Nonfiction Books

On Writing Well 5ED

William Zinsser

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 174 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Inspiring and practical instruction on writing 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3SOY5891YP5FI This is by far the best book on writing any kind of non-fiction. He encourages you to be clear, and gives practical tips and instruction so that you feel that you know what good writing looks like. I'd also recommend Bird By Bird by Lamott for fiction writers, or anyone who needs moral support for the writing process.

If it's interesting, make it interesting. Don't clutter. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I love that Zinsser includes a draft with his edits on it. He advocates the sparcity of writing. Remove all excess words. Clean, crisp, clear. Prune ruthlessly.
He does not romanticise writing, but enables you to just get on with it, and then severely edit to remove all extraneous material (like the latter phrase!)

Some key points I enjoyed:
- "If your job is to write every day, you learn to do it like any other job."

- The reader has an attention span of 30 seconds. Don't make them word too hard. What do you want to say? Have you said it?

- Be yourself. Relax and have confidence. Find the interesting and describe it. Leave out the mundane. Be curious. The truth is interesting. Write what you care about.

- "You learn to write by writing. Force yourself to produce words on a regular basis."

- Think small. Choose your section and cover it well. The detail matters.

- "Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it's where the game is won or lost."

He urges the power of being real, and writing your truth in the brilliance of this quote "Try to commit an act of writing and your readers will jump overboard to get away".

You don't need to be a literary genius. Just get on with it (and then prune it!)

Editorial Review:

An indispensable guide for writers, this phenomenal bestseller has been completely updated to include examples from today's best writers. William Zinsser teaches the principles of good writing in a variety of forms. "Belongs on any shelf of serious reference works for writers."--New York Times.

The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print, and Sell Your Own Book, 15th Edition

Dan Poynter

Amazon Price: $19.71 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Para Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $15.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 244 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Reference\Book Publishing "WHY NOT PUBLISH YOURSELF?" Make more money, get to press sooner and keep control of your work. Here is your complete reference for writing, printing, publishing, promoting, marketing and distributing books. You will refer to this guide again and again. You will discover how easy it is to: -- Build your book rather than just write it-and copyright it in your name. -- Bypass the publishers and go directly to an affordable short-run book printer. -- Work with editors, typesetters, cover artists and the media. -- Set up your own publishing company and take the tax breaks. -- Make your "book" into eBook, downloadable, CD, audio and other versions. -- Get your book into chain bookstores, online bookstores, specialty stores and catalogs. All about Book promotion. -- Use links to our Web site-packed with valuable forms, checklists and other resources. See the Table of Contents. "This is the first book I recommend to those considering becoming a publisher." -Jan Nathan, Executive Director, Publishers Marketing Association "This is the best self-publishing manual on the market." -Judith Appelbaum, How to Get Happily Published "Dan Poynter has generously guided thousands to authorship." -Dr. Robert Müller, Past Assistant Secretary General of the UN Dan Poynter, the author of more than 120 books, has been a successful publisher since 1969. He is an evangelist for books, an ombudsman for authors and an advocate for publishers. Dan's seminars have been featured on CNN, his books have been covered in The Wall Street Journal and his story has been told in U.S. News & World Report. The Father of Self-Publishing, he is the leading authority on how to write, publish and promote books. This best-selling manual on self-publishing has shown thousands of people the faster, surer way to break into print. What are you waiting for?

Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir

Natalie Goldberg

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Free Press Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $10.72

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Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Twenty years ago Natalie Goldberg's classic, Writing Down the Bones, broke new ground in its approach to writing as a practice. Now, Old Friend from Far Away -- her first book since Writing Down the Bones to focus solely on writing -- reaffirms Goldberg's status as a foremost teacher of writing, and completely transforms the practice of writing memoir.

To write memoir, we must first know how to remember. Through timed, associative, and meditative exercises, Old Friend from Far Away guides you to the attentive state of thought in which you discover and open forgotten doors of memory. At once a beautifully written celebration of the memoir form, an innovative course full of practical teachings, and a deeply affecting meditation on consciousness, love, life, and death, Old Friend welcomes aspiring writers of all levels and encourages them to find their unique voice to tell their stories.

Goldberg's enormously popular workshops have given countless students the ability to heed the call to write. Old Friend from Far Away recreates her trademark workshop style with its terse, demanding writing "sprints" that train the hand and mind to quicken their pace and give up conscious control. These exercises divert the eye from the obvious and redirect it to the tactile details we miss, the embarrassments we pass over, and the complications we overlook in the blur of everyday living. Goldberg writes, "No one says it, but writing induces the state of love." Old Friend from Far Away guides us into that state of love, where heightened attention and a rhythm of focus allow the patterns and details of the past to emerge on the page.

