Online Writing Books

As a mom of two boys under the age of 4, and a freelance writer , I didn't (and still don't) have a lot of time to devote to researching online markets for possible queries. This book has done all the work for me in a fun and relaxed read. The Tedesco brothers begin the book with all the web-related jargon and skills you need, including a great primer on sending HTML files, followed by a thorough complilation of "paying" online markets. This is one book that serious freelancers must have if you want to break into the online marketplace.

The Tedesco brothers have written a book with good advice, useful infomation, and many links to sites using freelance writers. Some of the information is still valid, and for that it is worth reading. However, the book is hopelessly outdated, as the Interent is constantly changing.

This resource for writers is excellent. Funny and well-written, the authors really did their homework. Best of all, updates are available for readers. I heard from the author personally via e-mail. Very nice.

If you're even remotely serious about writing online, you need this book. The spotlight stories were very informative and the markets section is filled with leads. I lost count of how many markets I found that I'm querying.

-This book covers all the basics you need for writing online; the how to's of query letters, electronic rights, pay rates, contracts, and more. It's informative, well presented, and enjoyable to read. In addition, the authors even have a sense of humor. I've ordered other books on the subject and "Online Markets for Writers" is clearly the best.

-MUCHO THANKS TO THE AUTHORS FOR MAKING THIS INFO AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE!

Best Regards--Dan Murphy

No book is going to give you all the tools you need to get published but this one makes a fair stab at helping - truly helping. My one complaint is they describe freelancing as this incredibly wide-open field for anyone with a modicum of talent, and a lot of perseverance. What they fail to point out is that to really make a good living, the way this book proposes, (to freelance periodical writers) one has to prostitute oneself to write about anything and everything. If spending the rest of your life writing to a health magazines about "10 Steps to a Clearer Complexion" seems worthwhile to you, than follow their advice. Otherwise, I would recommend that you decide what you like to write about first, and then go after that market. If all you like to write about is model train building than you should realize in advance you may never make a million as freelancer.

The writers market changes every year so it is wise to get a new one each year. However the front part is very informative for a new writer or a writer who just needs to familiarized themselves with the world of writing again.

A Writer's Market is an excellent reference guide every writer should have. Whether you're someone whose been writing for years or just beginning a writing career. It's an important writer's tool you should have sitting next to your computer along with a dictionary and "Elements of Style" for easy access. It is the yellow pages for writers.

Anyone looking to get published this will same time and money. If you looking to publish a novel you should also get Novel & Short Story Writer's Market. It has more publishers listed.

Some of the tips in Writer's Market 2007 you already know. That being said, you still need this valuable resource. It contains some information that, even if you alreay know, or think you know, is very good to be reminded of.

Using this reference, you greatly increse your odds of being signed. Follow the steps, use the professional courtesy, and follow protocol. These along with persistence will get you your acceptance letter.

Buy it. Read it. Live it.

The book was a good guide to citizen media and gave some great examples of places where citizen media would work.

I enjoyed the examples thoroughly and found the book a useful guide. I can't wait for an updated version.

Many people blame the Internet for accelerating the long-term decline of newspaper circulation, and think that the Internet is crippling the future of American journalism.

Don Gillmor believes that the Internet has the potential to dramatically improve American journalism and widen its appeal.

Gillmor is no naive innocent. He demonstrates that he has an extraordinarily detailed command of the interrelationships and applications of the many internet and software technologies and journalism. I met Gillmor in April, 2004, at the BloggerconII conference organized by Dave Winer and held at Harvard Law School. He held the attention of his audience of bloggers through his mixture of detailed knowledge and passionate advocacy for the worth of blogging and the value of it becoming an income-generating activity.

No journalist should fail to read this book. Nor should any citizen consumer of journalism who participates online. Only a small part manifesto, this book is a detailed roadmap of the future of journalism for those informed enough and bold enough to take it. Those in business and government who are the subjects of journalism would also do well to read it.

The future of journalism, Gillmor says, will be much more participatory in the future than it has been in the past. The many to many communications style of the Internet will become the style of successful journalism. Journalism will less about lecturing and more about leading a discussion. The "eat your spinach" school of civic advocacy will be replaced by a greater connection between readers and journalists in which readers will influence both the definition of news and the content of individual news stories.

The proliferation of tens of millions of blogs means that the separation of news producers and news consumers is far less than it used to be. Everyone can produce news in the blogosphere. One duty of journalists is to sift the through the blogosphere and find out what is relevant. Another duty of journalists is to actively engage the public in the news gathering process. The definition of what professionalism in journalism is will be rapidly changing.

