I'm not sure who this book is for. Beginning writers, sure, but how 'beginning'? I don't know if I just feel I'm a step or two beyond this book, or if I question just how much need there is for this much of a beginner book, but I really felt put-off by how simple author Lauren Bingham treated this. One of the first chapters, two pages long, titled "Before You Start Writing" deals with the prospective author first needing to decide what type of book they want to write and attempts to help the beginner understand if that's non-fiction, what kind of non-fiction or fiction. There are so many choices! How do you decide? Think on it. Sleep on it. Day dream about it. Make lists. The answer of what type of book you want to write will come to you.

I'm not going to go chapter by chapter pointing out the sheer basic-ness of what is presented here. I think this early portion definitely sets an appropriate expectation on the reader. And while I do wonder what kind of writer wants or needs a book like this, the truth is that there are plenty of people who could use something like this. Try running any kind of writing contest and I promise you will see submissions that come from people who clearly need to learn the basics.

One of my issues with independently published books is the tendency to pad the pages. I'm aware that sellers like Amazon tend to pay the author based on how many pages are in the book and so many writers (especially non-fiction authors, in my experience) stretch their page count as much as possible. Bingham has a couple of tricks up the sleeve, including using half a page to share the definition of "edit" from Merriam Webster's online dictionary. There's also a moment where two paragraphs are repeated, but I suspect (hope?) this is an editing error that was in my ARC but was caught before going to press.

My copy of this book appears to be two books combined into one title. There's How to Write a Book: Taking the Plunge into Non-Fiction and Conquering Your New Writer Fears and Doubts (86 pages) and How to Write a Book: Non-Fiction for Newbies: How to Write a Factual Book and Actually Kind of Enjoy It (88 pages). At least the second title addresses who the target audience is.

I did appreciate one of the exercises included but if we're told, in a bullet point that this is "15 minutes of uninterrupted time" do we really need another sentence telling us: "That means you're going to spend the quarter hour writing about one particular memory"?

Looking for a good book? If you need a book as basic as Lauren Bingham's How to Write a Book compilation, then you probably aren't reading reviews, but if you need this book, then I hope you'll take the advice to heart and write, write, write.

I received a digital copy of this book from the author, through LibraryThing, in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars ( )

This book was ok for me. It definitely had a lot of useful information and insights on how to form not just a character, but also the story. It also showed how to deal with staying organised and not write a 2000 page book because everything seems important. I would prefer if it was a bit shorter, since there were a few points i didn’t find interesting but you can easily skip them and learn a lot from the book. I would appreciate if the contents showed number of page on which it is so i could go directly to a part i need when i am rereading the book, but maybe that was just my book since it was a second copy i read since i had some trouble with receiving the first one, not the authors fault.

I was supposed to receive a copy of this book and never did. Fortunately I found the title in my Kindle Unlimited account and was able to download, read, and review this title.

Anyone aspiring to write a book will find this title a perfect fit. The text is pleasant, inspirational, encouraging, and written with humor - a joy to read. The author provides step-by-step directions, helpful tips for organizing, and motivation to help overcome common obstacles in writing, such as writer's block, procrastination, etc. It persuades readers that if they want to write a book, even though the process isn't easy, the desired goal is possible.

The book's first part begins with a chapter on writing fiction, then non-fiction. A chapter on the writing process, one on editing, one on publishing, and a section providing resources related to each chapter conclude the first book.

Writing non-fiction is the focus of the second section of the book. The chapters in this section examine various writing non-fiction subjects, such as biographies, history, self-help, philosophy, etc. It also concludes with helpful resources, plus free writing exercises to download and use.

If you didn't want to write a book before reading, this title will convince you that you do and can. ( )

This book serves as a good outline for the person who always wanted to write a book and didn't know where to begin. Along the way encouragement is offered along the way. A lot of attention is given to writing and being comfortable in the process. Plenty of resources are provided. ( )

BRAVA to Lauren Bingham for putting together a road map for us first-time writers. I found the analogy of taking a road trip helpful; I can break this overwhelming project down into bite-sized parcels, like driving from point A to point B. For me, starting is always the most challenging part of any project. After reading this book, I don't feel as frozen. She writes like people talk, with a soothing, understanding tone. But then she commands us to MOVE!

I appreciated the 'not as hard as it seems' attitude she uses to talk us through the process. She encourages us to move at our pace, in whatever capacity that is, as long as we do our 'pre-work' first. As in most things, a good foundation makes for a strong building. She also allows us to recognize that we might not BE writers in search of publishing/fame/accolades...and that's ok, too. No guilt. But how do we know until we try?

Thanks to Lauren, I'm much more relaxed and confident in my approach to my work. And excited to see what I can do! ( )