Language Arts Books

Fantastic book which should be taught in college. It's all about keeping meetings, presentations, and other things down to 6 minutes. You can keep that audience for 6 minutes, but often times not longer- even when the topic is interesting. This is a must for anyone who works in a company that loves meetings and wants to cut that drivel down. A true 5 star, no nonsense, business book that means bizness.

As a speaker and writer I am always interested in new ways of thinking and speaking and making things crisp and clear. This guy does it. And for those of you who attend way too many meetings, and especially for those like I used to be holding and attending way too many meetings ... this book is for you. It is a simple process the author lays out and anyone can do it f they will. Great advice and it is actionable the minute you read it. Worth the price and then some.

I teach a seminar on reaching the Motorcoach Travel Industry, and I make it a point to hold up a copy of Ron's most excellent book at every session, and encourage every attendee to purchase a copy for themselves. I can't endorse this book enough...in an industry populated with the "seven minute appointment" format for conventions, "Say It In Six" is just about flawless for proper preparation to sell in this marketplace. Highest possible recommendation!

I love this book. I am a college speech instructor, and this book is a great adjunct to my college speech text. The students have to give a number of speeches that must be short, and Say it in Six gives excellent justification for the short and to the point speech. This book speaks to the real world of public speaking. There is a great idea about the short speech to save your job. This is very practical in the world of down sizing. I have this book on my recommended list of speech books to purchase, and from time to time I quote from it. I tell my students to seek out the experts when they give a talk even if they think they know much about their topic. I may know much about speech, but Ron Hoff is my expert.
Jessica Kelpine

Mr. Hoff make's the point that most meetings are a waste of time and they are a waste because people don't come to the point.

Further, you can say almost anything worth saying in 6 minutes. And he proves it by timing how long it takes to recite his first chapter and coming in at 6 minutes and a couple of seconds, while clearly making his point.

If you can get your point across, clearly and forcefully, succinctly then you should. The amount of time wasted in excessive verbiage is staggering.

Step one to improving productivity by saving time in meetings and presentations is realizing there's a problem. Step two is figuring out how to shorten a presentation to make it more effect (not just shorter). Step three is motivating people to apply step 2.

This is a concise book on how to give a concise, effective, presentation.

Self-Help For Writers, Winners Show You How, written by Erna Holyer, a successful author of children's books who has signed her name to thousands of articles as well, offers sure-fire methods and examples to motivate and inspire either professional writers or students of writing. This book will interest anyone wishing to transfer their stories, beautiful thoughts or practical advice into salable material, as her students, who pocket thousands of dollars each year, will attest.

This book is written by a teacher who overcame great obstacles on her road to success and is an inspiration to her students. A native of Germany, Mrs. Holyer moved to the United States with her American husband. With unflinching determination and courage the would-be writer set out to conquer the english language. She pursued her studies in spite of physical handicaps due to a heart condition which had caused her to endure one of the first open-heart surgeries in Germany. Along this writer's journey, she endured a second, nearly fatal, heart surgery, a later cancer surgery, and the death of a spouse.

This book includes hundreds of examples taken from the files of this popular and successful teacher. An important facet in the early career of Erna Holyer was the study under the tutelage of successful, selling writers who shared their skills and techniques, which she now passes onto her students. This hard-earned education ultimately brought success as sales began to trickle, then flow in abundance in the form of hundreds of articles and at least one children's book per year.

Self Help For Writers, the culmination of a life-time of service to the writing community, is a memorial to the hundreds of students who have attended the classes of Mrs. Holyer and is a testament to her courage. Filled with remarkable insight, this book contains 116 pages of power-packed, technical details and hundreds of motivational examples. These remarkable nuggets of information will be a valued addition to the library of any college or writer.

This book is very enjoyable. It gives you courage to think about writing,sharing your ideas and experiences with others, and to experiment with your thoughts. I am no longer afraid of putting my thoughts into writing, I just write what I feel. For me, this book gave me a lot of confidence because of the fact that english is not my native language. I also liked the fact that the author brought up different people with different experiences, and how they overcame their personal fears of writing. I recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a writer or improving their skills.

