear! This handbook features rulings from an expert "Punctuation Panel" so you can see how working pros approach sticky situations. And the second half of the book features an alphabetical master list of commonly punctuated terms worth its weight in gold, combining rulings from the major style guides and showing exactly where they differ. With The Best Punctuation Book, Period, you'll be able to handle any punctuation predicament in a flash--and with aplomb.
How to Write a Book That Doesn't Suck and Will Actually Sell: The Ultimate, No B.S. Guide to Writing a Kick-Ass Non-Fiction Book
Michael Rogan - 2014
Learning how to write a book that doesn't suck and can actually make you money -- and set you up for a full-time writing career is harder. But it's nowhere near impossible. And it's far more do-able than you can imagine. The trouble is, most books offering tips on how to write a book fail to address two key considersations: 1) Most self published non-fiction books suck 2) It's ALMOST impossible to make a living from ONE self-published non-fiction book Believe me, I tried. No one has more churned out more epic pieces of monumental Kindle crap than I have. But then, through making every mistake a writer can, I finally learned and honed a simple step-by-step approach to writing books that move readers, and allow me to have a full-time job as a writer. And it's that system I'd like to share with you in "How to Write a Book That Doesn't Suck and Will Actually Sell..." Here's a little glimpse of what I cover: In Chapter 1, I go over the "Super-Ninja Secrets to Making a Living With Your Books." I show you a simple, repeatable strategy you can use to build little silos of passive income awesomeness doing something you love. In Chapter 2, "Yeah, But What the Hell Am I Going to Write About?" I show you some quick and easy exercises to discover a book topic that's personal, meaningful and marketable. In Chapter 3, "3 Pillars to Finding a Kick-Ass Non-Fiction Book Idea" we give your book ideas the taste test, and figure out which book topic will the most effetive at building your brand, reaching your audience and making you a good chunk of change. In Chapter 4, "Research Tips for People Who Hate Research," I show you how to walk that fine line between too much research (procrastination) and not enough research (shallowness) and how to use what you find out to conquer cliches in your writing. In Chapter 5, "Ultimate Guide to a Kick-Ass and Super Marketable Book Title," we'll go over that most controversial of topics...the ever-important title of your book. In Chapter 6, "Building the Perfect Beast," I'll demonstrate a simple, easy way to outline your book -- without sucking the creativity out of it. In Chapter 7, "How to Write Books People Will Love," I lay out my personal framework for writing chapters that are easy to write -- and are loved by readers for their clarity and creativity. In Chapter 8, "6 Tips for Writing Your Damn Book," we go over some strategies to avoid writer's block and help you actually get the damn book finished. In Chapter 9, "5 Ways to Rewrite Your Book Into Super Awesomeness," I show how to actually have fun with rewriting. (Yes, it is possible.) So if you've always wanted to learn how to write a book, but you felt like the steps to writing a book were too complicated, or above your skill level, or just too difficult to complete... ...then please give "How to Write a Book That Doesn't Suck and Will Actually Sell" a chance. You just find that book -- and career -- you've always dreamed of.