A professional author shares the keys to success—from first draft to first printing and beyond—in this complete writer’s guide. For more than a decade, author Joan Gelfand has taught writers of all levels and disciplines how to find creative writing success using her unique 4 C’s approach that combines Craft, Commitment, Community and Confidence. In You Can Be a Winning Writer, Gelfand explains the 4 C’s with humor, empathy, and real-life anecdotes from famous, working, and emerging authors. The 4 C’s provide solid tips on mastering your craft, connecting with a literary community, and building your fan base. But the essential component to all of this is confidence. Gelfand knows that a lack of confidence has kept too many writers unpublished for too long. With the help of Renate Stendhal, PhD, Joan defines clear steps to overcoming the lack-of-confidence demon that haunts so many aspiring authors. This literary reference and publishing guide includes: Key authorship and publishing tips Important post-publication strategies Guidance on avoiding common mistakes How to enjoy greater success with the 4 C’s
"After an astonishing, playful essay, the book opens into a revelatory combination of quotes, quips and 360 photos of Stein and her wildly brilliant circle."--Elle
The ultimate all-in-one guide to making your writing dreams come true! Want to publish a novel or earn an income as a writer, but not sure how to go about it? In this book, authors Allison Tait and Valerie Khoo -- co-hosts of the popular So You Want To Be A Writer podcast -- will give you the steps you need to make your dream a reality. This is not a book about how to write. It's a book about how to be a successful writer. Inside, you'll discover the exact skills you need to make it as a writer including how to connect with people who will help your career grow, plus productivity tips for fitting everything into your already busy life. You'll also explore how to keep your creative juices flowing and where to find other writers just like you. This book lays out a blueprint to help you get started and thrive in the world of words. With advice from over 120 writers, you'll tap into proven wisdom and find the path that will lead YOU to success! Chapter 1: Ready to be a writer? Chapter 2: Your first few steps into the world of writing Chapter 3: What kind of writer do you want to be? Chapter 4: What skills do you need? Chapter 5: Finding your tribe Chapter 6: Where to find ideas Chapter 7: Dealing with other people Chapter 8: Do you want to go on a date? Chapter 9: How to make time to write Chapter 10: How to be creative when you're tired Chapter 11: Technology is your friend Chapter 12: What do you really want? Chapter 13: Don't just take our word for it Chapter 14: So now what? So You Want To Be A Writer is a beginner's guide for people who want to be writers. Like all good non-fiction books, we've broken it into sections so you can dip in and out as needed or read it from start to finish. We'll walk you through each stage, from deciding what kind of writer you want to be (don't laugh, this is a big question!), where to get ideas and how to share your writing dream with other people. We'll take you through how to get the words written, finding your writing community (and why you need one), harnessing your creativity, how to use technology and the business of being a writer. You'll discover tips about the writing process, getting the first publishing deal, dealing with editors, writing the book and everything in between, by authors such as Liane Moriarty, Michael Robotham, Nick Earls, Charlotte Wood, Jane Harper, Di Morrissey, Garry Disher, Jaclyn Moriarty, Andy Griffiths, Jackie French, Veronica Roth, Jay Kristoff and more. Literary authors, commercial fiction authors, non-fiction authors, publishers, agents, crime authors, romance authors, children's authors, young adult authors, freelance writers, content writers - you name it, we've got them, Australian and international. This is a masterclass in writing and an incredible resource in itself. So what are you waiting for? If you want to be a writer, the time to start is now!
One of the great bestseller of our time: the novel that inspired Robert Redford’s Oscar-winning film starring Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore In Ordinary People, Judith Guest’s remarkable first novel, the Jarrets are a typical American family. Calvin is a determined, successful provider and Beth an organized, efficient wife. They had two sons, Conrad and Buck, but now they have one. In this memorable, moving novel, Judith Guest takes the reader into their lives to share their misunderstandings, pain, and ultimate healing. Ordinary People is an extraordinary novel about an "ordinary" family divided by pain, yet bound by their struggle to heal. "Admirable...touching...full of the anxiety, despair, and joy that is common to every human experience of suffering and growth." -The New York Times "Rejoice! A novel for all ages and all seasons." -The Washington Post Book World
Becoming a writer begins with a simple but important belief: You are a writer; you just need to write. In "You Are a Writer," Jeff Goins shares his own story of self-doubt and what it took for him to become a professional writer. He gives you practical steps to improve your writing, get published in magazines, and build a platform that puts you in charge. This book is about what it takes to be a writer in the 21st Century. You will learn the importance of passion and discipline and how to show up every day to do the work. Here's what else you will learn: -How to transition from wanting to be a writer to actually being one -What "good" writing is (and isn't) -How to stop waiting to be picked and finally choose yourself -What it takes to build a platform -Why authors need to brand themselves (and how to do it) -Tips for freelancing, guest blogging, and getting published in magazines -Different ways to network with other writers, artists, and influencers -The importance of blogging and social media and how to use it well to find more readers and fans of your writing "You Are a Writer" will help you fall back in love with writing and build an audience who shares your love. It's about living the dream of a life dedicated to words. AND IT ALL BEGINS WITH YOU. Table of Contents Introduction Part 1: Writing You ARE a Writer: Claiming the Title Writers Write The Myth of Good It Gets Tough Part 2: Getting Read Three Tools Every Writer Needs You Need a Platform Your Brand is You Channels of Connection Part 3: Taking Action Getting Started Before Your First Book When the Pitching Ends What Next?