This book is very enjoyable. It gives you courage to think about writing,sharing your ideas and experiences with others, and to experiment with your thoughts. I am no longer afraid of putting my thoughts into writing, I just write what I feel. For me, this book gave me a lot of confidence because of the fact that english is not my native language. I also liked the fact that the author brought up different people with different experiences, and how they overcame their personal fears of writing. I recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a writter or improving their skills.

I greatly enjoyed the many examples of writing success by "regular people," and how they achieved it.
A must read for writers who need encouragement, inspiration, and the prodding to persevere.

The author, Erna Holyer, is herself the epitome of perseverance, first overcoming her scant knowledge of the English language, then pressing on to follow her heart's desire to become a published author.

Five stars, for sure.

Erna Holyer's book, "Self Help for Writers: Winners Show You How", uses real life experiences from her students to motivate authors and instruct them in the craft of writing. Some of her topics are: Opportunities in your daily life, Write about your adventures, and Don't let handicaps stop you. Each of these topics help you see opportunities for stories or articles in the events of your daily life.
Other chapters encourage a professional approach to writing. Holyer inspires you to persevere in your writing and to do market research.
Holyer teaches with anecdotes, which makes her book easy to read and the points she make memorable.
This book is a useful tool for writers.

I have several college Italian textbooks and have purchased many other books and tapes to aid in learning Italian (probably at the intermediate level), such as verb drills, pronoun reviews and general grammar reviews. (Sometimes it helps to have the same material explained and presented in different ways.) For me, Soluzioni! was the very best purchase I made.

Unlike some other material, Soluzioni! is thorough. That sometimes makes the grammar seem complicated (well, Italian grammar is complicated - and full of exceptions), but some books just don't cover more than just the basics. The book is well organized. I use it as for a general review as well as a reference to look up more difficult grammar problems. The book also has questions and answers after each section, which is very helpful for a few of us students who meet outside of class to review without an instructor present.

The low price of this book makes it a great deal, but it would be a bargain at two or three times the price.

This is hands-down the best grammar I've found for the Italian language, and is better than nearly all the other grammars I've used for other languages. Geared mostly for intermediate and advanced learners (although beginners can profit from it as well), the book provides great explanations of the subtleties and intricacies of the language.

By way of illustration, say a sentence in the novel you're reading has an obvious reference to the past, but you're not quite sure what shading of it the author's trying to communicate. This book tells you that "allora," "a quell'epocha," and "a quel tempo" refer to the distant past, "in quei giorni" refers to the distant past in relation to a particular event, "negli ultimi giorni (or tempi)" refer to the recent past, and "nei giorni scorsi" to the very recent past.

The book is full of examples like this that allow you to understand the nuances you might come across, in addition to more basic grammar. If you only buy one Italian grammar, get this one!

The title of my review says it all. Nicely organized, great tables and other design features. Nice dense source of information.

This book is a wonderful reference source for answers to grammatical questions. Generally written in english with enough italian examples to make it useful and easy to use.

E` buonissimo!

Soluzioni is the most compact, logically arranged, and therefore most easy to use of review books for Italian grammar; esp. helpful for idiomatic expressions. However, the reader must already be quite familiar with the Italian language to take full advantage of the volume. Now if they would just get rid of that tacky exclamation point in the title.

This book has been so helpful in my auditioning process. THANK YOU FOR PUBLISHING THIS!!

As a young actor currently studying Shakespeare in an acting conservatory, this book perfectly compliments the tools I am being taught.

It is full of information written in a clear, efficient manner and is never patronizing to the reader. The tone has a lighteness and joy that invites the actor into the world of classical text and removes any stodgy stereotypes that may surround the poet's work.

I recommend this book to any actor who is looking for some less performed Shakespeare monologues and comes equipped with an incredibley useful guide to understanding the plays themselves, as well as what is going on specifically with each monologue.

I would buy it as a gift for all of my acting friends.

Bravo to the authors.

