Customer Reviews

Successful Nonfiction: Tips and Inspiration for Getting Published

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In Successful Nonfiction: Tips & Inspiration For Getting Published, author and publisher Dan Poynter shares his many years of personal experience and professional expertise to explain how to successfully write a work of nonfiction regardless of subject matter, topic, category, or content. Poynter shares 38 tips on how to write; 11 tips on why you should write; 4 tips on why your writing project should be a book; 21 tips on what to write; 7 tips on doing research; 9 tips for building your book; 3 tips on copyright; 10 tips for finding the right agent or publisher; 6 tips on book promotion, and a great many more "tips, tricks & techniques" of inestimable value for the aspiring writer seeking to break into print. Successful Nonfiction is impressive, "user friendly", and very highly recommended core reference title for any personal, professional, academic or public library writer reference collection.

Reviewed by Karl R. Witsman

This book is for writers and is about the business of getting something written. The format is sound bites, just like those short snippets of information we hear these days on television. That might seem like a bit of an "easy out" for a writer, but it is actually more difficult to write so concisely and still make the statement meaningful. As the book says of editing, "Sometimes less is more;" it never shown in practice better that it is in this book.

The book does not tell you how to conjugate verbs or avoid dangling participles (what the heck are those anyway?). The author assumes that you can do that, or will hire an editor to do it for you later. What the author does is to give practical advice, distilled down to only the most important tips, about how to get your book written.

These are useful ideas; ideas to get you going. The easy-to-digest tips give you the idea before the next interruption gets you. That is one of the best things about reading this book, you can read it during your busy day without having to start each chapter over every time you pick it up.

One bit of information which I learned was that beginning writers spend 7 hours a week writing. Subscribers to Writers Digest write about 12 hours on average during that period. Advanced writers spend 30 hours of the week doing their craft.

The book tells how to avoid common mistakes, such as talking too much about a project early and losing your steam and passion for the project. It also points out who is most likely to be of help on your book and who to keep in the dark. There are probably people very close to you who would talk you out of successful projects for their own neurotic or financial gain. Don't even give them the chance! Mr. Poynter will help you steer these shoals safely.

Mr. Poynter also can help the writer who hasn't nailed down the exact topic of his or her book. There is a section on preserving the author's rights, including electronic rights which some might forget. Writers conferences are discussed, along with when to attend one and what to bring back from it. One tip is NOT to have an autograph party. What should you do instead? Read the book to find out, I don't want to give away all the secrets.

Another useful feature is the e-mail address or web page addresses of various authors who are used as examples in the text.

Physically, the book is very pretty, with a nice matte cover, gold letters, and French flaps. I didn't even know why someone would want French flaps until I wanted to mark my place. They came in handy when there wasn't a bookmark handy and I didn't want to dog-ear a page.

ParaPublishing has set up a website to go along with the text which gives resources for writers and publishers. This includes information on writing, book design, layout, wholesalers, bookstores, and seminars. There are also tips on which mailing lists to use for book promotion, suppliers which the company recommends, research links, and the Publishing Poynters newsletter.

Dan Poynter has written several books on self-publishing and this one is like a "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Writers." If you don't like reading a lot of text and just want simple, clean advice than this is your book. When I buy a book I'm looking for handy practical advice and some things that I like in this are: Make your book worth the money page 23, Keep your book to yourself at first page 33, Leave a legacy page 58, Write what interests you page 75, Attend writers conferences page 100 and much more.

While I own and recommend Mr. Poytner's other fine books, I think that this one is the one that writers will read over and over again. I like the format and the content. Simple. Simple. Simple

If you're a serious nonfiction writer you don't want to miss out on this one. It's Dan Poytner's Greatest Hits CD.

This is a small book, written by a popular writer on writing, who has had several useful books published. But, this one is a disappointment. It is a short collection of one piece of advice per page, which is then briefly elaborated on in plain, first writer's terms. It is, as I find most Dan Poynter's books to be, a "cheerleading" book for aspiring published writers. For the price, it is a disappointment, though. Writers will get basic, common sense advice that could have been written in article form.

