Language Arts Books

Book Report is a very useful guide that I turned to again and again while crafting my book proposal. I was impressed by the author's ability to not only cover the nuts and bolts of writing a proposal, but also to succinctly convey what makes a quality proposal. Particularly useful were the parenthetical tips the author inserted throughout samples in the appendix. With Mark Shaw's style and ability to anticipate writers' questions and omissions, I felt like I had a mentor by my side leading me through what had been a daunting process.

Book Report is a very useful guide that I turned to again and again while crafting my book proposal. I was impressed by the author's ability to not only cover the nuts and bolts of writing a proposal, but also to succinctly convey what makes a quality proposal. Particularly useful were the parenthetical tips inserted throughout samples in the appendix. With Mark Shaw's style and ability to anticipate writers' questions and omissions, I felt like I had a mentor by my side leading me through what had been a daunting process. I can finally say, "I did it."

This book has been very helpful to me in preparing a proposal for potential agents. The ten points to help write a manuscript were also useful, however I already knew most of them. It's REAL strength was in outlining and detailing the process for writing, fine tuning and submitting a proposal, and tips on HOW to present it to agents. It isn't enough to write the next great American novel - if you can't get an agent to look at it on the strength of your outline and synopsis it's just going to gather dust on a shelf. That is the true worth of this book, it was more helpful to me in preparing and sending my proposal than any other publication or person before or since.

I've read most of the how-to books and magazines over the past 15 years, and this is the only one to inspire me to stop reading and start writing.
The book lays out 10 basic rules for success, and helps new writers understand they are about to embark on an endeavor that's as much about the publishing business as it is creativity.
Is it useful? Let me say this: It's right next to my keyboard as I'm developing my new novel proposal.

Book Report is a well written concise outline of Shaw's 10 golden rules to successful publishing. I am much more knowledgeable about the legalities of the industry after reading Book Report. I feel inspired, encouraged and confident enough to put pen to paper and tackle that road to successful publication.

This is an excellent book covering almost every aspect of not just chanting but understanding what all those lines, dots and wiggles surrounding the text in the chumash mean. There is a complete rundown of every te'am and how it fits into the context of the verses, and there is an example in a later section on how each te'am is chanted, basically in the Ashkenazi tradition. There is also a lot of interesting history of the development of the Torah scrolls and history on Torah and Tanakh traditions and also a section on pronunciation.

One word of warning. In order to understand the significance of the te'amim in the context of the verses, you need to have a fairly good knowledge of biblical Hebrew, both vocabulary and grammar. The context of the words in a verse determines which te'amim is assigned to their accents. This is, of course, separate from the te'amim that are assigned to indicate the vowels and pronunciation.

If you want to know absolutely everything about chanting Torah, Haftarah, or one of the Megillot, this book is for you. Every special circumstance is discussed, every rule of reading is discussed and the history and evolution of how and why we chant the way we do today is discussed. It is a wonderful resource for those who teach trope.

This book is a must for anyone seriously studying the nuances of cantillation. This large tome includes chapters on grammar, punctuation, and epistemology. I recently heard a lecture on the meaning of the trope (musical notation)in relation to the meaning of the Hebrew words; amazingly, they informed each other. Such information fills these pages. My son, who studies old manuscripts elaborating some of these topics, was thrilled to receive this book as a birthday gift. The author, Joshua Jacobson, is also the director of a chorale, specializing in Jewish music and his CDs are well worth the price. He's a master in many areas of music and I was fortunate to attend a conference recently where he was the keynote speaker. He's an outstanding scholar and a mensch.

I know of no book that can even compare to the scope and depth of this one, therefore I cannot give it anything but 5 stars. It is a thorough reference of the history and melodies of the cantillation, including a CD and musical notation of all cantillations used for public reading. It is appropriate for all levels of knowledge--from a beginner to an experienced reader.
The grammar he presents is not quite up-to-date and there are minor problems with the phonetic notation he gives certain letters and vowels. However, all in all it is quite excellent.