What is now at the edges, Gillmour says, will and should be moved to the center. Public concerns that once were marginal now will become mainstream.

As a Pennsylvania state legislator, I believe that this will have significant public policy effects--especially the areas of taxation and public welfare expenditures. For the first time, those with average and below average incomes are able to communicate their concerns to a mass audience. The more the digital divide in Internet access erodes, as the divide in telephone and television access has eroded, the greater the erosion will be of the upper middle class dominance of the political process. The stakes for putting the brakes on the trends Gillmor describes will get increasingly large in the years ahead.

This is not just a book for journalists and the subjects of journalism, or even just a book for currently active internet participants. The detailed accounts of the consumer applications of various technologies of what he calls the "the read-write web" or "technology that makes we the media possible" are alone worth the effort to get through this book.

Others may understand individual technologies better than Gillmor, but it is unlikely that anyone has a better understanding of how they all--HTML,mail lists and forums,weblogs, wikis, SMS, mobile connected cameras, internet "broadcasting," peer to peer, RSS,Technorati, API, and many others--come to together to create a radically different architecture of information, news, personal reach, and circle of potential friends and allies for many millions of Americans.

This is not a book to be read and put aside. Gillmor clearly struggled to get his text into 241 pages, plus 36 pages of acknowledgements, websites, and detailed notes. While there is occasional redundancy, on the whole a longer book would have been clearer in some respects.

This is a book to be carefully studied and used as a springboard to continued learning about new applications, new technologies, and new interrelationships as they emerge.

The idea of the public as part of the media is not totally new.
Going back at least to the 1940's, public opinion research focused on the stages of influence: the mass media first influenced the opinion leaders in a community, who then influenced others by word of mouth.

What is new is the dramatically improved publishing capacity for the individual citizen, regardless of whether he or she had the community stature and web of influence to have been a community leader--formal or informal--in the past.

The media had been steadily eroding the influence of opinion leaders, by influencing more and more people directly, but now the opinion leaders are back in record-high numbers and with greatly expanded spheres of influence.

"I hope I've helped you understand how this media shift--this explosion of conversations--is taking place and where it is headed," Gllmour says on the last page of his book. "Most of all, I hope I've persuaded you to take up the challenge yourself.

"Your voice matters. Now, if you have something to say, you can be heard.

"You can make your own news. We all can.

"Let's get started."

Dan Gilmor here presents the attitude toward technology & journalism that any journalist will need to have if he/she will survive long in this new era. They need to embrace, or at least reckon with, the new media.

Here Gilmor gives an enlightening look at the changing face of journalism and the negative and positive changes it makes.

I'm not a professional journalist, but I found this book to be fascinating and informative. I credit it with helping me to stick with blogging, and seeing it as something more significant than a passing fad. All journalists should read this, I believe!

Any interested in the future of new media must have WE THE MEDIA: GRASSROOTS JOURNALISM BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE: a survey of how common folk are producing more meaningful news coverage using personal blogs, Internet chat groups, and email as their delivery tools. Journalism in the 21st century is changing - and will be quite different from the media-controlled presentations we know today. To find out just how different, you have to consult WE THE MEDIA: it comes from a journalist and founder of the very grassroots media making big changes.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

If you ever wondered what is changing in journalism, then this book is for you. It not only describes the logging phenomenon, but also describes why the big media might not last.

Every passionate writer needs to own the 2008 Writer's Market. It's the easiest way to find out where you should try and sell your writing. The entries list publishers' websites, too, and that's the best way to learn about the publisher, their current publishing needs, and get their writer's guidelines.

I also highly recommend Sally Stuart's 2008 Christian Writer's Market Guide. Buy both (tax write-off!) so you can pitch articles and proposals to both markets, reaching the largest readership.

(That's a good thing, of course.) I think the best part of this book is the nagging guilt and self-loathing it induces as I see all those un-seized opportunities bound together in one place! This book, especially with the Internet access feature, is the best way of being fairly sure that your efforts are aimed at the best people in the best places. If you are, or claim to be, a serious writer, it's not very difficult to justify this expense.

This book is good, there is no question about that. However, if you're tight on money, go to the library and bring you laptop with you. Firstly, there are a number of links that are no longer active, despite it being the 2008 edition.

I ranked this 3 stars because if you're new to writing, there is a wealth of information here. But if you've been at it for a while, most of this you can find on the web for free thru various other writing sites [...].

