Showing titles in Writing & Publishing

Writers talk about their work in many ways: as an art, as a calling, as a lifestyle. Too often missing from these conversations is the fact that writing is also a business. The reality is, those who want to make a full- or part-time job out of writing are going to have a more positive and productive career if they understand the basic business principles underlying the industry.

This is a motivational guide based on my 2.5 million published words (mostly with Amazon) to help you see past the hurdles that are keeping you from climbing the mountain of success. Nothing is overwhelming once it's been explained. If you are smart enough to write a book, you are smart enough to do everything else needed to make your indie author business a success.

This guide to play reading for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather than contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts. Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use. The audiobook is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play.

You’ve written the best book ever, and now, everyone will be racing to read it. That was the plan anyway. As a first-time author, you walk a fine line between planning for and marketing your book for success and the crushing reality of low sales. Book Marketing for the First-Time Author breaks down the most important elements that you need to market your book. Master the fundamentals covered here to set your book up for success.

Terrified of speaking in front of a group? Or simply looking to polish your skills? No matter where you are on the spectrum, this guide will give you the confidence and the tools you need to get results.

In the tradition of The Elements of Style comes Trish Hall's essential new work on writing well - a sparkling instructional guide to persuading (almost) anyone, on (nearly) anything. In charge of the Op-Ed page for the New York Times, Hall spent years immersed in argument, passion, and trendsetting ideas - but also in tangled sentences, migraine-inducing jargon, and dull-as-dishwater writing. Drawing on her vast experience editing, Hall presents the ultimate guide to writing persuasively for students, job applicants, and rookie authors looking to get published.  

Written with elegance, warmth, and humor, this highly original "teaching memoir" by William Zinsser—renowned bestselling author of On Writing Well—gives you the tools to organize and recover your past, and the confidence to believe in your life narrative. His method is to take you on a memoir of his own: 13 chapters in which he recalls dramatic, amusing, and often surprising moments in his long and varied life as a writer, editor, teacher, and traveler. Along the way, Zinsser pauses to explain the technical decisions he made as he wrote about his life.

Do you want to write more but feel frustrated at your lack of time? Are you doing "busy" work instead of moving toward your creative goals? Is your to-do list overwhelming? It’s time to stop, reassess and take control. This book will help you discover the path to becoming a productive writer.

Learn how to transform your passion for writing into a career. New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Probst reveals her pathway to success, from struggling as a new writer to signing a seven-figure deal. Write Naked intermingles personal essays on craft with down-to-earth advice on writing romance in the digital age.

Making Your Story Better is the subject of this original audio workshop. Michael Hauge and Christopher Vogler, two superstar screenwriting teachers, conduct a point/counterpoint discussion of what makes a great story tick, presenting their unique approaches to story structure, character arc, and how to give your story greater commercial appeal.

"A straightforward, friendly guide for aspiring writers" (Los Angeles Times): No more excuses. With award-winning author Walter Mosley as your guide, you can write a novel now. "Let the lawn get shaggy and the paint peel from the walls," bestselling novelist Walter Mosley advises. In this...

My name is Drew Hayes, and for the past six years I've made my living as a writer. In that time, I've published 20 books, written hundreds of thousands of words, and made countless mistakes - most of which I like to think I've learned from. Underqualified Advice (and Other Amusing Diversions) is my attempt to compile those lessons and share them with others, as well as have some fun along the way. Half of the book is dedicated to detailing specifics about writing, maneuvering the industry, and keeping fiscally afloat in largely unstable waters.

Creative flow has blessed me with 39 novels that have collectively sold over 5 million copies, in sixteen languages, in under eight years, earning me over $10 million and over fifty spots on The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and foreign bestselling lists. All of my dreams came true because I learned to write amazing fiction. I wrote this book for the old me—the girl who had big dreams, but no real idea how to write the books she’d need to make those big dreams come true. I wanted to make it easier for her to get to where I am now by sharing what I learned along the way.

Winner of four major prizes for the best critical/biographical book related to crime fiction: the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and H.R.F. Keating Awards; and shortlisted for both the Agatha and Gold Dagger Awards. ‘Martin Edwards is the closest thing there has been to a philosopher of crime...

Brought to you by Penguin. I started writing this book as an exclusively work memoir but the work and the personal kept overlapping. I don’t know if that’s because I’m a woman or a mother or both, or none of those reasons. I just know that for my story to be authentic and truthful, I...

THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2025 ‘The best memoir you will read all year’ NICK HORNBY ‘A triumph – a meditation on writing, suicide, guilt and silence’ GUARDIAN ‘Curious and idiosyncratic and enjoyable’ ZADIE SMITH...

Ward Farnsworth provides a wide-ranging, practical tour of metaphors, arranged by theme. He shows how the best writers have put figurative comparisons to distinctive use - for the sake of caricature, to make an abstract idea visible, to make a complicated idea simple. Using hundreds of examples, Farnsworth demonstrates all the different stylistic ways that points can be unforgettably made. There are quotations from novelists, playwrights, philosophers, and orators - along with commentary on how and why they work to bring power to words both in person and and on paper.

Wonderbook has become the definitive guide to writing science fiction and fantasy by offering an accessible, example-rich approach that emphasizes the importance of playfulness as well as pragmatism. The book features sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names working in the field today, including George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, and Karen Joy Fowler. For the fifth anniversary of the original publication, Jeff VanderMeer has added writing exercises, creating the ultimate volume of inspiring advice.

P. D. James brings a lifetime of reading and writing crime fiction to bear on this personal history of the genre, from the birth of the detective story, through Wilkie Collins and Conan Doyle, to the golden age of crime and the rise of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham. There is a chapter on great American crime writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, and P. D. James also discusses many of her favourite detectives, from Sherlock Holmes to Kurt Wallander.

Self-Published Millionaire is a step-by-step breakdown of Joseph’s unbelievably effective writing and publishing process, and teaches you hundreds of skills, techniques, and secrets you can use to leverage your success on Amazon KDP, iBooks, Kobo, and beyond....You’ll master every stage of the writing process, from planning and writing, to publishing and marketing, to email automation and outsourcing. Every chapter is jam-packed meaningful insights that will help you dominate your writing niche.