It is a great book that finally shows that the cantilation is not arbitrary, how it contributes to the sense of the text, how
it works with grammar. Instead of teaching the Taamim as
a dogma, it actually shows how one can understand a text and
put the Taamim himself. It also reveals the grammar of the texts.
I bought four more for my friends.

Communication Gaps And How To Close Them by international speaker, seminar leader, author, and consultant Naomi Karten is a straightforward guide especially for businesspeople, but also useful for lay readers, to effective and positive communication. From recognizing and preventing misinterpretations or disassociated definitions, to becoming aware of communication differences, to learning to see things from the other party's perspective, to the value of gathering and analyzing customer feedback, Communication Gaps And How To Close Them offers no-nonsense advice for untangling the confusion between human beings. Black-and-white illustrations and the occasional humorous cartoon add a touch of zest to this highly practical guide especially recommended for anyone in an interpersonal business job, such as management or customer relations.

Naomi Karten's current work focuses on how to "mind the gap" between you and your audience. This advice is helpful whether your audience is one person or many, whether communications are in writing or in speech. Her advice goes deeper than the handy techniques she presents. She gives a wider view in analyzing the relationships, the context, and the internal states each of the participants (you the communicator and the listener or reader).

Her advice on understanding the other's perspective is a prime example of that depth. While making one's own case is necessary, understanding the other person's perspective is perhaps a more subtle requirement of communications.

I found this book not only helpful in my business communications, which the author targets, but also in the range of communications within my own personal life.

I recommend this book to all my business colleagues who struggle with the intention of good communciations and the results of poor communications.

This is a very readable (as it should be) text on communication. Karten does a good job of laying the foundation of communication in the first 4 chapters where she talks about the roles of senders and receivers in communication. Nothing in these chapters is really groundbreaking, but it sets the field for what is to come. Chapters 5-8 relate communication to the building of relationships. There are important ideas about how to build strong foundations, appreciate differences in people, trying to see the other person's point of view, and maintaining relationships. In these first two sections, one of the repeated themes is paying attention to the other person. Other people are different than we are, and we need to allow them to be themselves.

The last two sections of the book deal with customer service and managing change. The customer service section seemed pretty straightforward to me. If you are having problems with your customer interactions, chapters 9-11 have some good ideas for improvement. Chapters 12-13 deal with managing change. Most people have a hard time with change. In chapter 12, Karten presents a few models for explaining change; however, she focuses on the Satir model. The main takeaway for me was that people will struggle with change, and you cannot expect otherwise. Chapter 13 presents some good tips for how to communicate effectively when leading change.

The advice in the book is practical, but it will require discipline to make the changes necessary to improve your communication skills.

Naomi Karten's current work focuses on how to "mind the gap" between you and your audience. This advice is helpful whether your audience is one person or many, whether communications are in writing or in speech. Her advice goes deeper than the handy techniques she presents. She gives a wider view in analyzing the relationships, the context, and the internal states each of the participants (you the communicator and the listener or reader).

Her advice on understanding the other's perspective is a prime example of that depth. While making one's own case is necessary, understanding the other person's perspective is perhaps a more subtle requirement of communications.

I found this book not only helpful in my business communications, which the author targets, but also in the range of communications within my own personal life.

I recommend this book to all my business colleagues who struggle with the intention of good communciations and the results of poor communications.

This book is chock-full of immediately useful advice about making your communications count. It's not about "hurling words to and fro." It's about making your message count without overdoing it. Karten covers a wide range of communication media, from formal presentations, to e-mail, to team conflict.

Some of the advice wasn't new to me, but was a terrific reminder of the thought and effort that effective communication requires up front -- to avoid all the communication gaps that can take even more time later.

I especially enjoyed the antecdotes throughout the book that highlighted each point. I was amazed at how some of the people portrayed behaved and was humbled by how others reminded me of my own foibles.