Literary Nonfiction. LGBTQIA Studies. Memoir. From Paris's famous opera house to its gossip-rich salons, KISS ME AGAIN, PARIS celebrates youth at the end of the 1970s, when women were in fashion and every woman, gay or straight, fell in love with women. Author Renate Stendhal ekes out a living as a cultural journalist in Europe's most cultured city. She walks Paris at night dressed as a boy, has friends and lovers among artists and writers, and falls under the spell of the mercurial actress Claude, who has all of Paris talking. At the same time, she finds herself in the crosshairs of an alluring stranger who seems to appear everywhere and nowhere at once. There are mysteries with and without clues. Is sexual obsession a way to avoid the risk of love? Filled with sensuality, style, romance, and suspense, Stendhal plays with the concept of memoir as a genre and transports the reader to another time and place. No matter what age, you'll be young and in love again when you reach the last page. "Renate Stendhal's daring new book throbs with the pulse of Paris in the 1970s. Written with verve, this book captures the sense of erotic excitement that Paris continues to inspire."--Marilyn Yalom, author of How the French Invented Love and The Social Sex "Most memories fade to smoldering embers. Renate Stendhal's recollections have remained a bonfire. The tapestry of her remembrances had their genesis in her rejection of a former life and the embrace of a new authentic one. Details of her years living in Paris during the '70s are carved into her psyche. She takes us with her to the cafes where the fragrance of a passing woman would turn heads. We hear the murmur of the Seine. We see the dark shadows under a bridge and the glow of a cigarette as a rouged mouth draws on it. There
From a master teacher and writer, a fully revised and updated edition of the results-oriented approach to legal writing that is clear, that persuades—and that WINS. More than almost any profession, the law has a deserved reputation for opaque, jargon-clogged writing. Yet forceful writing is one of the most potent weapons of legal advocacy. In this new edition of Writing to Win, Steven D. Stark, a former lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, who has inspired thousands of aspiring and practicing lawyers, applies the universal principles of powerful, vigorous prose to the job of making a legal case—and winning it. Writing to Win focuses on the writing of lawyers, not judges, and includes dozens of examples of effective (and ineffective) real-life legal writing—as well as compelling models drawn from advertising, journalism, and fiction. It deals with the challenges lawyers face in writing, from organization to strengthening and editing prose; offers incisive ways of improving arguments; addresses litigation and technical writing in all its forms; and covers the writing attorneys must perform in their daily practice, from email memos to briefs and contracts. Each chapter opens with a succinct set of rules for easy reference. With new sections on client communication and drafting affidavits, as well as updated material throughout, Writing to Win is the most practical and efficacious legal-writing manual available.
This may come as a shock, but brilliant writing and clever wordplay do not a published author make. True, you’ll actually have to write if you want to be a writer, but ultimately literary success is about much more than putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys). Before you snap your pencil in half with frustration, please consider the advice writer, teacher, and self-made lit star Ariel Gore offers in this useful guide to realizing your literary dreams. If you find yourself writing when you should be sleeping and scribbling notes on odd pieces of paper at every stoplight, you might as well enjoy the fruits of your labor. How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead is an irreverent yet practical guide that combines solid writing advice with guerrilla marketing and promotion techniques guaranteed to launch you into print—and into the limelight. You’ll learn how to: • Reimagine yourself as a buzz-worthy artist and entrepreneur• Get your work and your name out in the world where other people can read it• Be an anthology slut and a brazen self-promoter• Apply real-world advice and experience from lit stars like Dave Barry, Susie Bright, and Dave Eggers to your own careerCheaper than an M.F.A. but just as informative, How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead is your catapult to lit stardom. Just don’t forget to thank Ariel Gore for her inspiring, hands-on plan in the acknowledgments page of your first novel!
“One part The Da Vinci Code, one part The Name of the Rose and one part A Separate Peace . . . a smart, swift, multitextured tale that both entertains and informs.”—San Francisco Chronicle NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two friends are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a Renaissance text that has baffled scholars for centuries. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets—to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled—until a vital clue is unearthed: a long-lost diary that may prove to be the key to deciphering the ancient text. But when a longtime student of the book is murdered just hours later, a chilling cycle of deaths and revelations begins—one that will force Tom and Paul into a fiery drama, spun from a book whose power and meaning have long been misunderstood. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Dustin Thomason's 12.21. “Profoundly erudite . . . the ultimate puzzle-book.”—The New York Times Book Review
Jennifer Weiner, author of Good in Bed,In Her Shoes and the forthcoming Who DoYou Love, explores the nuances of female friendship with relish... Addie Downs and Valerie Adler were eight when they first met and decided to be best friends forever. But, in the wake of tragedy and betrayal during their teenage years, everything changed. Val went on to fame and fortune. Addie stayed behind in their small Midwestern town. Destiny, however, had more in store for these two. And when, twenty-five years later, Val shows up at Addie's front door with blood on her coat and terror on her face, it is the start of a wild adventure for two women joined by love and history who find strength together that they could not find alone.
