There Are No Rules - Excerpts http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/ Jane Friedman's WD Blog en-us F+W Media, Inc. Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:50:13 GMT newtelligence dasBlog 2.3.9074.18820 Jane.Friedman@fwpubs.com Jane.Friedman@fwpubs.com http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/Trackback.aspx?guid=dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696 http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/pingback.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/PermaLink,guid,dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696.aspx Jane http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView,guid,dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696



Before I took on management of the Writer's Digest brand community, the last book I fully acquired, edited, and released—as an editor—was Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz, from the Fall 2008 list of Writer's Digest Books.

In some ways, it is a culmination of everything I wish all writers knew from Day 1. And it's everything I've been telling writers at conferences for several years now. Every writer who dreams of book publication (and even those who do have a book published) must learn the lessons in this book to sustain a successful career as an author. I find myself recommending it again and again, and am relieved to finally have a concrete resource to point people to.

Joe Wikert, publishing professional and blogger, recommended this book highly and interviewed author Christina Katz on his blog. Along with that link, I'll provide a few others of interest, to help you get a sense of why you need this book.
You can also watch this promotional video that the author created:

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And even more links!!
My Favorite WD Book From 2008 (Or: The Last WD Book I Edited in Full) http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/PermaLink,guid,dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2009/01/12/MyFavoriteWDBookFrom2008OrTheLastWDBookIEditedInFull.aspx Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:50:13 GMT <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <p> </p> <img src="http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/content/binary/Z2389_BookDeal.png" border="0"> <br> <br> Before I took on management of the Writer's Digest brand community, the last book I fully acquired, edited, and released—as an editor—was <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/get-known-before-the-book-deal/">Get Known Before the Book Deal</a> by Christina Katz, from the Fall 2008 list of Writer's Digest Books.<br> <br> In some ways, it is a culmination of everything I wish all writers knew from Day 1. And it's everything I've been telling writers at conferences for several years now. Every writer who dreams of book publication (and even those who do have a book published) must learn the lessons in this book to sustain a successful career as an author. I find myself recommending it again and again, and am relieved to finally have a concrete resource to point people to.<br> <br> Joe Wikert, publishing professional and blogger, <a href="http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2008/12/the-author-platform-bible.html">recommended this book highly</a> and interviewed author Christina Katz on his blog. Along with that link, I'll provide a few others of interest, to help you get a sense of why you need this book.<br> <ul> <li> <a href="http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2009/01/interview-with-author-christina-katz.html">Joe Wikert's interview with Christina Katz about author platform</a> <br> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.getknownbeforethebookdeal.com/">The official site</a> for <i>Get Known Before the Book Deal</i> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/get-known-before-the-book-deal/">Go to this page and scroll down</a> for the book's introductory text</li> <li> Read an excerpt: <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/get-known-excerpt">Why All Authors Need a Platform</a> </li> </ul> You can also watch this promotional video that the author created:<br> <br> <object height="285" width="340"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A2Zl1ecDkWQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="285" width="340">&lt;<br> <br> And even more links!!<br> </object> <ul> <li> <a href="http://editorunleashed.com/2008/11/18/5-questions-christina-katz/">Interview at Editor Unleashed</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://allisonwinnscotch.blogspot.com/2008/11/get-known-before-book-deal.html">Interview at Ask Allison</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2008/12/05/interview-christina-katz-on-getting-known-before-the-book-deal-part-1/">Interview at Writer Unboxed</a> </li> <li> <a href="http://www.jungleredwriters.com/2008/12/use-your-personal-strength-to-grow.html">Interview with Hallie Ephron</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/aggbug.ashx?id=dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696" /> http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView,guid,dfcb1cb7-ac4a-486f-898b-431bdc463696.aspx Building Readership Excerpts Getting Published Marketing & Self-Promotion New Titles From Writer's Digest http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/Trackback.aspx?guid=e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01 http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/pingback.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/PermaLink,guid,e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01.aspx Jane http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView,guid,e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01
Our newest team member, Melissa Hill, has been busy posting excerpts of Writer's Digest titles on our web site (both new and old), so I wanted to share with you the full list of free material now available. Welcome your suggestions of what you'd like to see posted or distributed from our catalog of titles!

