Reviews of Writing Books
Page Two of TwoThe Sell Your Novel Toolkit by Elizabeth Lyon
Perigee, December 2002Paperback, 296 pages
ISBN: 0399528288
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
The Sell Your Novel Kit contains instruction and
tips for developing the marketing skills and tools
to get your novel sold. The book covers
all the topics writers need to know from researching
your target market to getting an agent. The book also covers
topics like choosing a category for your novel, writing
query letters and preparing sample chapters for submission.
Especially useful are the examples, lists and
outlines, such as a list of thirty questions a writer should ask a
prospective agent, examples of effective queries
and a sample author/agent contract. Once you have
an offer for your novel, the book also provides information
about negotiating book contracts and managing your
career.
Author Elizabeth Lyon is a book-marketing consultant, writing mentor, teacher and a frequent speaker at writing conferences. Lyon is also the author of Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write, which is a great book for those looking to sell a nonfiction book manuscript. Lyon helps familiarize writers with strategies to interest editors and agents in your work. She also helps explain and point out the need for spending effort and time on marketing one's work -- an area in which most budding novelists lack skills. Lyon's guidance and inspiring and practical explanations of the concepts, goals and skills behind book marketing can help writers develop the marketing "tool kit" they need to get their book read and ultimately published. Anyone with a completed novel to sell will find plenty of value in this reference. Highly recommended.
You Send Me by Patricia T. O'Conner, Stewart Kellerman
Harcourt, July, 2002Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN: 0151005931
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Ignoring etiquette, such as sloppy formatting and improper
grammar, is just as damaging when sending email as it is
when mailing a resume. Email has become one of
the most popular ways people correspond for
both business and pleasure and, unfortunately, many do not
take it as seriously as they do when they write a letter.
In You Send Me, Patricia O'Conner,
and Stewert Kellerman take grammar and verbal etiquette to
the electronic world, where they explain that good writing and
proper grammar still matter, especially in business.
O'Conner and Kellerman explain how grammar rules apply to wired
topics like email and the Internet, and what you should
do to be professional and courteous in your online
communications. The authors also offer advice on the content
of your emails, such as including a proper greeting and keeping
your emails concise. Basic grammar and writing instruction
are also included, with spelling tips, punctuation and commonly
confused words.
Patricia O'Conner, the author of Woe is I and Words Fail Me, returns with her husband Stewert Kellerman, to offer sound advice on email correspondence. The two offer savvy suggestions for how and when to write emails, and explain the etiquette that should be considered. As in O'Conner's past books, the advice is often spiced up with humor and pithy comments, which make reading the book more enjoyable. You Send Me is a great book for writers, professionals and the average Joe or Jane who uses email to communicate.
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