Good book

I read books that will teach me something. This book had an eye catching title. I would recommend this book if you are interested in writing and publishing books. ( )

I picked this up for free so it wasn't a great loss. There were a few good pointers from the collection of blogs, but the industry has moved on, especially in self publishing, in leaps and bounds in the last six years so I found much of the information out dated. If you have a couple of hours spare, give it a skim, but also look for more up to date information elsewhere. ( )

This is almost a reference book for writers, “almost” because it is too entertaining to be considered a true, traditional style reference book. It is written in a very clear vernacular by several professional writers. Each chapter is valuable from the very beginning as the chapter begins with a hyperlink to the author. That alone makes this a valuable resource.

There are three main messages in the book. 1) Write what you are passionate about. 2) Be disciplined. 3) Write. After that, there are several specifics as each author focuses on a favorite point. But they all support the main messages. Those points are not surprises, one would think them obvious, but they are worth repeating with updated examples from a fast changing writers market.

Whether a struggling current writer with a full time undesirable job that pays the bills, a reader thinking about writing, or just a reader wondering “How do writers do that?” this is an entertaining, quick read. ( )

I would have rated this book higher, but it is too dated. I mean to say, the various authors actually used dates in their advice! That surely ranks right up there with using current slang. I know, they are collectively now muttering "bummer" under their breath.

Of course, it was a free kindle book, so who am I to complain about the myriad typos. Really. I haven't checked, but it wouldn't surprise me now that they snuck in right after admonishing aspiring writers to make sure they present professional-looking work.

I hope you are still reading this, because I did find helpful tips from Alexandra Sokoloff, Elizabeth Massie, Kristine Kathryn Rush, and Dean Wesley Smith. ( )

The title of this book is trying to be funny, of course, but the writers in the volume offering their advice are certainly serious. There isn't a lot here you don't already know if you are trying to become a writer: you need to set aside time and actually write; you need to re-write; you must disconnect yourself from the Internet when writing; you need to be ready for LOTS of rejections before you get your first sale. While a couple of the short pieces in this book are throwaways, however, there are a few that offer a little more than just what you already know. I found the chapters dealing with eBooks to be pretty interesting, for instance.

However, for a book that stresses how important it is to make sure your query letters and story submissions are double-checked for spelling, this book has a lot of typos. Which seems strange since I'm sure it was all written on a computer to begin with and wasn't scanned using OCR to create this eBook version. But given the generally high level of success these authors have had, I guess they can afford a typo or two. ( )