Another Review at MyShelf.Com

How to Write It
A complete guide to everything you’ll ever write
Sandra E. Lamb

Ten Speed Press
2011/ ISBN 9781607740322
Nonfiction / How-To / Writing
Amazon

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

The Business Part of Writing—Down and Dirty

I wasn’t impressed by the title of How to Write It! It’s so general. And the subtitle? So all inclusive! How could it be a guide to everything you’ll ever write? And, truth be told, it isn’t. Not if you are a writer of fiction. Or a poet. But even if you write those things, stop! Don’t go away. You’ll find in this book much of what you need to know to build a successful writing career no matter what you write. And that was probably the intent of Author Sandra E. Lamb. She wants your writing career to soar. And this book will give you the tools to make sure it does. At least the tools outside the box that might be labeled “craft.”

And here’s one more aspect of this very fat, very thorough volume. It has much in it that many books for writers don’t cover. I’m not sure why. Maybe “proposals and reports” and “orders, credit and collections” don’t have the sizzle creative hearts yearn for, but those hearts need to manage their careers, too.

So, don’t go off in a snit. This book is an absolute must for freelance writers, but it is a darn good reference for writers of any ilk, especially those who don’t have a lot of business experience in those lives we often lead apart from our writing lives. Hooray for Ten Speed Press for bringing this to our attention.

Reviewer & Columnist Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the award-winning author of This is the Place, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, The Frugal Book Promoter, Tracings and other titles.
Reviewed 2011
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