Millions of Americans want to write about their lives. With Old Friend as the road map for getting started and following through, writers and readers will gain a deeper understanding of their own minds, learn to connect with their senses in order to find the detail and truth that give their written words power and authenticity, and unfold the natural structure of the stories they carry within. An absolute joy to read, it is a profound affirmation of the capacity of the written word to remember the past, free us from it, and forever transform theway we think about ourselves and our lives. Like Writing Down the Bones, it will become an old friend to which readers return again and again.

Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Inspiring stories and practical advice from America’s most respected journalists

The country’s most prominent journalists and nonfiction authors gather each year at Harvard’s Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. Telling True Stories presents their best advice—covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including:
• Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story
• Gay Talese on writing about private lives
• Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles
• Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters
• Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth
• Dozens of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . .

The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors

JAMA & Archives Journals

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For decades indispensable, the AMA Manual of Style continues to provide editorial support to the medical and scientific publishing community. Since the 1998 publication of the 9th edition, however, the world of medical publishing has rapidly modernized, and the intersection of research and publishing has become ever more complex. The 10th edition of the AMA Manual of Style, published in early 2007, brings this definitive manual into the 21st century with a broadened international perspective.
In doing so, the 10th edition has expanded its electronic guidelines, with the understanding that authors now routinely submit articles through online systems and often cite Web-only content. Ethical and legal issues receive increased attention, with detailed guidelines on authorship, conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, intellectual property, and the protection of individuals' rights in scientific research and publication. The new edition examines research ethics and editorial independence and features new material on indexing and searching as well as medical nomenclature.
JAMA and the Archives Journals, one of the most groups of medical publications in the world, have lent members of their expert staff of professional journal editors to the committee that has produced this edition. Extensively peer-reviewed, the 10th edition provides a welcome and improved standard for the growing international medical community. More than a style manual, this 10th edition offers invaluable guidance on how to navigate the dilemmas that authors and researchers and their institutions, medical editors and publishers, and members of the news media who cover scientific research confront in a society that has thrust these issues center stage.

Thinking About Memoir (AARP)

Abigail Thomas

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sterling Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $7.45

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

If living is an art, it must be practiced with diligence before being done with ease. Yet almost nothing in our culture prepares us for reflection on the great themes of existence: courage, friendship, listening, dignity—those everyday virtues that can transform our world. Because AARP believes it’s never too late (or too early) to learn, they, together with Sterling Publishing, have created the About Living series to address these crucial issues. Each entry will be written by only the best authors and thinkers.
Thinking About Memoir, the first of these volumes, helps adults look back at their past and use writing as a means of figuring out who they used to be and how they became who they are today. It’s written by Abigail Thomas, whose own memoir A Three Dog Life was selected as one of the Best Books of 2006 by the LA Times and the Washington Post and called “perfectly honed” (Newsweek), “bracingly honest” (Vanity Fair), and “stunning” by the Los Angeles Book Review. Thomas writes that memoir can consist of looking back at a single summer or the span of a whole life. Through her experience as a writing teacher, she knows how difficult that can be; this book is about the habit of writing as a way to keep track of what’s going on in the front and the back of your mind. It inspires different ways for us to look at the moment we’re in right now and will help would-be memoirists find their own “side door” into a subject. Thomas writes eloquently about how to get started and find that jumping-off point for your work, and provides exercises that liberate our creativity, enable us to get the distance and perspective we need, and open our eyes to possibilities that may not at first seem obvious.
Whether your words are for publication, for your loved ones, or for you alone, Thomas makes the process fulfilling, thoughtful, and even fun.

Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More

Dianne Jacob

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $8.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Must-have for Cookbook/Food-based book Writers! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I stumbled upon Dianne's website while I was researching for my book proposal. I wasn't planning to write a cookbook but since I love food and this book is so unique, I got myself a copy anyway.

I'm pleasantly surprised! I've learnt a great deal about raising one's platform/profile before publishing a book, as well as the nuts & bolts of the publishing industry. This book is a MUST-HAVE for all aspiring cookbook writers!

Editorial Review:

Will Write for Food is for food lovers who want to express themselves, guiding them from their earliest creative impulses to successful article writing, restaurant reviewing, and cookbook writing. Dianne Jacob—journalist and food-writing instructor and coach—offers interviews with award-winning writers such as Jeffrey Steingarten, Calvin Trillin, Molly O'Neill, and Deborah Madison, plus well-known book and magazine editors and literary agents, give readers the tools to get started and the confidence to follow through. Comprehensive yet accessible chapters range from restaurant reviewing to cookbooks to memoirs. Focused exercises at the end of chapters stimulate creativity, help organize thought, and build practical skills. Will Write for Food is the first and ultimate ins and outs guidebook to the incredibly popular world of food writing.

Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction--and Get It Published

Susan Rabiner, Alfred Fortunato

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $6.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Distilled wisdom from two publishing pros for every serious nonfiction author in search of big commercial success.

Over 50,000 books are published in America each year, the vast majority nonfiction. Even so, many writers are stymied in getting their books published, never mind gaining significant attention for their ideas—and substantial sales. This is the book editors have been recommending to would-be authors. Filled with trade secrets, Thinking Like Your Editor explains:

• Why every proposal should ask and answer five key questions;
• how to tailor academic writing to a general reader, without losing ideas or dumbing down your work;
• how to write a proposal that editors cannot ignore;
• why the most important chapter is your introduction;
• why "simple structure, complex ideas" is the mantra for creating serious nonfiction;
• why smart nonfiction editors regularly reject great writing but find new arguments irresistible.

Whatever the topic, from history to business, science to philosophy, law, or gender studies, this book is vital to every serious nonfiction writer.

How to Write a Book Proposal

Michael Larsen

List Price: $15.99 By: Writers Digest Books Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $0.01

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Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Looks like I am in a minority 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

How to Write a Book Proposal is not all bad--I highlighted many sentences, and I did pick up some good tips. However, I felt like I was touring the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose--that 160-room mansion comprised of endless additions and oddities because the heiress compulsively felt that she had to keep the construction continuing. The book is in fact the 3rd edition, but some extra editing would have helped rather than just multiplying pet entries.

Larsen might be able to write an irresistible proposal for himself, but he hasn't written an irresistible book. I wearied in reading countless times that I would have to have a marketing plan that would sweep the publisher off his or her feet, that I would have to obtain quotes and recommendations from famous people, and that I would have to promote endlessly on tours across the nation. Perhaps these are essential to getting published, but then I am left scratching my head in wonder as I look at all the mediocre material on the booksellers' shelves. Lots of people seem to have slipped through. And when I read his sample gems, I quickly grew bored.

The main problem that I had with the book was that it felt like a hodgepodge of ideas that kept overlapping each other. I am a person who appreciates good organization and order. This book left me feeling that I would have to edit it first to then be able to use it.

If you are a new (promising) writer prone to discouragement, I would not read this book. However, if you think writing would be a neat whim and easy, then you should read this book. You will throw up your hands in despair and save yourself and the publisher who might have to look at your material a lot of wasted effort.

Editorial Review:

This newly revised edition of the Writer’s Digest classic is the definitive resource for crafting effective book proposals. Michael Larsen details every step clearly and concisely. Readers will learn how to: * Test market the potential of a book idea and effectively communicate that potentail in a proposal * Choose the best editors and publishers for a particular proposal * Create a professional-looking proposal package * Predispose a publisher to make their best offer

Larsen also provides insights into recent changes in the publishing industry, updated trend information, new sample proposals, expanded instructions for creating outlines, plus guidelines for becoming an effective self promoter.

Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide (perfect-bound) (11th Edition) (Writing Research Papers)

James D. Lester

List Price: $36.67 By: Longman Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $1.90

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Research paper 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 11 people found this review helpful.

The book is very helpful to those students being busy on the thesis like me.

Good condition...fast delivery 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This was not mine and should have been removed from my review area. The book was returned.

Get something else (or buy my copy) 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you need a book you can reference while writing a paper look elsewhere. Information is vague, if you can even find it. The book seems designed to be read cover to cover. For instance, MLA in-text citations and MLA bibliographies are separated by 20 pages on introductions and conclusions.

While there are sections on specific formats, like CSE and APA, there is little that couldn't be gleaned from looking a properly formatted paper. To get an idea, the section on proper formatting for an MLA paper is spread out over nine pages broken up by a 13 page paper on water use and a nine page essay on Hamlet.

While 45 (forty five) pages are devoted to MLA bibliographies, only nine are provided for APA. CMS gets only four or five pages of examples without explanations. CSE gets only a handful of examples. I had to buy a second book just to fill in the gaps that this one left.

Save your money and pick up a writer's reference. Any other book, just not this one.

Interesting to note: the title of every single sample paper had a colon in it ("Arranged Marriages: The Revival Is Online"). It was so prevalent that some students thought it was a requirement of research papers.

Editorial Review:

The definitive research paper guide, Writing from Sources combines a traditional and practical approach to the research process with the latest information on electronic research and presentation. Step-by-step instruction in a clear, non-intimidation writing style, takes the reader from the selection and narrowing of a topic, through research, note taking, planning, drafting, revising, to preparation of the finished document.