EXCERPTS ON OUR SITE (click on title to be taken directly to excerpt)

Fiction writing
Inspiration
Nonfiction writing
General
Other genres
Reference

PDF DOWNLOADS (click on the title to be taken to a landing page linking to the download)
The Pirate Primer (a lexicon of pirate language)
Chapter 8: Insults

Noble's Book of Writing Blunders
Table of Contents, Introduction, and "Don't Add Adverbs and Adjectives to Prettify Your Prose"

By Cunning & Craft
A section on crafting your characters, because fiction is all about people

Howdunit: Police Procedure & Investigation
Table of Contents, and tips to sharpen your CSI skills

Between the Lines
A section on creating effective backstory

Novelist's Boot Camp
Mission III: Enlist Your New Recruits

Chapter After Chapter
Find your writing wings

Hooked
Opening scenes: an overview

What Would Your Character Do?
Scenario: Family Picnic

Writer's Digest Books Excerpt Extravaganza! http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/PermaLink,guid,e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2008/07/09/WritersDigestBooksExcerptExtravaganza.aspx Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:00:57 GMT <div>Our newest team member, Melissa Hill, has been busy posting excerpts of Writer's Digest titles on <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/books">our web site</a> (both new and old), so I wanted to share with you the full list of free material now available. Welcome your suggestions of what you'd like to see posted or distributed from our catalog of titles!<br> <br> <b>EXCERPTS ON OUR SITE </b>(click on title to be taken directly to excerpt)<br> <br> Fiction writing<br> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/open-your-action-scene">Make a Scene</a>: Open Your Action Scene With Gusto</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/FWW-excerpt">Fiction Writer's Workshop</a>: Dialogue as Conversation</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/WGF-Revision_excerpt">WGF: Revision &amp; Self Editing</a>: Tips for Revising Your Manuscript</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/MOYS_excerpt">Mind of Your Story</a>: Creating Stand-Out Characters Using a Specific Distinctive Trait</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Power-of-POV-excerpt">The Power of Point of View:</a> What Your POV Choice Communicates About Your Story</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/first-draft-excerpt">From First Draft to Finished Novel</a>: Principles of Building a Story</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/bullies_excerpt">Bullies, Bastards, and Bitches:</a> Defining and Developing Your Anti-Hero</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/alone-excerpt">Alone With All That Could Happen</a>: Autobiographobia</li> </ul> Inspiration<br> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/pocket-muse-2-excerpt">Pocket Muse II:</a> From the Introduction, addressing artistic despair</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/book-of-matches-excerpt">Writer's Book of Matches:</a> How to use the prompts in the book</li> </ul> Nonfiction writing<br> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/you-dont-have-to-be-famous-excerpt">You Don't Have to Be Famous</a>: The Right Attitude for Writing Your Life Story</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/challenging_memory">Writing Life Stories (2nd edition)</a>: Challenging the Limits of Memory</li> </ul> General<br> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/BIAM_excerpt">Book in a Month</a>: 4 Tips for Making Time to Write</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Write-Is-a-Verb-excerpt">Write Is a Verb</a>: The Four Energies of Writing (What's Your Fuel?)</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Secret-to-Getting-Published">How I Got Published</a>: The Secret to Getting Published</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/The_Write-At-Home_Mom/">Writer Mama</a>: The Write-at-Home Mom</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Craft-and-Business-excerpt">The Craft &amp; Business of Writing</a>: The Writer-Editor Relationship</li> </ul> Other genres<br> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/101-songwriting-wrongs-excerpt">101 Songwriting Wrongs</a>: Capturing Ideas Before They Get Away</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Rhythm-Method-excerpt">The Rhythm Method, Razzmattazz, and Memory</a>: The Action Verb and Beautiful Accidents</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/christian-romance-excerpt">Writing the Christian Romance</a>: From the Introduction</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/YA-novel-excerpt">Writing &amp; Selling the YA Novel</a>: Finding Strong Ideas for Teen Fiction</li> </ul> Reference<a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Police-Procedure-excerpt"> <br> </a> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Police-Procedure-excerpt">Howdunit: Police Procedure &amp; Investigation</a>: What a Detective Does</li> <li> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/forensics-excerpt">Howdunit Forensics</a>: Time of Death (A Critical Part of the Timeline)</li> </ul> <br> <b>PDF DOWNLOADS</b> (click on the title to be taken to a landing page linking to the download)<br> <blockquote><a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/the-pirate-primer">The Pirate Primer</a> (a lexicon of pirate language)<br> Chapter 8: Insults<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/nobles-writing-blunders">Noble's Book of Writing Blunders</a> <br> Table of Contents, Introduction, and "Don't Add Adverbs and Adjectives to Prettify Your Prose"<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/by-cunning-craft">By Cunning &amp; Craft</a> <br> A section on crafting your characters, because fiction is all about people<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/Police-Procedure">Howdunit: Police Procedure &amp; Investigation</a> <br> Table of Contents, and tips to sharpen your CSI skills<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/between-the-lines">Between the Lines</a> <br> A section on creating effective backstory<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/novelists-boot-camp">Novelist's Boot Camp</a> <br> Mission III: Enlist Your New Recruits<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/chapter-after-chapter">Chapter After Chapter</a> <br> Find your writing wings<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/hooked">Hooked</a> <br> Opening scenes: an overview<br> <br> <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/wwycd">What Would Your Character Do?</a> <br> Scenario: Family Picnic<br> </blockquote> <p> </p> </div> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/aggbug.ashx?id=e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01" /> http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView,guid,e8d4a78e-8b6f-46c6-9fbd-a7d526847a01.aspx Craft & Technique Excerpts Getting Published http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/Trackback.aspx?guid=d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/pingback.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/PermaLink,guid,d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e.aspx Jane http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView,guid,d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e



Almost exactly 10 years ago, Story Press (a former imprint of F+W Publications) released a fabulous instruction book by Bill Roorbach, Writing Life Stories.

