Publishing Confidential: The Insider's Guide to What It Really Takes to Land a Nonfiction Book Deal

With insight and irreverence Paul Brown lays it all out for aspiring writers. He takes you from book proposal to agent to publisher to promotion. That's all that a would-be nonfiction author could want. He'll tell you things you don't want to hear, but must know in order to make your foray into writing a success. Brown has endured book ideas that were rejected and books that didn't sell, along with a perennial best-seller Customers For Life. If nothing else Brown knows his trade when it comes to publishing nonfiction books. I'd like to point out errors in his 'Nontraditional Approaches' but from my observations, Brown is correct more than I'd like to say. And, when he has a question, he knows where to go to find the answers, which, of course, he shares with readers. If you don't like the idea of pitching book ideas to publishers, then maybe being an author isn't for you. If you don't like the idea of a 40 to 50 page book proposal, Brown will explain why it's in your best interest to get through it, or scrap your idea of a nonfiction book deal. If you want a bigger advance - and why you should try to get the most you can (besides the obvious reason) - are nailed by Brown in Publishing Confidential. If your idea is to write a nonfiction best seller, then Brown's book will save you a lot of time, and serve as your tour guide. You may not write the next top selling business book, it's not a guarantee, but Brown's book will help you get through it with his `insider's guide to what it really takes to land a nonfiction book deal.' Brown delivers.

I have no doubt that writing a book will be hard. (That's why I was looking for how-to-write-a-book books.) But this one is at least not painful to read. In fact, it is flat out funny and sometimes insprirational. I still don't know if I am going to try to write a book, but this one made the process seem accessible.

I loved this book. The author's honest, forthright style and sense of humor made it a quick and easy read. He not only tells us how to get a book deal through his knowledge and experience in the subject matter, he also SHOWS how with numerous anecdotes and real-world examples, including a complete proposal that was actually bought by someone. Even better, he also goes through all of the myriad other things you need to do not just to publish a book but to make it successful (marketing, pr, sales, interviews, etc.)

What does it take to land a nonfiction book deal? Plenty of titles tell how to write a nonfiction book, but Paul B. Brown's Publishing Confidential: The Insider's Guide to What It Really Takes to Land a Nonfiction Book Deal expertly addresses the nuts and bolts of editorial decision-making processes. Brown supplements his own wry humor and insights from his own experience with notes from his editor Ellen Kadin, who blends his text with her own editorial comments and observations. The result is a writer's guide to publisher decision-making processes.

Maybe books should be subjected to truth in advertising laws. Most other books that tell you how to be published, happily or otherwise, concentrate on how to write. I know how to write. (I think.) What I need is help getting published. This helps. A lot.