Karten's advice relies on two basic principles: care that your message gets through and care about the other person's situation. This book gives the reader lots of practical tips on how to get the message across while building the relationship.

I'm recommending it to all my clients and peers who are constantly perplexed by the excessive time they spend communicating and the confusion and distrust that still persists.

This book is more suited for one who has started writng poetry. There are numerous exercises which may discourage the novice.

At the same time it covers well all aspects of poetry. On reflection my original judgement may have been somewhat hasty.

A fun and easy-to-read introduction to poetry for anybody. A must for a beginning poet. There is something to chuckle about on every page, I wrote a poem about one:

Assignment No. 12

Read something that seems impossibly difficult.
John Drury, you say things so impossibly easy,
You may as well be a Zen teacher.

Do you care to explain what you meant,
Or shall I tie you to a chair and torture you
To get a confession out of you?

Wait, Billy Collins told us to waterski
And wave at your name on the shore.
I know it was an assignment, not a poem.
But you wrote it so poetically,
I won't bring out a hose to beat you
To find out what you really meant.

Anyway, that's why I love to write poems:
I can leave a line hanging in the air,
Without explaining why or what it means,
For readers to imagine and discover.

"The first line of any poem is a kind of door, an entrance into the rooms of the stanzas, an opening. There are many kinds of doors, some plain, some ornate..." ~John Drury

Creating Poetry is not a book, it is a muse disguised as pages of paper within a cover! I cannot express my appreciation enough for this beautiful gift. John Drury's wisdom and attention to detail is inspiring and the warmth with which he writes inspires you to write poem after poem.

You can literally read this book and compose poems instantly as the inspiration flows through you. I was amazed at how Creating Poetry invoked the muse so effectively! Most of my poems appear as a singular thought or moment and then the first sentence will keep repeating itself until I start writing, then a poem flows through the pen. Reading this book, you need to keep paper and pen nearby because poems will appear as if called from a never-ending well of creativity.

"Some poets do depend on a flash of inspiration, maybe a good first line, before they sit down to work...waiting is their discipline. Like all poets, they are constantly preparing for the poems they will write." ~ John Drury

John Drury explores a wide variety of poetic forms and teaches poets how to develop style and feeling that will be conveyed to the reader and enhance the experience. For a long time I wrote poems without knowing what I was doing. In fact, my first book of poems appeared so spontaneously, I had no idea I could even write poems.

One of the suggestions he gives in this book is to read lots of poems and to indulge in the experience of reading them frequently. I cannot agree more! He also talks about playing music while you write. These suggestions are all very helpful. Some of the brilliant ideas include thoughts on myths. You can put yourself into the story and write about yourself as a mythical creature or you could write a poem about a painting or sculpture. The main sections introduce you to:

Developing your poetic sensitivity
Learning the fundamental tools of poetry
Refining sight - image, metaphor, symbols, vision
Sensitizing yourself to the music of words - alliteration, assonance, rhyme, sound effects
Developing the rhythmic qualities that make poems sing
Understanding the basic units of which poems are made - visual shape, stanzas, lines
Taking advantage of poetic forms - Ballad, Haiku, Ode, Villanelle, Song, Pantoum
Becoming aware of fine nuances - tone, understatement, dramatic monologue
Opening to potential sources - love, dreams, chance, thinking, memory, journals
Things to write about - stories, people, occasions, modern life, objects, subjects
Appreciation for Life - history, science, music, myths, painting, photographs
Bringing each poem to completion - revision, omissions, endings

Reviewing poetry stirred my interest as I noticed similarities within the uniqueness of style. What was it that so captured me in some poems and drew me in deeper into a poet's world? How do poets create a connection of souls in just a few lines? Often what a poet needs is an idea and then the full experience appears.

