The Author's Toolkit

All writers yearn for success and recognition. In The Author's Toolkit, aspiring authors, students, and even established writers will find the resources they need to achieve their goals. Updated and expanded to cover the newest developments in electronic publishing, the growth of print-on-demand, and tips for using social media for promotion and community, this detailed guide offers advice on every step of the writing and publishing process. Readers will learn how to:

- develop and research fiction and nonfiction ideas

- find a "hook" to attract publisher interest

- organize a plot and delineate characters

- follow correct writing and editing principles

- create a professional manuscript

- find an agent

- understand literary contracts

- market and promote a finished book

- avoid common writer pitfalls

Written in an informative and easy-to-understand style, this guide is a treasure chest of resources for writers seeking professional advice. Anyone intending to become a published author must have the indispensable tools offered in The Author's Toolkit.

Mary Embree is an author, literary consultant, editor, public speaker, and writer's workshop leader. She is the Executive Director of the California Literary Arts Society, which produces the annual Ventura Book Festival and is also the founding director of the Small Publishers, Artists & Writers Network (SPAWN). She has worked with hundreds of authors, many of whom have not written a book before. She knows firsthand the common mistakes authors make and advises how to avoid them. A former film and television writer and researcher, she is the author if The Birds and the Bees of Words (Allworth Press). She lives in Ventura, California.