Simply the best book ever to analyze Shakespeare's monologues: incisive, illuminating, deeply intelligent, always entertaining and sometimes brilliant. Experienced actors as well as those new to the craft will find this immeasurably helpful, and they will have plenty of company. Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare's words and work will find this wonderful book an oasis in a literary desert too often filled with mirages.

Learn the Speech! Actors need tools for their acting toolkit and not a day goes by here at my Writers & Performers Garage in Los Angeles that I don't mention this great new tool. With over 150 monologues, it's an essential for actor preparation. I can't think of any recent book I've read that is more useful for actors working seriously at their craft.

As a nonactor I'm in the midst of reading this book. Now for the first time I'm completely grasping the prose and verse. In the past I've tried to read Shakespeare cold, with no help, and as a modern English speaker you can pick up some things yes, but this book makes it all, and I mean all clear. We get well over 100 of his greatest monologues, and every unfamiliar word is fully explained, as well as multiple interpretations of the lines.

I recommend this book to students, actors, writers, and layman for it will unleash the magic of the verse. And when it does you can read or see a performance and grasp it all...and there is so much to grasp, and a good play requires a good reader, a good performance, a good audience, and this book will make you one.

OK, first and foremost, this is not a language learning book. What it is is a "learning aid" book that motivates your interest and curiosity of the structure and origins of the Chinese written language. What do I mean? If you are learning Chinese, it describes many relationships between characters that enhance your ability to remember them, as well as recognize insights to meanings of characters you do not even know. In some ways it is a narrative version of another excellent book, the more dictionary-like "Reading and Writing Chinese: A Guide to the Chinese Writing System" by William McNaughton and Li Ying. Both excellently address the origins and relationships between characters, but with very different styles.

Chang and Chang colorfully, interestingly, and amusingly describes contrasts, contradictions, and anomalies in character formation. It is a charming book that I would highly recommend to the language student.

Even if you are not learning the language, the book still offers interesting discussions about characters. Western languages, and many others, are truly different from the "phonetic" languages so many of us know. Chinese construction is old, yet novel, so meaning-rich, that it presents an interesting discussion and perspective. And the writing itself remains unchanged over a much longer period than western languages.

Read a few of its pages and see if you don't agree.

The subtitle sounds daunting, doesn't it? But this clever little book is so well written, in a friendly, colloquial voice, that you'll turn the pages as quickly as you might while reading a frothy novel. At the same time, the book is jammed with information--about the basics of the Chinese language and how it has managed to survive without an alphabet; about various dynasties; about Chinese folklore and everyday life. If you're thinking of visiting China, if you're interested in languages, or if you've adopted a child from China, this book is a wonderful introduction to a land and culture that we Westerners tend to dismiss.

Excellent! This little book is packed with information and is easy to read and follow. Topics covered: The written and spoken language, its historical roots, household communication, the future of the language and the impact of technology. I have perused other Chinese language books, but this one is by far the best I've seen.

This book is great for learning about Chinese language construction and writing. And its relationship to Chinese culture and history. But not for learning specifiaclly how to speak or write Chinese.

With that said, this is a very entertaing book and hard to put down.
Among the subjects it covers are:

* Langage construction. For exaample how questions are asked
in Chinese. And general sentence structure.

* How pictographs came about and how archologists traced their
orgins.

* How Chinese pictographs are taught to children in China.
(They have to memorize them--each one.)

* Chinese tongue twisters.

* How Chinese writing styles differ from the spoken word,
classical and contemporary. How this related to testing
for government officials, and how the Communist revolution
changed this.

* How Chinese language construction differs from English
language.

And much more.



I have been working at teaching myself Chinese, and it is so different that there is a lot of the concepts that I was not able to grasp until reading this book.

If you are going to study Chinese, I would highly recommend reading this book first.

If you are interested in Chinese culture, I highly recommend reading this book. Culture and language are intimately tied togeather.

I write as a newbie to China and its ancient language, who used this book as orientation and as a break from the rote work that learning Chinese demands.

