For the hundreds of thousands who buy writers’ guides every year, at last there’s one that tells the ugly truth: writers who can’t get published are usually making a lot of mistakes. This honest, often funny, book shows them how to identify their own missteps, stop listening to bad advice, and get to work. Drawing on his experience as founding editor of MacAdam/Cage, Pat Walsh gives writers what they need—specific, straightforward feedback to help them overcome bad habits and bad luck. He avoids the optimistic, sometimes misleading directions often found in publishing how-to books and presents the industry as it is, warts and all. Here is the first guide that tells writers just what the odds against them are and gives them practical tips for evening them.

Write Better Proposals Faster to Accelerate Your Writing Career! Whether you are a true beginner or a seasoned writer looking to secure more book contracts, The Weekend Book Proposal shows you how to take your best ideas and create powerful proposals--quickly and professionally. No need to spend months laboring over a proposal when in just a few days you can write one that will ignite the interest of agents and editors. Ryan G. Van Cleave presents the tools you need to craft an eye-grabbing proposal for your nonfiction, memoir, anthology, textbook, novel, and more. Jam-packed with proven strategies, nuts-and-bolts advice, sample queries and proposals, interviews with publishing experts, and "Hit the Gas" tips for speeding up the proposal process, The Weekend Book Proposal will show you how to succeed and prosper as a writer--and sell your books before you've even written them! The Weekend Book Proposal explains how to: • Write a catchy title and book description. • Create a compelling author bio and chapter outline. • Develop a targeted, engaging concept statement. • Build a strong marketing plan and endorsements list. • Structure your proposals based on those crafted by successful authors.

For over 1500 years books have weathered numerous cultural changes remarkably unaltered. Through wars, paper shortages, radio, TV, computer games, and fluctuating literacy rates, the bound stack of printed paper has, somewhat bizarrely, remained the more robust and culturally relevant way to communicate ideas. Now, for the first time since the Middle Ages, all that is about to change. Newspapers are struggling for readers and relevance; downloadable music has consigned the album to the format scrap heap; and the digital revolution is now about to leave books on the high shelf of history. In Print Is Dead, Gomez explains how authors, producers, distributors, and readers must not only acknowledge these changes, but drive digital book creation, standards, storage, and delivery as the first truly transformational thing to happen in the world of words since the printing press.

The essential resource for aspiring and professional editors Whether you are a student of the craft or a working editor, you need The Complete Canadian Book Editor. From building and managing author relationships, through acquiring and developing manuscripts, to every level of text editing and proofing for print and ebooks, editors play integral roles in the operations of a book publishing house. In The Complete Canadian Book Editor, veteran editor and professor Leslie Vermeer sets out both the concepts and the processes that an effective editor must command. Dr. Vermeer guides aspiring editors in presenting themselves successfully to employers and clients, and working editors will recognize the voice of a mentor in her advice about career advancement. Editors at all levels—along with authors and self-publishers—will find in The Complete Canadian Book Editor all of the step-by-step editorial tools they need to take projects from promising beginnings to their full potential. With exercises throughout, The Complete Canadian Book Editor reinforces key concepts, and builds your skills as an expert editor. Topics include: Manuscript acquisition and book contracts. Editorial stages, from development to proofreading. Design and production, including digital workflow. What every editor needs to know about marketing. The state of book publishing in Canada today. The future of publishing, and why editors are more important than ever before.

The Educator’s Guide to Writing a Book is for educators who dream of sharing their knowledge and skills with a broader audience. This exciting resource provides step-by-step guidance on how to set publishing goals, create well-written content and resource material, develop an informative yet accessible writing style, prepare professional level manuscripts, and anticipate each stage in the publishing process. Chapters include authentic writing examples, tips from veteran authors and publishing professionals, and supportive resources. The Educator’s Guide to Writing a Book is an invaluable guide that helps aspiring and novice authors move publishing goals from dreams to reality. .

A fun and practical guide on how to write the next chick lit bestseller—with expert writing advice from Meg Cabot, Emily Giffin, and Sophie Kinsella With chick lit novels popping up on every bestseller list, millions of readers are all thinking the same thing: I could write this stuff. I could write a bestseller and never go back to the office again! And here’s the guide that will show you how. Bestselling novelist Sarah Mlynowski and veteran chick lit editor Farrin Jacobs cover every stage of developing and selling your soon-to-be bestselling novel, with information on • developing an idea • learning the basics of plotting • deciding on a point of view • pacing, and conflict • making your characters likable • finding an agent —and much more, including humorous tips and advice from scores of established writers (from Meg Cabot and Marian Keyes to Emily Giffin and Sophie Kinsella). If you’ve got stories to tell, See Jane Write will take care of the rest.