Normally, I'm pretty succinct about what I like, or dislike about books, but this time, I just feel that I could've gotten bigger bang for my buck. What I have found most disappointing is that the links are no longer valid or accurate. I understand that by the time this type of volume goes to print, approx 6-12 months have passed, but this only furthers my argument for using the internet.

I will probably keep this for the next 3 years before I even begin to consider purchasing another one.

If you're a writer, good luck and whatever you do, don't quit!

This annual publication is a treasure of very valuable information for anyone interested in writing for money. There is also a Deluxe Edition that provides online access to their active database with even more entries than the more than 3,500 provided here. The 2008 edition is the 87th annual version and the cover notes that more than 5 million copies have been sold. So, if you write and want to get paid you should get this book.

The first thing you want to do is get familiar with the list of symbols they used to convey how much the publication pays, how they identify key markets for the book, if it is an online opportunity, and point out key information. These explanations are inside the front and back covers as well as book mark you can cut off an advertisement letting you know you can get a 30-day free trial to the online version.

The book starts with some useful articles for the new professional writer. Some of these articles are perennials and others are new to this edition. You get information on how to freelance, how to write for newspapers, publish poetry, how to structure a query letter, how to sell a book, how to approach an agent, how to develop a career as a freelance writer for magazines, and the markets for literary agents, book publishers, Canadian book publishers, and the small presses.

The bulk of the book provides information on consumer magazines, trade journals, newspapers, screenwriting, playwriting, greeting cards, and how to approach contests and awards.

You also get good info on professional organizations for writers.

The book also provides a glossary for the terms it uses and provides an index of publishers, subject, fiction, and nonfiction as well as a general index.

I found the book interesting in its own right let alone its value as a resource.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

The Writers' Market has long been the place I have gone to research small literary magazines in the U.S. It has been the backbone of such information for me. However, this year I am very disappointed with the Market. I went to it looking to find out if a certain literary review was still up and running, and what I found was that Writers' Market no longer has a section for small magazines. If America is bent on killing its small magazines and dealing the final death blow to the poetry market, I am sorry to say the Writers' Market has its hand swinging the axe. A flippant introductory essay by a woman whose last name--I think--is Breen advises poets to get "a reality check" because since there is no money to be made in poetry, evidently, it's not worth anybody's time (or space in the Writers' Market 2008). She also advises poets to make like Emily Dickenson and write poems for the sake "of writing good poems" and forget about publishing books of poetry. She admonishes the public in general, and poets in specific, for not spending their money on works of poetry. Those may be her views, and such may be the case in America, but there are still poets in our nation. Poetry and poetry writing is still being taught in our educational institutions, small magazines still exist in America, writers still publish in them, readers still read them, and poetry is still one of humanity's most basic, most intimate forms of communication. I hope the editors will rethink their position in the next editions. Bring back the support of America's small magazines.

This book has already gotten rave reviews, but I'll add in my two-cents worth. It's been years since I've had a formal course in marketing, and even then, I wouldn't have learned about persuasive writing for the web. So this book was great for me, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is developing a personal or business website.

The whole book is a series of two- to three-page articles that can be read systematically. The authors are witty and passionate about teaching you how to write copy that converts visitors toward an action.

What's the single most important factor in getting your prospects to convert? Be relevant. "Relevance is a measure of how closely search results match the search request." If you follow the techniques the authors describe, your words won't waste the readers' time and will have impact.

The chapter, "Writing in Review" is a super-condensed Strunk and White's for the corporate writer. It covers all the basics. The authors conclude, "Stellar writing begs to be read. There is an urgency to the writing that keeps the reader going, even when that reader might be pressed for time."

Who isn't pressed for time? People on the internet are in a hurry. They need to find out a piece of information quickly. If your site is too flashy, slow to download, or your words don't make any sense, you'll lose their interest. They can go someplace else. This is what you DON'T want to happen.

The authors include great examples of site makeovers, showing you what works and what doesn't. For me, it was a great introduction to Nick Usborne, and I've gone on to read his book, NET WORDS. They also pointed me toward Ogilvy, another master of advertising.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on using poetic techniques to improve copy. "You won't snag or woo your customers with drabness; you'll woo them with skillful wordsmithing that penetrates their souls..." What follows includes techniques such as frosting, franking, seussing, and frameline magnetism; also, how to develop pace, rhythm, and poetic meter.

It's a short read, but full of insight. For anyone who ever wondered how business communication could be seen as a satisfying creative outlet, look no further than this book. (As you sing and dance your way merrily to the bank.)

--Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester

This book scores a triple play! Its three authors unite to create a book that will help anyone turn their writing and Web site into a winner. It is packed full of valuable information that is presented in an easy to read fashion. The authors have a unique writing style that is witty and humorous and keeps you entertained even when explaining about something as boring as online conversions. This book would be great for students in a Web site writing class or for someone who wants to make a Web site that is more user and reader friendly. I personally did know anything about Web writing before reading the book, but it has really inspired me to learn more and improve my skills. I have definitely been persuaded!

I found this book by browsing on Amazon, and it has been an incredible find. I am currently developing a website from scratch. I have bought all kinds of books to help me with this and this one is probably THE most useful. It contains many, many key ideas regarding what most matters in the content of a website. This is a book I keep reading and re-reading - A big thanks to the authors!

Persuasive Copywriting is a great companion to Call to Action, also by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg. Portions of the information in this book were repeated in Action, but that does not make Persuasive any less valuable to web site owners and online marketers alike.

Much like my reading of Call, I have exhausted a highlighter underscoring important sections of information throughout the book. With sections covering writing considerations, techniques and writing for the web medium, Persuasive provides substantial tips and recommendations to make your copy stand out above the rest, and more importantly, be an effective sales tool.

As a bonus, there is an entire 50 page "afterword" all about understanding online conversion, which will help you better understand the conversion process, while providing useful tips on how to improve your site's conversion rates.

Anyone responsible for the content of their website should read this book and keep it close by. As the author's state, writing for your website is not a one-time process, but is all about tweaking and testing different formulas. Persuasive makes a great reference manual for the process of getting the most out of your web page content and squeezing out higher conversion rates from your visitors.

Before reading this book I considered myself a decent copyrighter, not excellent by any means, but decent. After reading this book (and their other book: Call to Action) I realized that I have no idea what I'm doing. Now I refer to each book on a weekly basis to be sure that I'm getting it right as I build websites for my clients. Reading these books has opened my eyes; referencing them keeps them open. Using just a few examples in these books I have been able to increase my registrations on several websites in just a few weeks.

I came across this book many years ago, ever since I have been yearning to have my own copy due to the enormous information packed in the book for writers.

One of it amazing features is that it gives minute details of publishers and what they expect from writers. Whichever aspect of writing you want to concentrate upon, this book will give you a lead.

Olagunju, Lagos Nigeria

Things change so quick; this was great in 2005. Now, it's out of date. But it worked while it lasted.

The book came quickly as promised- not in the greatest shape, but I am happy to have it.

Writer's Market Deluxe is an extremely valuable resource in my writing library. The path of the publishing world can be tough to navigate and this book is a wonderful guide. The listings are pretty detailed, offering editor names and addresses, submission guidelines, and pay rates. I really appreciate the online subscription that comes with the deluxe edition as it allows me to keep track of my submissions, responses from editors and publishers, rights sold etc.

I could not do without the plethora of information that Writer's Market offers. I know that as soon as I've completed (and revised aplenty) a manuscript, all I have to do is open this book and quickly find the most suitable place to submit my work.

AJ Caywood
Author of Stay in the Light

Provides the names and addresses every writer needs. Every time I decide I don't need the new one, I find that I do. I wish they'd leave the interviews and "inside publishing" crap-o-bilia out, however. Cut the size, cut the price.

This is a helpful book. I also recommend Information Technolgy Jobs in America 2008: Corporate & Government Career Guide (Information Technology Jobs in America: Corporate & Government. ITJA explains the industry as marketplace. It shows you salary charts for the IT jobs in U.S. Federal, States and Cities, and pension estimates, and how precisely to go government. Computer Jobs with the Growing Information Technology Professional Services Sector 2008 IT Staffing Firms; and Computer Jobs With the Growing Information Technology Professional Services Sector 2008: Midwest States, provide company and recruitment contacts in each U.S. region hiring for contract labor and permanent. Put the resources together and you have a powerful package.

The books is organized into small chapters with great example resumes and a list of key words. It allow you to improve you IT resume in a short amount of time and even have suggestion on where to start if you are new to IT.

I read this book so fast, the way it was written was so interesting and easy, evey single question I had in mind was answered, nothing is left! I loved the book, unfortunately I cannot get the Ace the IT INTERVIEW book, because it is not available in my area, but I would definetly the interview book too! by the way there is a very good chapter about interview in this book!
four little things i hated about this book:

- much more of network than software development ! but it is ok coz most careers are in Network administration.
- in a resume there was: Modem Software!!, this is called Browser...!
- adding Norton AntiVirus in an IT resume is something stupid!
- PHP and C-Sharp: top programming lanuges not mentioned in the book!

