The Christian Writer's Book: A Practical Guide to Writing [Paperback]

Don M. Aycock (Author), Leonard G. Goss (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Bridge Logos Pub (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882706950
• ISBN-13: 978-0882706955
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,401,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Great book on Christian Writing / Publishing, November 3, 2010

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Prolific Reader ""M"" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christian Writer's Book: A Practical Guide to Writing (Paperback)

The Christian Writer's Book - A Practical Guide to Writing by Don. M. Aycock & Leonard G. Goss, 1996 is 424 pages in length and is split into 11 chapters. The book is very helpful and enjoyable to read. The chapter, `A Guided Tour of the Publishing Contract' (7) would be "recommended reading" for every would-be Christian author as it contain so much useful information which a new author may not have considered, or come across before. The sample book contracts are very helpful.

There is a big list of writer conferences in America (and Canada) split into the twelve month of the year (ch. 8). As the book was written in 1996, they are probably out of date though with a good search engine you would be able to see if any still continue. It is the same with the recommended magazines and the chapter on `where to sell your books' (9), though having the publishing houses name makes google-ing much quicker and states what types of Christian works they publish, what they DO NOT want and how best to contact them for what they do want!

The selective bibliography covers more than 80 pages in this single chapter and is split into ten types of book content! It's not merely a list of books, but a description of the contents of each book - in essence a plain amazon review / short synopsis of each book! As the book was published in 1996, some of the books content are now dated (law and copyright), though much good is there.

The downside - the chapter on `What do Editors Want' (6) is too lengthy and quite repetitive. Whilst the authors have a `Wrap Up' (sort of conclusion) within the chapter, it would have been more helpful to have a `Consensus' with bullet points like in the previous chapter, `Contacting Editors'. These comments should no way discourage you from getting this book as it is great and the wordiness of chapter 6 does reinforces the amount of research which had been put into this quality book. The book has no index this would have been beneficial.

The sample style and guide for editors and author is very good. It to the point and cover the essentials of what you need to know, including religious terms with a final section on proof reading and editing marks and explanations.