Nonfiction Ink

I’m a fan of author Anthony Flacco (The Road Out Of Hell; A Checklist For Murder) and when I discovered he had co-written a book on publishing nonfiction, I grabbed a copy eager to learn what “insider’s” knowledge he would share.

Publish Your Nonfiction Book is designed specifically for writers pursuing traditional publishing. Flacco and Martin cover the twelve main types of commercial nonfiction, outline why it’s essential to become an expert in your field (however, the overview they provide of the necessary steps to build an author platform is very basic – a whole book could be written on this topic), give tips on presenting yourself to a literary agent, explain how the publishing industry works and how to decipher a book contract, and lay out a marketing campaign to promote your book once it’s released – including producing a book trailer, handling interviews and hiring a publicist. The authors even include a schedule for completing the writing of your manuscript.

The six chapters devoted to developing and submitting the book proposal and query letter are thorough – providing extensive tips, strategic advice, samples and insights into how to craft and present a winning pitch. The only low point in the book is the chapter on self-publishing options. The authors incorrectly portray publishing via subsidiary publishers and vanity presses as a form of self-publishing; a mistake many mainstream publications make but I am surprised to find it printed in a book released by an established publisher (Writer’s Digest) and authored by an experienced writer and a successful literary agent. In a book focused on helping commercial nonfiction writers navigate the path to traditional publication, I wonder why a chapter on self-publishing was even included. This one small imperfection aside, Publish Your Nonfiction Book is a valuable, enlightening and informative resource, providing clear and concise strategies any nonfiction writer can follow to achieve publication.

Related posts:

1. BOOKS FOR WRITERS: Negotiating A Book Contract by Mark L. Levine
2. BOOKS FOR WRITERS: Bulletproof Book Proposals by Pam Brodowsky and Eric Neuhaus
3. BOOKS FOR WRITERS: Making The Perfect Pitch by Katherine Sands
4. BOOKS FOR WRITERS: The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Writing Business Books by Bert Holtje
5. BOOKS FOR WRITERS: Line By Line: How To Edit Your Own Writing by Claire Kehrwald Cook

Tags: Book Review of Publish Your Nonfiction Book, Books For Writers

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