The book is a well-written overview of the written and spoken languages which provides a "top-down" overview of the terrain that language learning neglects for drill in basic conversation. In particular, "business" Chinese can be easily a form of Klingon, an oversimplified language informed only by current concerns, which may create the very misunderstandings it pretends to avoid.

But as a Western educator I disagree with an implication in the chapter "Old Wisdom, New Technology", and this is that because "technology" is "Western", Chinese students are better off learning Pinyin and computers than writing the characters...or, perhaps, that we must accept this naturalized development.

The continued survival of the abacus and the fact that it's faster than electronic calculators in the hands of a skilled operator should teach us not to reify Western Technology, that is, to treat it as a natural force like global warming to which we must necessarily, perhaps with a sigh of ai-ya, demur.

Understood as an extension of culture, the Chinese up to about 1750 had MORE technology in the sense of practical solutions to problems of daily life than did Europeans.

The "complexity" of Chinese characters is not an absolute. It is relative to the origins of the Western encoding of "all" characters in 256 bits, the "ASCII" code, which in the early 1960s simply ignored the fact that most people use a richer "character set".

Complementary to the complexity of Chinese characters is the fact that their mastery imparts information handling skills at an early age and results in the self-discipline which has made Chinese software developers, for years, highly successful at creating "Western" solutions.

In general any claim that a system of writing is "too complex" needs to be classified with Plato's original charge against writing, that it was marginal and unnecessary to the conduct of affairs, and, as Derrida has shown, this charge is bad faith since it can only be made in writing, in traditional Chinese terms, by a vermilion decree swaying all under heaven.

This book is of great use in our homeschool classroom. I have also seen it widely used in the public school system that my children attended. Most teachers had this book on their desk for the children to use. I would highly recommend it for any household.

I got this book for my little girl when we were preparing for her 4th grade spelling bee. She and I both *love* it. She didn't win the bee this time, but we're going to work all year with the book... it makes learning new words fun!

I used to be a genius speller. I went to the National Spelling Bee as a child! I've been a professional proofreader at times in the past ten years! But chemotherapy caused a mental fog to set in, and I've lost my spelling ability. This book has saved my life and my self-esteem. Thank you for selling it.

When I received this book I thought I might find it useful because I am a lousy speller (I read by looking at words as complete units rather than by letters). But then I thought, "Hey, this is what spellcheckers are for!" True, this does not stop me from making errors in reviews because I have spelt the wrong word correctly, but what does that to do with using this book? Then I was playing Literati (an on-line variation of Scrabble) and it dawned on me: I do not have to fumble through the dictionary trying to find out what words begin with FLA- while the clock is counting down my time, I can use my new Spelling Dictionary! No, it does not have every acceptable word that can pop up in the game, but I pretty much know all the two letter words in the world right now any way. But it does have plurals and parts of verbs spelled out in full, along with alternative spellings, which is pretty much exactly what I need. So, I have to admit, I have found a great utility for this little book that has nothing to do with word processing and spell checking. Before the computer became so commonplace in our homes and offices, this book would have been of great use to people like me, who keep making spelling mistooks that need to be corrupted and do not need the definition of the word, just the spelling. This book even makes it easier for you when you are in that age-old Catch-22 of having to look up the spelling of a word you do not need to spell. With three columns per page there are only seven pages to deal with the hunreds of words beginning with the letter "N." With this book you can find it, find it fast, and it is small enough that it can sit between your keyboard and your monitor or someplace equally convenient.

Looking up words in this dictionary is much quicker than in a regular dictionary. Mostly, you will just see the word...without any definition.

It is a great idea because sometimes I write a word and look at it and think it is the strangest looking word I have ever seen. Sometimes the word is correct and my mind is just playing tricks on me, and sometimes I really need this book!

A few times there are some mini-definitions.

Poor (lacking wealth)
Pore (of skin; to look or think intently)
Pour (liquid)

Just to prevent any confusion. There are also a few alternative spellings for words and they are listed together for you to decide which one to use. Is it mediaeval or medieval?

The section on "commonly confused words" was educational and I have had my share of trouble with: desert and dessert when writing a cookbook. Just when I think I will never make THAT mistake again...there I go again.