I'm thrilled to announce that we've just released a second edition of this valuable text, still under the Story Press imprint, in what we're calling the 10-year anniversary edition. In this new edition, Bill (with the help of Kristen Keckler) has taken care to fully update and revise the text. In his preface, he writes:
So much has changed in the ten years since the first edition of Writing Life Stories was published. For writers, perhaps the biggest development has been the wholesale advent of the Internet, with its constant evolution, its endless opportunities for interaction, for instant research, for locating and speaking directly to readers via e-mail, blogs, and Web sites. Everyone's typing now. …

Memoir as a popular genre has moved past most of its early controversies, and enjoys new standing in the world of letters and in the university. But there's also brand-new hullabaloo, such as the James Frey scandal … or the Deborah Rodriguez dustup … And is this the end of the world? Of course it's not. That roar you hear comes from the explosive power of narrative as applied to real life. What is the role of memoir and the essay in the quest for truth? Or even Truth? You'll answer these questions over and over, always in your own way, with every paragraph you write. …

Old friends of Writing Life Stories will find plenty here to re-charge their batteries, lots of new ideas and fresh instruction. First-time readers will join those returning to find new exercises in every chapter, clearer explanations of difficult issues like the use of metaphor, more up-to-date information on publishing, examples from newer writers, and more recent titles to complement the dozens of examples in the original edition, and a much more sophisticated look at the Internet.
Phillip Lopate and Lee Gutkind were kind enough to praise the first edition, and this second edition is even better. Be sure to check it out if you're actively writing or teaching creative nonfiction; we've posted an excerpt from Chapter 2 on our site, "Challenging the Limits of Memory."
New Release: Writing Life Stories, 2nd edition http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/PermaLink,guid,d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e.aspx http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2008/06/27/NewReleaseWritingLifeStories2ndEdition.aspx Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:39:39 GMT <div> <div> <p> </p> <img src="http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/content/binary/Z1941_WritingLifeStories.gif" border="0"> <br> <br> Almost exactly 10 years ago, Story Press (a former imprint of <a href="www.fwpublications.com">F+W Publications</a>) released a fabulous instruction book by Bill Roorbach, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Life-Stories-Bill-Roorbach/dp/188491036X"><i>Writing Life Stories</i></a>. <br> <br> I'm thrilled to announce that we've just released <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Life-Stories-Memories-Literature/dp/1582975272/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1207944266&amp;sr=8-2">a second edition of this valuable text</a>, still under the Story Press imprint, in what we're calling the 10-year anniversary edition. In this new edition, Bill (with the help of Kristen Keckler) has taken care to fully update and revise the text. In his preface, he writes:<br> <blockquote><font color="#0000ff">So much has changed in the ten years since the first edition of <i>Writing Life Stories</i> was published. For writers, perhaps the biggest development has been the wholesale advent of the Internet, with its constant evolution, its endless opportunities for interaction, for instant research, for locating and speaking directly to readers via e-mail, blogs, and Web sites. Everyone's typing now. …<br> <br> Memoir as a popular genre has moved past most of its early controversies, and enjoys new standing in the world of letters and in the university. But there's also brand-new hullabaloo, such as the James Frey scandal … or the Deborah Rodriguez dustup … And is this the end of the world? Of course it's not. That roar you hear comes from the explosive power of narrative as applied to real life. What is the role of memoir and the essay in the quest for truth? Or even Truth? You'll answer these questions over and over, always in your own way, with every paragraph you write. …<br> <br> Old friends of <i>Writing Life Stories</i> will find plenty here to re-charge their batteries, lots of new ideas and fresh instruction. First-time readers will join those returning to find new exercises in every chapter, clearer explanations of difficult issues like the use of metaphor, more up-to-date information on publishing, examples from newer writers, and more recent titles to complement the dozens of examples in the original edition, and a much more sophisticated look at the Internet.</font> <br> </blockquote>Phillip Lopate and Lee Gutkind were kind enough to praise the first edition, and this second edition is even better. Be sure to check it out if you're actively writing or teaching creative nonfiction; we've posted an excerpt from Chapter 2 on our site, <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/article/challenging_memory">"Challenging the Limits of Memory."</a> <br> </div> </div> <img width="0" height="0" src="http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/aggbug.ashx?id=d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e" /> http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView,guid,d02e1e20-53e0-4dff-a8dc-e70c1330b15e.aspx Craft & Technique Excerpts New Titles From Writer's Digest