This book is excellent!!! If you think your resume is good, think again. Follow the steps in this book and you'll see a totally new person. I used it in conjunction with Ace the IT Job Interview and it got me a job.

This book's objective is to land you an interview. Before reading this book I could only say I had 1 maybe 2 interviews total in a period of a few months. After reading this book and using some of its suggestions I have had several more.

Overall I'd rate it a 4.8 since I feel that Paula is a bit too forward with some of her suggestions (for example closing statements on cover letters that are a bit overboard imo).

But that's my only complaint =)

No matter your position in life be it a freshout of college or an experienced IT vet who's looking for something different, this book will pay for itself many times over.

'Snoopy's Guide To The Writing Life' is not the most in depth "how to" writing book you'll come across, but it certainly is the most charming. Illustrated liberally with Charles M. Schulz's disarmingly adorable beagle, using all comic strips from which Snoopy's desire to become a novelist was based on, the book also offers creative and inspirational tips from famous authors from all genres of writing.

Ray Bradbury, Danielle Steel, Clive Cussler, Julia Child, Ed McBain, Sidney Sheldon, Sue Grafton, Elmore Leonard, and many, many more. Whether you feel the calling to write non-fiction, general fiction, Sci-Fi, cookbooks, biographies, or short stories, there is a word of advice pertinent to your chosen genre. This book isn't really a "how to" book but rather motivation and encouragement from authors who've paid their debts. One of my favorite pieces was Jack Canfield's, on accumulating rejection slips. He points out many famous authors and pieces of literature that were rejected many times over before being accepted. Just don't give up.

This lighthearted book should be included in every writer's bookshelf. Next time you're stuck, lighten up, take it off the shelf, and help yourself to some inspiration. There is also a lovely foreword by Monte Schulz, Charles's son, in which he remembers his father, and a great introduction by Charles's long time friend Barnaby Conrad, with remembrances of one of the greatest cartoonists of all time. Don't miss out on this treasure, whether you are a writer or not. Enjoy!

Do you have a writer in your life? A child graduating from college or high school or even elementary school? A cousin or nephew who spends his or her days dreaming up worlds to explore? Even, dare I say it, a Harry Potter fanficcer? Then Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life is the ideal book to give your writer, on birthdays, on holidays, at graduation.

This is as much a book about life as it is a book about writing. This isn't a book about "the process." The book won't help you put words on the page, or help you fix your grammar, or describe the best ways of building air-tight plots. What Snoopy's Guide does is far more interesting and far more important--it takes twenty-odd writers and has them talk about about their writing processes, their wins and their losses, and each writer relates their experiences in some way back to Peanuts, which puts their experiences on terms everyone can relate to. Every writer has faced the terror of the blank page, or the title that won't come, or the vagaries of the market. Rather than discuss writing, Snoopy's Guide discusses the writing life, and that makes it a valuable resource to treasure.

If you need a gift, Snoopy's Guide would be ideal. I should know--I gave one as a gift, and it was perfect.

"Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life" is a tribute to Charles Schulz, the late great creator of the Peanuts comic strip and its famous beagle-with-a-typewriter, Snoopy. The book is filled with various strips lampooning all sorts of aspects of writing, and tiny snippets of advice from famous authors.

The strips in this book are so funny that I had to share many of them with my husband as I read. Particularly all the ones that have within them some variation of the line: "It was a dark and stormy night." Snoopy seemed fixated on that idea, unable to get past it to anything more original than "it was a dark and stormy noon," or perhaps, "he was a dark and stormy knight."

And in between all of these stormy nights we get to see Snoopy's clashes with editors and publishers of all kinds: "Dear Contributor, We are returning your dumb story. Note that we have not included our return address. We have moved to a new office, and we don't want you to know where we are." Ouch! All writers can identify with some part of the poor beagle's struggles for fame, recognition, and a fifty thousand dollar check!

I was a bit surprised to find out just how short most of these little essays are--a few paragraphs, generally. On the other hand, it meant there was more room for comic strips, so how can I complain? This book isn't meant to be an exhaustive textbook or guide to the writing life. It's a joyful riff on the pain, excitement, and perspiration that is writing. You're bound to find something in here by a writer you love, and it's neat just to see what these preeminent folks have to say. Each essay is preceded by a related comic strip, and many of the essays address Snoopy or one of his friends directly, or mention poor Snoopy's latest plight--it's an endearing conceit. Each is then followed by several more strips just to keep us laughing.