To make this book even easier to read, they have indented words like: Exclaimed and Exclaiming under the word Exclaim.

A definite must have for all writers.

~The Rebecca Review

Spiritual WRITING, From Inspiration to Publication - by Deborah Levine Herman
with Cynthia Black - is professional, comprehensive and informative. The
seven universal life lessons, which range from God-love to love of humanity.
open readers to spiritual balance. Practical advice on writing a query
letter and book proposal arm authors with a winning approach to publication.
The Spirit-Friendly Resources section targets both agents and publishers with
spiritual interests.

Writers of spiritually-related subjects should celebrate: finally the link between right-brain writing and left-brain publishing has been met. As editor of OfSpirit.com, I have read shelves of books on both writing and publishing, but never has an author so brilliantly matched these two separate processes to authorship with a style and order that is practical, honest and useable.

I constantly hear the frustrations of OfSpirit.com's network of spiritual writers who are trying to pierce the publishing industry's requirements and protocol. Creative people sometimes lack the business know-how to translate their valuable messages into the proper format necessary to prove the marketability of their manuscripts. Like any business, publishers are as much concerned about how well their books will sell as they are about how well they are written, maybe more. Spiritual Writing teaches writers the realities of this business and how to package your book and yourself to increase your chances of success.

~ Bob Olson, OfSpirit.com Editor

Spiritual writers are drawn to the writing process by a sense of mission: Spiritual Writing gets down to the nuts and bolts of spiritual writing, showing writers how to combine their spiritual vision with the protocols of publishing. Writers will enjoy an exact guide which combines spiritual insights with how-to advice and practical applications.

Deborah Levine Herman, with the help of Publisher Cynthia Black,
has created a book brimming with invaluable information for all writers. The first part of the book firmly guides us through the inner process of writing a spiritual book replete with inspiring examples and exercises to help us clarify our intention and progress along our path. Then we are inundated with clear, concise ways to maximize our chances of getting our work published. This includes how to organize one's vision, create marketable angles, query letters & proposals without sacrificing our message, and finally providing us with spirit friendly resources including agents and publishers. A must read!

As an author that is half-way through theprocess of having their 1st time book published I can say without qualification that THIS
is the book I'd wish I'd read before beginning the process. Not
only is it packed with invaluable information and guidance but also manages to help keep the new author in emotional and psychological balance with brilliant and insightful humor at the
crucial junctures. The resources cited within the book are also
essential material for anyone considering wandering down the rocky road that is getting your book published. After reading several other helpful books about getting one's book published
I am quite certain that I could have skipped all the rest and
read Spiritual Writing which would have saved considerable eye strain and, kept my spirits light at the same time. Highest kudos to Herman and Black on a super writing the tool for 1st time authors.

Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer will not teach you how to write. You need to do that yourself, with practice and feedback from people around you.

What this book will do is take you step by step through the trials of becoming a paid writer: everything from coming up with ideas to write about to structuring to the finished product, from querying editors for the first time to building a lasting relationship. The "rules" set down apply to multiple forms of writing, and not just for magazines, and references to other work are instructional and welcome.

There is also an excellent overview of how to manage your personal business as a freelancer, which for those of us "creative types," is certainly helpful.

The greatest part of this book, though, is its ability to lead the reader into types of writing for pay that many of us would never even consider. For instance, there is a chapter (written by a different author, suggesting the book's author knows her limits) on writing copy. Though I would never have thought to write copy, and almost skipped the chapter, following reading it and having been convinced that maybe this was a good way to suppliment income, I made some cold-calls as the book suggested, and a few days later, I already have a copy writing gig.

I would highly recommend this book to any competent writer that is looking to make a bit of money doing something that they love. If you can bring the work ethic, this book can bring the game plan.

Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer by professional author Moira Anderson Allen is an extremely practical and detailed career guide for the aspiring writer seeking to become a paid professional. Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer comprehensively and accessibly covers how to make time for writing; honing research and interview techniques; find markets for written work of all kinds; writing and marketing nonfiction books and articles, and a great deal more. A no-nonsense advice guide packed with tips, tricks, and techniques, Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer is an absolute "must-read" for anyone seriously interested in developing a successful career as a professional freelance writing.