This book inspired me to write poems about love, silence, cinnamon, bookshelves, reviewing, bubble baths, candles, travel, eternity, hunger, dreams, music, friendship, autumn, wolves, castles, plum blossoms and even a poem about ships in a sea of emotion.

Reading "Creating Poetry" will inspire you to the point where reading this book may in fact inspire you to write 50-70 poems! You can read a book and write your own book at the same time! I'm working on publishing the book this book inspired, but I keep writing more poems! Creating Poetry Creates Poets!

~The Rebecca Review

There are a few books in my personal library which I have acquired without really knowing the exact reasons for my ultimate decisions at the point of purchase. It could be the spur of the moment. Or something just grabs me. I really don't know.

This is one particular book (in fact, the only one of its genre, which I had bought) that fell under those impulses.

But there is something I am very sure of & that is, I am often fascinated by people who write literature, plays & poems, as well as the aesthetics of their creative work. I once heard this story from a government minister: "Math & Science give you the capability to build a gun. Literature & Poetry help you make the decision when to use it."

Neverthless, I took the trouble to read - & reread - this book on how to begin a poem. Through the hundreds of practical exercises to get going, I even invoked my muse & wrote a few short poems along the way. Not the best, but not bad for a beginner after all!

Personally, I really appreciate the author's constant encouragement: explore, practise, open yourself to all the potential sources of poetry - all around you & within you. I also like his beautiful presentation through twelve thematic chapters (each a self-contained unit), to name a few as follows:

- Preparing: developing your poetic sensitivity;
- Language: learning the fundamental tools of poetry & using them effectively;
- Sight: refining sight & insight to make your poetry come alive within themind's eye...& the heart's eye, too;
- Sound: sensitizing yourself to the music of words - both singly & in combination;
- Movement: developing the rhythmic qualities that make poems sing...& shout, match, croon & whisper;
- Voice: becoming aware of the fine nuances of how the words are said & connected, revealing each poem's implied speaker & "stance";
- Finishing: bringing each poem to successful completion;

As far as I am concerned, the author has also done a terrific job in addressing the imagery, metaphor & different methods of constructing & experimenting with new poetic forms.

On the whole, even though I cannot compare this book with others (this is the only one of its genre in my library & the only one I have perused), I would like to rank it with the highest marks.

Beginners and veteran poets alike are sure to find inspiration in this complete guide to writing poetry.

There is inspiration here in the form of exercises to invoke your muse, as well as practical advice on the "nuts and bolts" of writing and submitting your work.

Just about every aspect of writing poetry is covered, making this a wonderful resource for any poet.

I have shelves and shelves of books on writer's techniques, the writer's life, writer's dreams, writer's habits, overcoming writer's block, etc., etc., etc. They are on my shelves because after I read them, that's where I put them. Creativity Rules! does not share space with those books. It's on my desk next to my writing spiral. It's like a basic fiction writing class in which the author speaks in a soothing voice--low and encouraging. Each tiny lesson builds on the tiny lesson before it, and before you know it, you've got some ideas and then a sentence or two and then - what's this? - a story. If you've been dissatisfied with other how-to books, give this one a try. You'll be writing before you know what hit you.

No one writes like Vorhaus. His books are practical, funny, and they provide actionable techniques developed by professional working writers, not academics. I was feeling stuck and despairing before I revisited "Creativity Rules!" and now I'm back on track, generating ideas for characters, plots, etc. Vorhaus' genius lies in isolating techniques, breaking them down to small chunks that even a blockhead like me can understand. He then has you drill those chunks until you get fluent with them. Eminently useful and a pleasure to read. Not recommended for people who "would like to write someday"--this book is meant to be used by writers who write.

I recieved this book as a gift (Thank you, Raxum!) and from the first few minutes I worked from it, I was scribbling away.... not exactly "filling pages" yet, but writing SOMETHING. It's more than I've done in a long time.
The book is written in a style that makes sense and leaves me wanting to try out the ideas, to see if they WILL work for me.
Overall, I find it a great and fun book to work with.

