Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Business Books

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The title of "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Writing Business Books" is misleading, since the book doesn't actually teach the reader how to write a business book. Only 10 pages of the book (in the brief chapter "Voice, Point of View, and Style") deal with any aspect of writing a book.

Instead the author provides material (divided into six sections) on:
* Testing your business book idea
* Writing your proposal and sample chapter
* Finding an agent and other helpers
* Finding a publisher and negotiating a contract
* Writing and publicizing your book
* Using your published book to enhance your career

And while the content is well presented, I am left wondering, "Where is the material promised by the book's title?" There are much better, and more thorough, books on the topics of:

Developing book proposals: "Bulletproof Book Proposals" by Pam Brodowsky and Eric Neuhaus, Michael Larson's "How To Write a Book Proposal", or "Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write" by Elizabeth Lyon

Finding a literary agent: "How To Get A Literary Agent" by Michael Larson

Publicizing and marketing your book: "From Book To Bestseller" by Penny Sansevieri, Steve Weber's "Plug Your Book", and "1001 Ways To Market Your Books" by John Kremer

Too bad "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Writing Business Books" doesn't deliver on the topic of writing business books - I'm sure many entrepreneurs aspiring to write business books could use a good business book-writing manual.

Despite their titles, "The Complete Idiot's Guide" series of how-to books are most assuredly not for 'idiots' - they are for absolutely everyone in search of solid information on a subject. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Business Books continues this worthy tradition with a no-nonsense primer on writing and profitably publishing a compendium of one's business wisdom. From testing whether there's a market for one's book, to tips on whether one should collaborate (and if so, how to find the right person to do it with), to advice for publicizing oneself and one's book, and more, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Business Books walks the reader through every step of the process. An extremely user-friendly resource, highly recommended.