In Successful Nonfiction publishing guru Dan Poynter practices what he preaches. Handsomely made and cleverly written, it is at once an abundantly useful book and a fit example of how to do it right.

Poynter abandons the traditional chapter-section-subsection organization of most non-fiction books and instead deals with 124 aphorisms, one per page. The aphorism is stated in a header line, restated in a subtitle, then explained in a few sentences. A pertinent example is narrated, and finally a suitable quotation is appended. Different typefaces distinguish the five elements on each page.

The result is a book that reads quickly yet conveys much pertinent information. The reader's attention does not flag and useful advice is located without difficulty.

The one-page-per-topic organization is not unique. It enjoyed a vogue in the 1960's and 1970's in documentation of systems. NeverthelessSuccessful Nonfiction utilizes the format as well as we have seen it done.

Some of the topics are repetitive, and occasionally the advice borders on contradiction. But the overall impact is positive and instructive.

This is a candidate for the most handsome book offered to us for
review. The gold embossed cover with French flaps, the pertinent cover illustration, the distinctive endpapers and of course the excellent interior design set a standard to be emulated. Yet it retails for a low price. True, the cover art does not reach the highest standard. But this is praising with faint damn's.

We strongly recommend this book to authors, self-publishers, and those who simply admire well-crafted books. The content is provocative. Additionally it sets a new level for design and presentation of the paperback nonfiction title.

I have never met an author who was sorry he or she wrote a book. They are only sorry they did not write it sooner. ~Sam Horn

Dan Poynter is famous for "The Self-Publishing Manual" and the way he coaches authors towards publishing success. His website and books are especially helpful for authors who are tired of waiting to get their work out into the world. With online publishing and opportunities to make your work available, there is no time like the present to find out how you can publish your next nonfiction book.

Each and every page of Successful Nonfiction is filled with tips and secrets you will want to read sooner than later. This book opens up an entire field of knowledge gained through years and years of experience.

Ideas about how to make your book longer than 100 pages to command the best price and how to get the first draft started make this book very practical as are ideas about how to rewrite to make your book even better or when it is best to hire a proofreader.

Should you use a pseudonym?
Will you be treated differently as a published author?
Where is your potential customer?
Can you truly plan your future by the books you write today?
Will the cover you choose sell the book?
Can you sell more copies self-publishing?

"My object in living is to unite my avocation and my vocation." ~Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Successful Nonfiction is filled with ideas you can put into action today. I only wish I had read this book sooner!

~The Rebecca Review
Trying to follow page 80...testing recipes...

Thanks to Dan and his books, my bunch of random stories is soon going to be a book. "Sucessful Nonfiction" has lots of things that 1st timers won't think of, but will save you many hours and lots of dollars. Rev. Kenny D. Kozlowski

This book is loaded with great ideas to improve your non-fiction publication. I found this book very useful and helpful when I wrote my first book in 2003. Highly recommended.

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

If you are a nonfiction writer then you owe it to yourself to read Dan Poynter's book before you get started. It was a revelation to me. Every single page had useful advice and the resource list at the back of the book is a gold mine of information. The ideas on getting peer reviews as you write, not being afraid to give away books at first and knowing that a bad review can actually be a good thing are all contrary to what I learned in my college writing classes but they make sense. Dan Poynter is a master at what he does.

Kimberley Lindsay Wilson, author of 11 Things Mama Should Have Told You About Men.

Dan Poynter is a virtual one-man self-publishing industry. Most of the books I've seen by him are more motivtional than educational.

"Successful Nonfiction" carries a 2000 copyright date in the book (though not in the Amazon listing). As a result, much of the book is badly outdated. Print on demand is nowhere to be found. There is no mention of Amazon or any form of online selling. Poynter boldly advises that you get a computer and use e-mail! Even in 1999 - 2000, this was dated advice.

On the other hand, Poynter does include a lot of commonsense snippets that are handy reminders for not only writing, but just about any other endeavor as well. For example, a reminder to "Know what to cut - write tightly" is always relevant as is "Writing is all about rewriting".

Overall, a barely okay buy if you find it remaindered or used, but not something you want to pay full price for.

Jerry