I can't tell you how long I've been looking for this kind of information. All the theory I've read about stories seemed to make perfectly good sense until I sit down to actually write a solid story on my own. Then I suddenly start drowning in my own words, feeling often as though I am losing my mind (I'm not joking). This book holds all those insights and keys to good writing that have been eluding me for so long. And it's so simple! All I can say is bless this guy's soul for sharing this with the world. I cannot praise Vorhaus and his ridiculously simple book enough!

P.S. Another good book (especially for the intricacies of weaving a complex story) is Building Better Plots, by Robert Kernen.

"Creativity Rules" covers the fundamentals of writing compelling fiction and will absolutely unlock more of your creative potential. This book successfully teaches how to be more creative AND shows exactly how to flesh out the ideas into good stories.

John Vorhaus's books on writing are some of the only ones worth reading. Every writer owes it to himself and his readers to get this awesome tutorial.

...and quite possibly the best collection of quotes from the broadest range of leaders in the field that I have ever devoured. I started reading it with a highlighter to cover the best advice. Excluding the front and back covers and the title page, the book is now entirely yellow. From veterans to fresh meat on the hook, this is the bloody book to read if you want to take your craft seriously. What more can I say to rave about this? Buy it. Read it. Then read it again. Keep it within reach of your desk for inspiration when the words just don't seem to flow. It's like a horror convention in your brain!

This book is so inspirational it amazes me. It is quote after quote by famous authors on different topics that apply to horror writing. I think this is one of the most inspirational books on horror writing. I love this book!

Do you wonder what scares your favorite horror writers? Would you like to know who influenced them, or where they get their ideas? Wonder no longer--the answers to these and other intriguing questions can be found in Dark Thoughts On Writing. Editor Wiater, drawing on interviews he's conducted with fifty writers of horror and suspense, presents their responses to these questions and their opinions on censorship, the affect of fame and fortune, and why they choose to write in the genre. The result is a plethora of colorful opinions, surprising anecdotes, and useful advice from a wide selection of horror writers, including Stephen King, Anne Rice, Jack Ketchum, Ira Levin, Clive Barker, Matthew Costello, Charles L. Grant, Nancy A. Collins, F. Paul Wilson and Richard Matheson. Must reading for horror fans and aspiring writers in all genres.

This is a book that will be of interest to the struggling writer and the devoted fan alike: the author culls thought-provoking, helpful, and at times highly amusing quotes from his series of interviews with the giants of dark fiction and distills them into one handy volume.

As a writer, one topic I found particularly interesting was the matter of influences: discovering who inspired the authors and artists who inspire me was fascinating.

As an aspiring writer, I was especially interested in these writers' basic influences, fears, and drives. After the first chapter, I was glued to this book, absorbing the thoughts of writers such as Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Anne Rice, and many others. This is a great gift for a horror fan.

I couldn't find this book anywhere!! Books-a-Million said that they could order it and it would have taken 3-7 weeks. I finally found it on Amazon and it was reasonable and here within 5 days. I have also ordered with Amazon before and they have the best service. I love how you can track your item down to the day it arrives.

If you are looking for an excellent translation of Jose Maria Arguedas, "Los Rios Profundos" this is it. The book retains the integrity of the origianl Spanish, and the spirit of the quechuan explanations which are left in quechuan. With a brief introduction by the translator as well as a glossary of terms at the end this English translation has made Arguedas masterful novel available to the English speaking world.

This is a gem of a book. While there are many things to like about it, I am most enamoured of the richness of detail in its naturalistic description. Arguedas, with his Indian upbringing, has a perceptiveness toward nature not often found in modern, Western society. The translation conveys this beautifully, though I've heard that the original Spanish is even more vivid in its descriptions. The characterization is multi-layered: there's even someone highly reminiscent of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov"...

