Writing Successful Self-Help and How-To Books

Book excerpt: If you follow only a third of Jean's advice, you'll have a successful book. --Jeremy Tarcher, Publisher Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. ""After Jean reworked my first draft, paperback rights sold for $137,000."" --Timmen Cermak, M.D., author of A Time to Heal: The Road to Recovery for Adult Children of Alcoholics Mastering the craft and understanding the mechanics of writing self-help and how-to books is the key to getting publishers to take notice of your work. Now, in the first guide to writing self-help and how-to books, Jean Stine offers an insider's view of this growing genre. Her easy-to-follow program takes you step-by-step through the complete writing process. You'll learn the importance of: * Structure and Style * Clear, easy-to-understand exercises * Creating catchy and compelling titles, subtitles, and chapter headings * Using lists, charts, and graphs to maximum effect * Checklists and other interactive elements * Writing a proposal that sells * Negotiating permissions for quotations, photos, and illustrations * Preparing your manuscript for presentation to a publisher