Writing Spiritual Books: A Bestselling Writer's Guide to Successful Publication (Paperback)

by Hal Zina Bennett (Author) "Writing a spiritual book at times presents us with wild contradictions..." (more)
Key Phrases: channeled books, personal growth books, spiritual book, Divine Ground, John Muir, Christina Baldwin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Spurred by books such as Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, interest in writing and spiritual growth is greater than ever. At the same time, personal growth books are mainstays of the bestseller lists.

In Writing Spiritual Books, Hal Zina Bennett, who has coached such well-known writers as Shakti Gawain, Judith Orloff, and Jerry Jampolsky, blends these trends, showing readers how to focus on their spiritual experience in a way that will enlighten and captivate others. Including both anecdotal and prescriptive material gleaned from his work as a writing coach, the book contains writing exercises, exploratory questions, and other practical guidance. A useful resource section addresses the too-often-neglected issue of finding an agent and publisher with current lists of both. Individual chapters include Choosing a Vehicle for Your Message, Where to Begin — Finding Models to Follow and Read Deeply, and Getting Published and What Comes Later.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (October 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930722370
• ISBN-13: 978-1930722378
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #387,530 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have If You're Considering Writing a Spiritual Book, April 9, 2007

By	Janet Boyer "JanetBoyer.com" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Perhaps the greatest lesson any of us has to teach as an author is to touch our readers in such a way that they can remember their spiritual identity, and we do that as much by the relationship we establish with them as by anything we say about a particular subject. Put simply, the quality of the relationship we establish with our readers may well be our greatest message." - From the book

Have you survived unusual life circumstances and thought, "Boy, I could write a book!" Or perhaps you've written some articles and reviews, and your readers have told you "You need to write a book!" Maybe you've experienced the creative stirrings deep within your soul, feeling "I've got a book in me...*somewhere*."

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, writing coach and author Hal Zina Bennett gives you the tools to make successful publication a reachable goal in his book Writing Spiritual Books. From knowing your mission to finding models to follow, mapping out your book to creating a solid proposal, Bennett inspires potential authors with insider tips, friendly advice, and helpful resources.

Writing Spiritual Books boosts confidence, largely by affirming that there are many approaches--and many formats--for writing New Age, self-help, self-improvement, or "spiritual" book. From biography to memoir, visionary fiction to channeled material, the author gives examples from published books from well-known authors to show readers exactly how--and why--they work.

Bennett emphasizes that "writing a book can never be a waste of time, whether it is ever published or not", and maintains that tenacity and the act of writing itself can be a rich reward.

From identifying your target audience to empathizing with your readers, providing relevant anecdotes to imbuing prose with sensual imagery, the author not only shows writers how to connect with their audience, but also provides practical guidelines for organizing ideas, themes, and chapters. He also encourages would-be authors to value the power of personal experiences. In fact, he points out that journaling, reflection, and "clustering" can help you mine the jewels from your life for inclusion in your book.

As a bibliophile and reviewer, I tend to aggravated with books that tell you "what" you're supposed to be doing--but never provide the tools for HOW to do it. I was thrilled that Bennett pointed out this truth to potential writers by saying, "...we must not only point readers to the mother lode but also supply them with the tools and the light to uncover the treasure."

Some of the other things you will learn from Writing Spiritual Books include:

* How to overcome resistance to writing a spiritual book
* Step-by-step brainstorming exercises
* How to be a storyteller
* Using memorable quotes to articulate difficult concepts
* Writing authentically and responsibly
* Creating experiential exercises that grab the readers' attention
* Anticipating what the reader is thinking and feeling
* Determining how--and why--your book is different from others
* Getting published and what comes afterwards

Bennett also provides a listing of spirit-friendly agents, as well as publishers that seek spiritual books, online writer's resources, books to take your further in your writing journey, and author-friendly bookstores across the U.S. for book signings, promotion, and talks.

I find myself consulting Writing Spiritual Books on a frequent basis these days, and Bennett's engaging tone and hard-won wisdom excites me with possibility.
Even my reviews and articles have benefited from his sage advice. I enjoy conveying information, but this bit of insight on communication has aided me tremendously:

"Communication always includes caring about what's going on for the person you're communicating with...Information focuses, instead, on facts, with little or no concern for human factors that may be involved."

He pairs this great advice with a story about a cross-country trip he took as a college student. A breakdown left him stranded in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from home and with very little money. He shares how the kind, caring voice of the wife of the tow-truck driver on the other end of the payphone made all the difference in the world to him that night as he stood on a busy, noisy highway.

If you're considering writing a book or perhaps creating articles with spiritual themes, Writing Spiritual Books is a must have guide! Bennett serves as a writing coach, cheerleader, and tour guide through the often arduous and daunting terrain of book publication--providing us with a clear map, gentle encouragement, and realistic expectations throughout the writing journey.

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, full of resources and helpful, January 4, 2006

By	Maria E. Andreu "author of Illegal: Growing U... (Leonia, New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book practices what it preaches, giving you examples and lots of clarity about how to write a good spiritual book. I particularly like the resources section in the back - gives you lots of orientation about how to get agents, publishers, etc.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Writing Spiritual Books: A Bestselling Writer's Guide to Successful Publication, January 9, 2007

By	Wild Writer "Writer for Life" (Sunnyside, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This book was laid out in a wonderful way. I could read from the beginning or look for something in other chapters that was of interest to me. The fun part was the mind mapping. I found that an interesting and useful way to figure out what kind of focus, types of chapters and topics of my potential book. I bought it for the reason I would like to write and publish my own book. This book provided clear and easy ideas for layout, what to write to capture the attention of my potential reader and the joys and pitfalls of writing a book of any kind. My book at the end may or may not be a spiritual one but that doesn't matter- Writing Spiritual Books: A Bestselling Writer's Guide to Successful Publication, provided solid information for any genre a person might consider writing.