Non-western thoughts, beliefs and fears still permeate 20th.century Peru, a cultural heritage of the Inca empire. Arguedas, although white, learned Quechua as an infant, forced by circumstances to spend long periods with Peruvians of indian extraction, an experience which he would forever remember with deep tenderness and affection, and which would transmit surviving elements of Inca thought as well. The problem Arguedas faced as a writer was how to express a non-western state of mind in Spanish, a western language. In "Deep Rivers", he sometimes shifts the structures of sentences, or uses diminutives, to mimic Quechua. Stones can talk, and rivers sing. Big black flies are attracted to persons who are about to die. For Inca thought, the reflections from a pool of blood relate to the reflections from rapids in a stormy river. In "Deep Rivers" Arguedas shares with us the deep undercurrents and contradictions which flow beneath the surface of modern-day Peru. Conflicting cultures related through cruelty and despotism. Deep rivers flow in every culture. Not the superficial, visible elements of a culture, but those intimate fears, obsessions, and dreams which lie at the core of its members.

This subject line is not to diminish the power of this work. Only to convey that, unlike many other "coming-of-age" stories of a youth, Arguedas' semi-autobiographical tale presents a boy already formed even before the events of the bulk of the narrative. A pantheism rushes over his pages, and the Catholicism in whose school he is domiciled for most of the story remains more of a veneer over a pagan and defiant Quechua world refusing to succumb under the oppressive colonial and clerical regimes. The set-pieces of the book, the uprising of the peasant women for salt and waiting in the town as the plague approaches, gain force when (as Vargas Llosa notes in his afterword) placed within a calmer flow of words, at times scraped by harsh reality.

The descriptions of the natural world remain moving; however, many of the supporting characters at the youth's boarding school and the girl he courts (from afar it seems more than close up) stay rather diffused and vague. Nearly no details emerge, for example, of the actual schooling he receives, but plenty of cringeworthy accounts of how Rector Linares attempts to manipulate the Gospels to placate insurrectionists. A message, I gather, that subsequent generations in Latin America learned from. The prescience of this work, given the later events in Perú, makes Arguedas all the more compelling a contribution, that even in English (thanks to the abundant Quechua blended in), makes for a bracingly vivid read, with hints of what would become "magic realism" mixed with muted political critique and personal quests for identity for a boy caught between cultures.

I have used at least 3 editions of English Simplified while going to high school and college. I have foolishly 'lent' each one to a friend who was in need for a paper they were working on and have never seen the book(s) again. I just recently completed my MBA and I used English Simplified constantly!! Again, I lent it to a friend and they moved out of town to work on their PhD. I'm buying the latest for my Middle schooler who is starting to write papers and buying yet another copy for myself to reference at work. This is a quick, concise, easy to use and understand reference.

This is the best concise reference for English grammar I have seen. It will get you through high school, college, graduate school, and life. Everyone needs to have a copy of this book.

the book was in excellent condition, and was shipped to my house right on time.

Since I had been out of school for 20 years, I needed something to refresh my grammar skills. This is the perfect size handbook for all grammar and MLA needs.

I'm in tenth grade and am using this book in my English class. Take it from me, a girl who has lived through many a boring and completely useless grammar book, that this book is gold. Not only does it explain grammar and mechanics in a simple (hence the title) way, but it actually is interesting (well, as far as grammar goes...). It appeals to the average reader because it uses modern examples, not the junk from the fifties ("Julie helped her mother in the kitchen while Dan helped his father with the car"). For example, on the first "grammar" day, all of my fellow classmates were astounded that it mentioned "Shakespeare In Love" (the movie).

The book is also very well organized and it is easy to find what you are looking for. There is a good index in the back and a "Quick Locator Chart" on the back cover. Each section is easy to understand with useful charts and examples. And the book is very thin, so for all of us who are suffering from horrible backs due to our heavy backpacks, this book is a gift from heaven.

I urge all teachers to use this book in class, and students who need extra help with grammar of mechanics. Some of my friends from other schools actually use this book so that they can understand the grammar they are leaning from their grammar books.