The first third of the book is a review of how to write, how to do research, and what you should have in your office ("a chair," "a desk," "a place to store your writing supplies"), with which I am sure the average person looking to start a freelance writing career already knows. In fact, if you don't know how to write and conduct writing-related research, or have a place to put writing supplies, a career in writing probably never crossed your mind. For this, the book received four stars instead of five.

Still, I have to recommend this book to anyone trying to start a career in writing who doesn't know quite where to begin. The second two-thirds of the book are filled with a grand assortment of helpful hints and information that are vital to a successful freelance-writing career. In particular, her advice on figuring out exactly where you should look to publish your work is extremely valuable. An entire chapter is devoted to the submission process, which includes how to deal with editors who don't reply to your submissions and how to deal with rejections.

For me, the query letters she presents helped a great deal. She presents real letters-to-the-editor so there is no confusion about exactly what it should look like and what it must include. I didn't know about "hooking" with queries; I just assumed they were written like resume cover letters. Imagine how much failure I might have encountered, otherwise. And, not to be outdated, she even includes a chapter devoted to e-mail queries.

Overall, I thought this book was an excellent resource for a budding freelancer. I felt as though it would have been better for her to leave out the first few chapters and get to the point. However, once she got to the point, I was thrilled to pieces that I found this book. I'm sure you will be, too.

I remember very vividly when I sold my first article to a major Canadian newspaper. It was in the mid 1960s, when I had just graduated from law school and I decided that the only way to fame, and perhaps jump- start my non-existent law practice, was to write articles on Quebec Civil Law. Fortunately for me, I was in the right place at the right time, and the newspaper was looking for someone to contribute articles pertaining to this subject matter. They purchased the first several of my articles, and boy was I excited!

However, unfortunately, my free-lance writing days came to an abrupt end when no one else was interested in the topic. That is when I decided to devote all of my time and energies into practicing the legal profession. Perhaps, if I had at my disposal Moira Anderson Allen's book entitled Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer, things would have been different. Remember, it was the 1960s, and at the time there were few writing guides pointing you in the right direction to a free -lance writing career.
I did not have Allen to show me how to start my articles, find the right markets, queries and submissions, rights and contracts, and how to expand my horizons.

It is these topics and many more where Starting Your Career As A Freelance Writer excels. The book is a splendid, in-depth analysis where even the more experienced writer can reap some benefits.

Divided into six parts, there is no shortage of vital and interesting information as to what goes on in the minds of an editor to how to interview, and from exploring and evaluating markets to writing for special interest publications and markets. The reader is also exposed to such topics as queries and submissions, legal technicalities pertaining to rights and contracts, as well as setting fees and keeping records. After all, without these essential tools, we will never get to first base with our budding writing career, no matter how talented we may be.

What is noteworthy about Allen's writing is her ability to cut away the fat from the meat. Furthermore, she never presumes that the reader should know certain fundamental concepts, and consequently Allen leaves nothing unturned.

Allen's writing credentials are impeccable, as proven by the hundreds of articles she has contributed to several publications over her twenty- year writing career. In addition, she has also being called upon to speak at writers' conferences and workshops, and to act as an instructor at many of these events. Commencing a career, as a free-lance writer, is a difficult task, and one in which a great deal of perseverance and patience is required. It is Allen's vast experience and her ability to effectively convey her knowledge from these experiences that is very much in evidence throughout book, and will surely prove to be invaluable to aspiring free- lance writers.

Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures and Travel Writer

This book contains all of the essential information I needed to jump start my career as a freelance writer. Having some experience in the field in the distant past, I needed a refresher course and this book provided it. (It would be even more useful for someone without previous experience in the field.) Besides providing proper form for query letters and instruction on how to go about finding and approaching markets, it gives specific guidelines on the right way to pursue a freelance writing career, reasonable expectations and how to organize your work as a business.

