Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series)

Author - Jean Marie Stine ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Wiley was reviewed on 19-Oct-2008.

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1) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. This book is unique in it that specifically addresses the writer of self-help or how-to-books. It´s perfect for psychologists, motivational writers, or anyone who wants to write about self-improvement. This is a specialized market, and Stine´s stylistic guidelines and suggestions are excellent for this target market.

Interestingly, Stine encourages writers to develop a "sales pitch" for their book, and write a benefit-driven book. Your readers want to know "what´s in it for me?" Stine also encourages writers to make promises to the reader-- by listing specific outcomes or benefits that will result from reading and applying the advice in your book. That´s excellent advice! Most of us have read a self-help book that failed to present a succinct strategy or plan-- and came across more like an encyclopedia or a personal journal entry. Benefits are what readers crave, Stine says, and keeps them reading until the very last page.

At the same time, Stine warns against over promising and under delivering. She suggests that you keep a running list of your promises, intended outcomes or benefits, and be sure to delete anything that isn´t addressed in your book.

Some of the negative reviews posted on Amazon about Stine´s book are a reflection of how frustrating and difficult it is to write a good self-help book. Even if you have a good idea for a self-help book, it is a challenge to develop and fine-tune your ideas so that you can present it in an understandable, concise yet creative way that catches your reader´s attention. As a writer, I must admit that I love those times when someone asks me a question, and all of a sudden, it all comes together-- and it´s a brilliant concept that could be developed into an article, chapter or book. My friend Kalinda Rose Stevenson (a published author) reminds me that writing is often "slogging" around. Writing is hard work, and sometimes we have to dig around (reading, observing and contemplating) until the pieces come together.

Stine´s book is not something that will launch you into a flow state, where bestselling book ideas and topics flow out of you faster than you can write them down. Instead, Stine´s book is more of a stylebook or guidebook. It is the voice of a critic... which you really don´t need if you´re still brainstorming or formulating your ideas.

If you´re struggling with your writing, take a deep breath... and relax. Be gentle with yourself, as you continue to focus and re-think your ideas. Your book will eventually come. If you´re still formulating your ideas, then let your creative muse run wild.

When you´re ready to get critical, give Stine´s book a chance. Remember that a critic stifles your creativity if you´re still in the early stages of developing your book idea. But when you´re ready to write your book proposal, structure your book, or fine-tune your ideas, then Stine´s book can help you get it together. Here´s to all us little guys who are hungry to write a successful self-help book. May all of our hard work and effort result in a contract with a literary agent or publisher. If not, there´s always self-publishing!
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2) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. This book is a must for anyone writing a "how-to" book for the first time!¤

3) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. ...and to sell my book!
Complaints of "lacking sample queries and proposals" against this text seem fairly thin when her suggestions clearly (and repetitively, but some of us need that!) direct readers on how to compose their own!

For those seriously (read: willing to do the necessary legwork and research) seeking direction on how to create a thorough, presentable, and persuasive proposal on your "How-To" concept, I´d recommend this book without reservation!

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4) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. Fantastic Book! I´m grateful to have received it. Ms. Stine gives us the benefit of her experience in publishing. While writing my proposal, following her program, I clarified the book I´m currently writing. Thanks to Jean Marie Stein for a great job and a valuable book. Lee Benton¤

5) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. Jean Marie Stine´s book seemed very lazily thrown together. There were no samples of query letters, outlines, or book proposals included! There were only 3 pages discussing how to submit to an agent or publisher. I´m going to chuck this book and go back to "How to Write Attention-Grabbing Query and Cover Letters" by John Wood. There were no big big secrets revealed in Stine´s book--the only good news is that it made me realize I already know what I have to do to publish my own self-help book, and I just have to go do it!¤

6) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. "If you follow only a third of Jean´s advice, you´ll have a successful book." --Jeremy Tarcher, Publisher Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.

"After Jean reworked my first draft, paperback rights sold for $137,000." --Timmen Cermak, M.D., author of A Time to Heal: The Road to Recovery for Adult Children of Alcoholics

Mastering the craft and understanding the mechanics of writing self-help and how-to books is the key to getting publishers to take notice of your work. Now, in the first guide to writing self-help and how-to books, Jean Stine offers an insider´s view of this growing genre. Her easy-to-follow program takes you step-by-step through the complete writing process. You´ll learn the importance of:
* Structure and Style
* Clear, easy-to-understand exercises
* Creating catchy and compelling titles, subtitles, and chapter headings
* Using lists, charts, and graphs to maximum effect
* Checklists and other interactive elements
* Writing a proposal that sells
* Negotiating permissions for quotations, photos, and illustrations
* Preparing your manuscript for presentation to a publisher¤

7) Paperback Book Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books (Wiley Books for Writers Series) by Wiley. Jean Marie Stine has created perhaps the ultimate how-to book: Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books. Among the many editorial positions Stine has held in her 15 years as an editor (and sometimes ghostwriter) of self-help and how-to books is editor in chief at the esteemed self-help publisher Jeremy P. Tarcher. She edited more than 50 self-help titles, including Women Who Love Too Much and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. If an author´s qualifications, as Stine says in her book, are of utmost importance for a book´s credibility, she is supremely qualified to write such a book.

Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books is less about writing than about every other element that goes into making a successful self-help/how-to book. Since "publishers," as Stine says here, "buy 90 percent of their books based on proposals," she addresses in detail every element of the book proposal, from overview ("mak[e] your book sound like a must-have") and analysis of the competition to sample chapter and annotated table of contents. Her insider information on everything from title creation--"the right title alone," she confides, "can make your book a success"--to the importance of including interactive elements such as checklists, quizzes, and exercises is invaluable. Still, for the beginning writer--and Stine seems to assume that the reader of this book is an expert in a field other than writing--there is surprising little, given the book´s title, about the writing process itself. --Jane Steinberg¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 16-Nov-2008, 04710373979780471037392, 970-830-071-251-041-561-8

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