This is a useful book if looking for these general words. Maybe I was not exactly sure of what I was looking for. I was looking for an etymology book with more Old Testament words. This book will be helpful in other areas of my studies. CS Jones

an incredible book that will keep any word lover busy for a long time. thousands of words arranged in such a way that it would be impossible for anyone to not become adept at etymology studying with this book. Now one of my favorite books.

The book is a veritable treasure chest of the English language. My only objection, why is the workbook that is written for this book not available online? Where can it be obtained? I have tried the quickreference site, but it does not have it for sale there.

Wow. What an interesting vocabulary book. Obviously, the author has spent years of hard work writing this book. I love studying root words. Once you understand the root of the word, the rest is easy.... Pterodactyl.. Pter=wing + dactyl=finger, gives you "winged finger". Helicopter... helico=circular + pter=wing, gives your "circular wing." This book really makes learning vocabulary fun and easy. He also has a web site at http://www.quickreference.com

I am using this book with 7th and 8th grade remedial students and it is working beautifully. The book is easy to use and the examples are revelant and save time.

"For the Write Reason" is a rich compilation of personal stories and tips from published Christian authors, editors, and others in the publishing field, written directly to those coming up behind them. It answers a lot of common questions and keeps the Christian author focused on the reasons we are called to write through a 31-day bible study. It's always comforting to get the perspective of someone who's been there; this book is no exception!

I aquired this book by reading another book. I really got this book because I was curious. I am estactic that I did. There are so many good tips from other writers in this book, that I have altered my style to what I think is a much better approach. I will be going back to this book many times to reread the information to refresh my writing.

Thank you Marybeth for this excellent tool! Hearing all of the different experiences was not only inspiring but educational. I will recommend this to many!

The women of Proverbs 31 Ministries have produced a book that is a wonderful encouragement for writers. It is an easy read, with stories and insights shared from those who know what it is to stare at a blank screen or page and long to see their words in print. At the end of each segment is a simple Bible study that helps you write "For the Write Reason", keeping you focused on the inspiration and purpose we write.
My favorite segment: From Darkness to Dreams by Mary Southerland. Mary is a speaker and teacher who, like many of us, uses journaling to cope with depression. Her journals led to a book, Coming Out of the Dark. She shares lessons and good advice... and a brief story about not giving up from the publisher who turned down Veggie Tales!
This book is inspiration and encouragement - not a text on how to... but fuel for the soul of the writer who truly wants to write for the right reason.

Lisa Van Allen, PhD

If you have wanted to write but been afraid to try, you should read For the Write Reason, edited by Marybeth Whalen. The book contains thirty-one accounts, some in the first person and others in the third, of how Christians have become writers. Some have always wanted to write; others never wanted to write but found it strengthened their ministry. The people profiled include Rebecca Barlow Jordan, Mary DeMuth, Mary Southerland, Sharon Jaynes, Athena Deane, Thelma Wells, Kendra Smiley, Denny Boultinghouse, Rachel Scott, and Sally E. Stuart--a name familiar to most Christian writers.

Not only do they tell their stories, but many include tips on getting published or writing better, making this a valuable book for writers who are already published. They also share a vision on the importance of spiritual priorities, such as the family, service, and humility.

Each short chapter includes follow-up information on the author, editor, or agent, along with a devotional and a writing challenge. The devotionals deal with obedience, jealousy, priorities, and other subjects as they affect our writing. Most are thought provoking, some encouraging, others convicting. The writing challenges supplement the devotionals and would not take large amounts of time.

Whalen includes helpful appendices on writing a book proposal and bio sheet, marketing your writing, and useful writing resources.

Writing styles vary with the writer, but most are warm, encouraging, and friendly. I highly recommend For the Write Reason, which offers something for almost every writer, especially the beginner. -- Debbie W. Wilson, Christian Book Previews.com