This is a wonderful coffee table book. It's a great gift for your favorite struggling, would-be, or even successful writer. All of us can relate to Snoopy's trials and tribulations. All of us can enjoy seeing these brief words of wisdom from such accomplished authors. And all of us could use a good laugh at ourselves and the "hardships" we endure in the writing life!

I luved this book. I read the whole thing and then bought it to take it home. It was inspiring to read what the authors contributed.

I just loved this book! I didn't buy it because I was hoping it would tell me how to get published...I bought it for the motivational comic strips!

How many times I would love to write a letter to an editor that says, I have just written the best story ever but I'm not going to mail it to you...instead you can come and get it...giggle...

If you are looking for a "how-to" book, then this isn't it, but if you are looking for a way to laugh at the whole process of writing, submitting and waiting for the good/bad letter to come..then this is the book for you...

I have many of the comic strips hanging at my computer, so when I get writer's block, I read the many "It was a dark and stormy night" and I seem to laugh a little and then start writing even more...

This manual is great for any piece of writing. It is very helpful even when editing or proofreading. You won't regret having bought this book.

My daughter used the 4th edition in high school English class and loved it so much that she wanted the next version for college. It seems easy to use and a good reference.

I purchased this book for an English course three years ago. Unfortunately, sometime in the last year or so, I lost it. I actually had to buy it again because I keep going to the bookshelf to reference it, and then remember it's not there. This book is just as useful in my everyday life as it once was in college. You probably need it too.

This book (or something like it) is a must for an author's reference library.

It talks about the writing process: how to get started, writing drafts, editing. It talks about structuring sentences, punctuation, mechanics, etc.

It's got red tab dividers, so you can easily consult the book.

A good handbook to have.

great book to use throughout life not just in the class room for becoming a good writer

This was the best $10 I've ever invested. The book is wonderful; clear and concise. It's made a big difference with my papers through understanding that writing is a process that mostly begins with angst, that there are a few quick tricks that can make any paper much better and that big words in scientific papers don't make the paper scientific (or readable). BUY THE BOOK!!!

I bought the first edition of this book about 20 years ago and found it very helpful. I long ago misplaced my copy and so was happy to order the new second edition. On reading the book again, I found Becker's advice to be as good as I remembered, but I was disappointed that he had made so few changes in the "second edition." Essentially, the first edition has been reprinted verbatim--even typos weren't corrected--with a relatively few pages of additional material added to the last two chapters. Chapter 9 now contains Becker's general thoughts on recent software that he considers useful to writers. This discussion would have been more helpful if he had been willing to mention specific programs. I guess he decided not to either to avoid giving free advertising or to avoid dating the discussion. The last chapter gives some interesting, if brief, observations on the place of writing in modern academic life.

In short, if you already have the first edition, there's not much point in buying the second edition. If, on the other hand, you haven't encountered this book before and you would like some useful tips on academic writing, it's well worth the price.

The author provided a guide to assist the social scientist in writing clear, concise articles, books, etc. Tips for revising/editing were helpful, as were the suggestions for overcoming procrastination, and finding critical colleagues to assist in the process. The tips, I think, were helpful; however, as the author points out, many scientific journals are not interested in articles that are clear and concise.

I actually purchased the book for the person I share an office with. He is currently working on his dissertation and kind of at a stand still on page 5. After reading the book, within two weeks he was on page 50 and continues to progress ahead. He really liked the book and has recommended it to several other people. The book helped him focus less on making sure everything he was writing was perfect and more on trying to get a first draft done. While the book assisted him with this, it will probably not be helpful once the draft is done.

Writing for Social Scientists is written primarily for individuals who wants to hone their writing skills.
Howard Becker's primary intent is to desmitify and remove the fear of writing.

Becker explores the fear of the black page and suggests techniques for getting started. He advocates for simple, direct language, avoiding the curse of "one right way", and challenges stodgy academic writing. He offers insights for solving writing problems based on his 35 years of experience as a researcher, writer and teacher.

Becker succeeds in making the reader more comfortable with the writing process. However, he leaves writers with the dilemma of writing for the target audience, writing for the "ear", or standards of taste, or to compromise.

The reader will find his perspective valuable and useful fro the writing process. Lastly, the book is well written and highly readable. (Class PAPA 6014)