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heyitsmeg777's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book!!
Being a writer myself, there were some things that I had never taken note of before and the guide is written in an easy way for the reader/writer to understand. It is a thorough guide, explaining all the things an aspiring author should take note of, and the alphabetical list with check boxes of each thing that you should complete is super cool and really useful. This is definitely a guide I will hold close to my heart, since it has inspired me to look for mistakes and things to improve upon in my current project i'm working on.
This book is a great choice for all the aspiring writers who have begun their writing journey and seek to be published. there's helpful advice for every type of writer.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for this book!
Being a writer myself, there were some things that I had never taken note of before and the guide is written in an easy way for the reader/writer to understand. It is a thorough guide, explaining all the things an aspiring author should take note of, and the alphabetical list with check boxes of each thing that you should complete is super cool and really useful. This is definitely a guide I will hold close to my heart, since it has inspired me to look for mistakes and things to improve upon in my current project i'm working on.
This book is a great choice for all the aspiring writers who have begun their writing journey and seek to be published. there's helpful advice for every type of writer.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for this book!
alexauthorshay's review against another edition
4.0
I was not expecting the encyclopedia format (list of concepts from A - Z) but it would make for easy searching if you wanted the book for certain things, like setting or theme. Reading it from front to back straight through means there's a fair bit of repetition but there are some useful tidbits throughout, especially for sections you may feel weak in as an author. I think I found the most use out of settings and query letters personally, but there is also stuff on characters, symbolism, pacing, etc. The book balances nonfiction, memoir, and fiction, so not all things will apply to all authors but could still be useful to keep in mind.
kylemarie's review against another edition
3.0
A handy resource for the emerging author. Because of the breadth of information she is trying to provide, it is not overly detailed. I think the main issue with the book is the way it's presented: alphabetical order. It would have been better told via chronological order with an index or detailed table of contents. A new author might struggle with the order in which they should do these things and may completely miss something they could have used at an earlier moment.
Still an informative book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in publishing.
Still an informative book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in publishing.
thefussyreader's review against another edition
2.0
It wasn't really what I thought it would be. I was expecting editing advise from an industry professional but really it was just a glossary of writing terminology. This would be great for newbies who have never written (and likely never even read a book, considering this book tries to explain what a synopsis is), but for someone already in the editing process, this is pretty obsolete.
The examples of particular writing principles are all of obscure books. It would have made more sense to use examples from mega popular books, that even if you haven't read it, you've heard of it. That way the examples would have been more relevant and relatable.
Though there is a lot of helpful information in here, I do feel there is some potentially harmful advice for newbie writers who won't know any better. Like 'try to only use five adverbs per manuscript'. What does that even mean? Does this apply to manuscripts of 50k words or 100k words? What about dialogue? Real people don't speak in prose, real people use adverbs. Seriously, we do. So does that mean we must sacrifice organic dialogue for the sake of claiming some pretentious goal of having no adverbs at all?
I agree with her that an over use of adverbs is a sign of weak prose, but to use only five adverbs per manuscript is near impossible. I wonder if she's ever written a full length manuscript between 80k -100k (the recommended length for a debut), and if so, I'd love to see her do it without adverbs.
I did a kindle search for words ending in 'ly'. Theres 506. That's not including common adverbs.
Yes, I know it's a non-fiction advice book and the author isn't trying to write perfect prose, and I appreciate that.
But fiction or nonfiction, practice what you preach.
If you've ever used software like Hemingway Editor, then you know exactly how many adverbs you can get away with using, and where to cut them.
The thing is, this book is supposed to be for writers in the editing phase, but it isn't applicable to its intended audience. If you've written a whole book and don't know what world-building is, or pacing, or even character development, then you might want to take another look at your manuscript, and maybe read this book for an explanation.
My point is, most writers already know all this stuff. This is the very basic principles of writing craft. Writers should know all of this before they start writing, and certainly before they start querying.
There's really nothing here that can't be found in a quick (and free) Google search.
This books might be invaluable to someone who's never written before and who's done no previous research, and I hope those people can find value within this book. But for me, unfortunately, I found little.
Thank you Netgalley for an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The examples of particular writing principles are all of obscure books. It would have made more sense to use examples from mega popular books, that even if you haven't read it, you've heard of it. That way the examples would have been more relevant and relatable.
Though there is a lot of helpful information in here, I do feel there is some potentially harmful advice for newbie writers who won't know any better. Like 'try to only use five adverbs per manuscript'. What does that even mean? Does this apply to manuscripts of 50k words or 100k words? What about dialogue? Real people don't speak in prose, real people use adverbs. Seriously, we do. So does that mean we must sacrifice organic dialogue for the sake of claiming some pretentious goal of having no adverbs at all?
I agree with her that an over use of adverbs is a sign of weak prose, but to use only five adverbs per manuscript is near impossible. I wonder if she's ever written a full length manuscript between 80k -100k (the recommended length for a debut), and if so, I'd love to see her do it without adverbs.
I did a kindle search for words ending in 'ly'. Theres 506. That's not including common adverbs.
Yes, I know it's a non-fiction advice book and the author isn't trying to write perfect prose, and I appreciate that.
But fiction or nonfiction, practice what you preach.
If you've ever used software like Hemingway Editor, then you know exactly how many adverbs you can get away with using, and where to cut them.
The thing is, this book is supposed to be for writers in the editing phase, but it isn't applicable to its intended audience. If you've written a whole book and don't know what world-building is, or pacing, or even character development, then you might want to take another look at your manuscript, and maybe read this book for an explanation.
My point is, most writers already know all this stuff. This is the very basic principles of writing craft. Writers should know all of this before they start writing, and certainly before they start querying.
There's really nothing here that can't be found in a quick (and free) Google search.
This books might be invaluable to someone who's never written before and who's done no previous research, and I hope those people can find value within this book. But for me, unfortunately, I found little.
Thank you Netgalley for an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
abydos6's review against another edition
5.0
Authors need this book...
This is one back of a book. The author takes you through the editing and publishing process in an easy to read and informative manner. For each letter and section there is also a handy check list. This book covers fiction and non fiction alike. I highly recommend it and I am thinking of buying a paper version for my own editing ease.
This is one back of a book. The author takes you through the editing and publishing process in an easy to read and informative manner. For each letter and section there is also a handy check list. This book covers fiction and non fiction alike. I highly recommend it and I am thinking of buying a paper version for my own editing ease.
frostatmidnite's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for anyone who dreams of writing anything.
dua_reads's review against another edition
3.0
The Author's Checklist is the ultimate guide to editing and getting your book published. it has everything from A to Z that a writer should know in order to get his work accepted by publishing houses. I highly recommend it to all the writers out there who are struggling to get their writings discovered, you may found what's lacking you in this particular book, just pick it up and give a go!
naturemamareads's review against another edition
4.0
This is exactly the book I needed right now as I navigate through writing my first novel. So so helpful and easy to understand. I would definitely recommend it to any writer, experienced or beginner. There's definitely something for everyone, and it has helped me see the flaws in my structure, and help me tie my plot together better. The only thing I found hard to follow was that it covers fiction & non-fiction. I think for me personally, having a more tightly focused guide would be a better choice. but this was a great starting point for me as a newbie. Thank you so much NetGalley and New World Library for an advance copy.