This isn't a book about writing so much as a book about people who love to write. People who have thoughts racing through their heads of what-ifs and wouldn't-that-be-neats. I enjoyed this book because it spoke to me. One of the reasons why she writes is just to find out how a story turns out, and I have felt that too. She mentions stories that tell her about herself, and I have sensed this as well. She reminds me that you can't please everybody so you might as well please yourself. And she writes because she wants to, isn't that the only reason that will make it worthwhile? After reading this book, I felt a kinship with her. I'd love to meat this woman.

She had many clever ways to present different aspects of writing and even though I already knew the basics that she presented, her approaches made me look at simple things in a new light. This book was sweet, playful, cheerful, and still serious at the same time.

I have read numerous writing books, and while many offer solid, sensible advice (Writing Down the Bones, Bird by Bird), almost all focus on the pain and angst of writing. Yolen celebrates the silver lining rather than dwelling on the cloud. Yes, writing is hard work, but why do it if there is no joy? This is, by no means, just a fluffy, feel-good book. The advice is sage and easy to follow, and through it all is the invaluable reminder that you should be writing because there is nothing else you'd rather be doing.

TAKE JOY is so good that when I bought a summer home and realized my book was hundreds of miles away, I knew I had to have a second copy. Jane Yolen, author of over 200 books gives me permission to follow my bliss, as Joseph Campbell would say. Her creativity abounds, and her words spar me on my own sideroads, jaunts and tangents. This may be about writing, but it's not just about writing. It's for anyone who aspires to live a life of passion and creativity.

Jane Yolen's book, TAKE JOY, was a delightful read. Peppered with charming vignettes, this book on writing has many uses as a "teacher's guide." There are a number of sections that can be adapted to the classroom (most appropriate for secondary school). For creative writing teachers in want of additional ideas, this slim, easy-to-read work would be a good investment.

Checked this out from the library, and it wasn't far in reading that I realized that I had to get my own copy. This is a book that you will want to underline, highlight and keep out on your desk to refer to often!

My personal collection of books on writing is small. I read all I can about writing (the how-to's, the work, the life, etc.) but most all of my reading material is from the library, and I am choosy about what books I buy. This book is a must have to my personal library, and tops on my favorites list!

This is a book from a woman who LIVES writing. She has written over 250+ books! WOW! Her advice is Inspirational,Obviously Experienced, Honest, and Funny.

Great book for writers!

P. M. Terrell, successful mystery writer and all around great promoter, couldn't have named her book any better: "Take the Mystery Out of Promoting Your Book." In just over 200 pages she truly answers the questions fiction authors should ask and removes the fears all authors of fiction face when they finally understand the job of book promotion belongs to them. And, this is important, this book is for writers of fiction in particular, which is much harder to sell than non-fiction in today's marketplace.

Throughout her book Ms. Terrell uses the terminology of a mystery writer to guide the reader. Among chapters entitled Planning the Crime, Casing the Joint, Breaking and Entering, Accessory After the Fact, Counting the Loot, she details the expertise she has gained in promoting all her books in a warm and accessible fashion. She learned it the hard way, and now has written the book the makes the path easier for those who follow her. She lays out the step-by-step process of designing a fiction book's marketing strategy from press releases to book tours, from launch parties to speaking in non-bookstore venues, from author branding to getting media attention and beyond. This book will allow any fiction author, from a debut novelist to a veteran series author, become an effective self-promoter.

Ms. Terrell acknowledges the writer's inclination to solitary work, and explains the absolute requirement that the "public author" come alive in the interests of a book's success. She helps take the confusion out of where to begin, how to proceed and what to expect. She reveals real life experiences of her own and other authors, where success and failure were the teachers of the stark reality of book promotion. It is hard work. It takes time. It demands stamina and resilience. And, when the author comes to terms with what to do, Ms. Terrell saves any author who reads her book the frustration of trial and error book marketing.

As a publisher, I highly recommend this book, and will require its reading by all my fiction authors as they enter the world of book promotion. Thank you, P. M. Terrell. Your book is a tremendous guide.

