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eBook Category: General Nonfiction
eBook Description: "From the first, original idea you have for your novel, through writing your manuscript, to the book on the shelf in the bookstore and making a career out of writing novels, the Fiction Writer's Toolkit takes the reader on the entire creative journey in a very practical manner. This book was written over the course of ten years as the author went from newly published to multiple best-selling novelist under several pen names. Topics covered range from idea into story, point of view, where to start the novel, characters, submissions and queries, getting an agent, staying alive in the publishing business and dozens of others, all approached in a straight-forward and usable manner. This book lays out all the tools available to the writer and discusses their advantages and disadvantages so that the reader can master the craft of novel writing in his or her own unique way. "

eBook Publisher: E-Reads, Published: 2001
Fictionwise Release Date: June 2001

31 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: eReader (PDB) [281 KB] , ePub (EPUB) [233 KB] , Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [247 KB] , Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [1.4 MB] , Palm Doc (PDB) [279 KB] , Microsoft Reader (LIT) [247 KB] , Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [267 KB] , hiebook (KML) [635 KB] , Sony Reader (LRF) [326 KB] , iSilo (PDB) [233 KB] , Mobipocket (PRC) [284 KB] , Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [329 KB] , OEBFF Format (IMP) [380 KB]
Words: 91313
Reading time: 260-365 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

Point of view is the most critical style element in writing. It is also important in reading this book. I've been making a living writing for well over a decade and with each year and every new manuscript come new lessons learned. Over that time period I've also taught writing novels and getting published at various workshops and for numerous organizations. I've seen numerous ideas, stories and manuscripts in the course of teaching, helping other writers, and judging contests. I've been published by four different American publishers, ten foreign publishers, worked with over a dozen editors, and have had two primary agents.

The pages that follow are my experiences and opinions. They were born out of my desire to give those I taught something solid when they attended a seminar or class. I've been in numerous writing seminars and classes and walked out with nothing but some vague words that seemed to blow away under the harsh glow of my computer screen when I sat down to write.

Too many people lament the state of publishing and the "crap" that fills the shelves in the local bookstore. My goal in this book is not to complain but to explain; to tell you about the craft and art of writing and the business of publishing so you can accomplish your goals.

The world of writing is a very diverse one and there is a place in it for just about everything and everyone. Keep that in mind when you read what I have to say. Just because I'm not a big fan of self-publishing or fee-charging agents doesn't mean there isn't someone out there who would benefit from either or both of those.

The bottom line is I write because I enjoy it. I write because nothing can beat starting with an idea and a couple of years later holding a published book in your hands. Also remember that editors, agents, bookstore owners and managers, everyone in the business all the way through to the most important person, the reader, is in it because they enjoy books.

But being a writer isn't easy. There is a large degree of craftsmanship required to write a novel. It's not magic; it's hard work combined with the ability to constantly accept being critiqued and to critique one's self.

Publishing is a business. Like any other job, there are good aspects to it and bad ones. Like any other job, experience and business savvy count. And like any other art form, passion and desire also count.

I think writers become authors through many paths but there are two major ones. Some come from the craft side of the house. Others from the art side. A few geniuses have both to begin with. If you're the latter, you probably don't need this book. But most of us fall into one of the first two categories. That's the first self-appraisal you have to make: right now am I more of an artist when I write or a craftsman? Once you figure that out, the next several years of your life should be dedicated to doing better what you already do well and learning to do the other half which you know little about.

I started consciously as a craftsman and subconsciously as an artist. I focused a lot of my early energy into techniques and plotting and the business end of writing. As I progressed I realized I was missing something. How did I realize that? Very simple--because I wasn't where I wanted to be and I wasn't satisfied with what I was writing. Once I realized this, I had to sit down and do some hard soul-searching. What wasn't I doing? What was I missing? And to do that introspection, I had to drop many preconceived notions. I had to accept that I was lacking in the 'art' side of the writing house. I subsequently put as much energy into drawing that out of me as I had the craft.

That's an advantage to this book. It was written over the course of my writing career so you are going to get information written when I was tightly focused on craft, and you are also going to get information when I was tightly focused on the art of writing. Most writing books give you one or the other--here you get the whole deal.

Another advantage to this book is that I have both succeeded and failed as a writer. My first series of books under my own name stopped at book 6. I was not offered a contract for book 7, even though I pitched an idea to keep the series going. In the publisher's eyes, that series had failed and therefore I had failed. However, by the time I was pitching that book 7 under my own name, I was published under two other names, one of which was starting to hit some bestseller lists. So I've also succeeded as a writer. Thus I speak from personal knowledge when I say "Don't do this" and "Do this."

The bottom line is the book. I love books. I love reading them and I love writing them. So if you love books, the pages that follow are a glimpse behind the mysterious curtain of how they are born in the crucible of passion and idea, then written, and published.

This book will take you step by step on the journey from original idea to the book in the reader's hand.