General Guides

A wide-ranging category, which includes general guides to writing and handbooks for authors, as well as more specific titles such as those on research.

General Guides from WritersBookStall


£13.99	Creative Writing: A Practical Guide Julia Casterton Palgrave Macmillan Based on the author's experience as a leader of writing workshops, this offers a practical approach to creative writing. This latest edition includes three additional chapters. General Guides
£10.99	501 Writers Questions Answered: Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Getting Published Nancy Smith Piatkus Very handy general guide which answers all those nagging questions. General Guides
£8.99	Be a Successful Writer: 99 Surefire Checklists (Writers' guides) Gordon Wells Allison & Busby Extremely wide-ranging and useful little book, which covers everything you can think of from getting ideas to interview techniques, research, structuring an article, payment rates and so on. General Guides
£7.99	One Step Ahead: Editing and Revising Text Jo Billingham, John Seely OUP Oxford A practical guide to editing which shows you how to make text more readable on screen or paper by recognising your editing aims and sticking to them. Focuses on achieving accuracy, brevity and clarity. General Guides
£9.99	New Author's Handbook David Bolt Peter Owen Second edition of useful handbook for authors written by highly experienced agent. General Guides
£8.99 Read Review	Mortification: Writers' Stories of their Public Shame Robin Robertson Harper Perennial The trials of being a writer never seem to end. This is an anthology of what can, and does, go wrong. General Guides
£8.99	Write and Sell Your Novel: The Beginner's Guide to Writing for Publication (How to Books (Midpoint)) Marina Oliver How To Books Ltd The author of over 50 books provides a concise and practical step-by-step guide which is a useful introduction. General Guides, Fiction Writing
£6.99 Read Review	Writing for Pleasure and Profit Michael Legat Robert Hale Ltd An excellent general guide to the craft of writing. ‘The best of the recent introductions to writing, covering novels, non-fiction and other topics briefly but clearly’ Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. More General Guides
£9.99 Read Review	An Author's Guide to Publishing Michael Legat Robert Hale Ltd The most comprehensive general introductory guide, recommended by the Society of Authors: ‘invaluable reading for all authors – and not simply beginners … we can thoroughly recommend his book as a balanced, helpful and informative guide to the profession of authorship’. More General Guides
£15.00 Read Review	Solutions for Writers: Practical Craft Techniques for Fiction and Non-fiction Sol Stein Souvenir Press Ltd Practical techniques to help you solve every type of writing problem from a veteran American editor. Highly recommended by our reviewer: 'If you can’t sit across the desk from him, face to face, this book is a very good substitute. You’ll learn a lot about the business of writing.' General Guides
£34.99	Editing Fact and Fiction: A Concise Guide to Book Editing Leslie Sharpe, Richard Marek, Irene Gunther Cambridge University Press Addressed primarily at book publishers and editors, but nonetheless useful for writers editing their own work, this provides a thorough step-by-step approach to the editing process, using American English. General Guides
£11.99 Read Review	Research for Writers (Writing Handbooks) Ann Hoffmann A & C Black Publishers Ltd A wide-ranging and clearly laid-out guide to research and how to approach it. Our Reviewer found this a really useful book. We have a new review of the updated 7th edition, which our second reviewer called 'an excellent tool for all writers who need to research in any field.' General Guides
£15.99	The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile Noah Lukeman Robert Hale Ltd The author believes, with good evidence, that a manuscript is read or rejected on the basis of the first five pages, so here’s a guide for aspiring writers on getting past that rejection pile. General Guides
£17.99	Copyediting: A Practical Guide Karen Judd Robert Hale Ltd A thorough and specific UK guide to the whole process of copy editing, which covers the field thoroughly from symbols to numbers and capitalisation, and includes how to deal with notes, bibliographies, etc. General Guides
£9.99 Read Review	Revision: An Author's Guide Michael Legat Robert Hale Ltd If you know that your manuscript needs revising, this helpful book will show you exactly how to go about it in specific detail. More General Guides
£9.99 Read Review	The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers Betsy Lerner Macmillan An American editor shares her wisdom in an insider's approach to publishing processes for writers just getting started and those stalled in mid-career. Publishers WeeklyInternational news website of book publishing and bookselling including business news, reviews, bestseller lists, commentaries http://www.publishersweekly.com/ said 'a quirky, informal, engaging guide'. But our reviewer concluded that:‘If you’re looking for a book which will give you a blow-by-blow foolproof account of exactly what you need to do in order to attract an editor’s or agent’s attention and sell your book, this is probably not your best bet.’ General Guides
£9.99	Becoming A Writer Dorothea Brande Macmillan The much-loved classic guide, which provides a personal and genuinely inspirational approach to the practicalities of becoming a writer. Malcolm Bradbury described it as ‘a living classic … As a wise, sensible and honest guidebook Dorothea Brande’s book can’t be bettered.’ General Guides
£9.99	The Writer's Guide to Research: 2nd edition: An Invaluable Guide to Gathering Materials for Features, Novels and Non-Fiction Books (Creative Writing) Marion Field How To Books Short step-by-step guide to how to approach this key topic, with address list and case histories. General Guides
£8.99	Writers' Questions and Answers (Writers' Guides) Gordon Wells Allison & Busby A book of questions and answers, dealing with a great many knotty problems for writers. General Guides
£6.99	Merriam-Webster's Concise Handbook for Writers Merriam-Webster Crombie Jardine Publishing Practical, authoritative and comprehensive American guide to improving your writing skills, with examples and explanations, and including a useful section for editors on proof-reading and copy editing. General Guides
£19.99	The Writer's Idea Book Jack Heffron F&W If you have good ideas but don’t know how to develop them, this helpful guide will show you how to explore your own ideas, generate new ones and develop them to the full. The author uses exercises to help you adopt a positive attitude, structure your work and improve your writing techniques. General Guides
£14.99	From Pitch to Publication: Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Novel Published Carole Blake Macmillan Comprehensive insider’s guide to how to get an agent and get your book published, written by top agent. Frank, informative and clear, this is just what unpublished writers need. See our current Extract from the book and more on Carole Blake. General Guides
£15.95	Stein on Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies Sol Stein St. Martin's Griffin Practical techniques to help you solve every type of writing problem from a veteran American editor. Highly recommended by our reviewer: 'If you can’t sit across the desk from him, face to face, this book is a very good substitute. You’ll learn a lot about the business of writing.' General Guides