I had already created the press kit for my book when I started reading this book, and P.M. Terrell's suggestions helped me polish it up nicely. I don't think there is a better resource out there for getting a new author ready to take on book signings (the thought of which was really intimidating me). The book covers other appearances too, like Television. I have now survived my first television appearance, and found that Patricia is right on in her advice. Aside from press kits and book signing info, the book is full of great suggestions, ideas and resource references.The information is interesting, well organized and easy to read. I do recommend buying P.M. Terrell's "Take the Mystery Out of Promoting Your Book. Woman Submit! Christians & Domestic Violence.

All the scary things about promoting a book -- and who hasn't been scared by that thought? -- are laid to rest in this easy-to-read, easy-to-follow instruction book by p.m. terrell.

TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK does precisely what the title suggests, with a concise, thorough examination of what is truly helpful in the book promotion realm. I wish I'd read terrell before my first book came out, instead of waiting for the fourth. Still, my book sales have greatly increased since I started using her amazingly simple suggestions. If you're a writer, you need this book.

Reviewed by Kathleen Dowdell for Reader Views (11/06)

"Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Your Book" is a wonderful guide for promoting and selling your book. P.M Terrell has put together a detailed step-by-step plan that will benefit new authors who are trying to promote their books as well as authors working with publicists and agents. Chapters are written in mystery terms (planning the crime, casing the joint, breaking and entering) with the goal of getting you to "counting the dough," the money you will receive from all the books that you sell. It's a fun way of working through the book but don't be deceived, there is a lot of work to be done before you can count the dough.

First and foremost, you need to learn how to promote your book by becoming your own publicist. Tips about writing press releases, press kits, grabber sheets and bios are outlined to help you gain notoriety. Who better than you can write about your attributes!

Terrell stresses that as an author you become a brand. Once you've written a best seller, readers are more likely to remember your name so it is important to sell yourself as well as your book. Many of the tasks you will perform will be geared to consumer marketing such as reviews by other authors, institutions, and publications, with the ultimate goal of creating "buzz" for your book. Planning publicity and speaking events is often time consuming and difficult if you are doing the job yourself. Her tips will help expedite the process and make it less stressful.

As part of building a marketing package, the author gives a great description of how to write a cover letter touting your book as well as what kind of background information you should include about yourself. As I indicated earlier, this is your time to shine. The Q&A sheet consists of questions and answers you put together about yourself and your book. This is a great opportunity to ask and answer the kinds of questions that you hope people want to know. You can give readers a lot of information about the book or just enough to entice them to purchase the book. You can also use the Grabber sheet to literally grab their attention with highlights about your book. The chapters in this book are detailed and give concise information that will help you to promote your book.

P.M. Terrell, as a successful author, uses her own experiences to lay out a marketing plan that will help sell your book in a step-by-step approach that makes the whole process easy to tackle. In addition, she provides an appendix that gives links to websites for more specific information and examples. "Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Your Book" gave me a lot of in-depth information about the publishing field. I would recommend reading it initially from cover-to-cover and then going back and targeting the areas in which you need to improve.

Well, she's done it again. p.m. terrell has taken a rather
complex subject and brought it to us in an easily digestable
format. And with catchy chapter titles, like "casing the joint"
and "counting the loot" the whole idea of promoting one's
book is much less daunting.

As a publicist, I was encouraged to see her continued stress
on making sure that promotional efforts were not duplicated
and that the author or their representative was relied on to
make contact and follow up to ensure that all was being taken
care of when a selling event was scheduled. As she points out
in a variety of ways, being prepared doesn't always guarantee
book sales, but it makes it much more likely.

With an easy to follow format, the addition of helpful work
sheets and even tips about what to expect when one shows
up for an early morning radio interview, I felt that I should
visit her website and order a copy for each of my clients.

Authors sell books, not publishers, not publicists. With this
book in your selling arsenal you will be strides ahead of the
competition and much more able to handle the inevitable
hiccups that go with stepping out of the safety of your
writing studio and putting on your salesman's hat.