Book Review: The Author Training Manual by Nina Amir

If you're considering a nonfiction project, you'll want to pick up a copy of The Author Training Manual by Nina Amir.

In this useful writer resource, you'll learn a step-by-step process that helps you develop an author attitude, evaluate your idea, create a Table of Contents to help you structure your book, find ways to brand yourself, and learn if you you will make a good publishing partner for a publisher or how to self-publish effectively.

The book opens with a discussion on what are the essential characteristics one must possess for publishing success, and then quickly moves to the evaluation process. It then takes the reader one step at a time through figuring out if your book has a market, judging the competition, learning how to structure your book, and more. The end of each chapter includes a suggested reading list. Important topics such as business plans, book proposals, and platform are discussed.

After the step-by-step process is thoroughly discussed, Amir shares numerous samples of business plans for self-publishing or book proposals meant to be submitted to agents/publishers. These samples include comments from agents and editors. Then you move on to the Training Exercises. These tie into the step-by-step process you learn about. These are multi-step exercises for you to perform that will help you judge if you have what it takes to be successful in publishing and to evaluate your idea before you spend years writing a book that won't sell.

Though The Author Training Manual is geared heavily toward writers of non-fiction, I can definitely see how even fiction writers will learn a great deal from going through this process. What amazed me the most about Amir's book is that though it contains a ton of helpful information, it's not overwhelming. It makes business plans and book proposals seem not quite so daunting. And once you've performed this task on a couple of ideas, it will probably become second nature before you start any project.

The Author Training Manual is an excellent resource for aspiring and novice authors. It would also be a great refresher course or source of encouragement for seasoned writers who are looking to get refocused.

Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 18, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599631458
ISBN-13: 978-1599631455

I received this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

I read this book for the following challenge:

First Chapter Review: The Author Training Manual by Nina Amir

I received a copy of The Author Training Manual by Nina Amir through Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tours.

BLURB:  Anyone can publish a book and become an “author,” but if you want to become a successful author with a profitable publishing career, you need a clear, step-by-step guide to help you develop book ideas that sell. In The Author Training Manual, expert editor and book coach Nina Amir reveals the exact process successful authors have used to create business plans and proposals for their books and teaches you how to view your ideas through the eyes of acquisition editors and literary agents.

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, plan to traditionally publish or self-publish, The Author Training Manual provides you with the tools you need to achieve your goals and become the author publishers and readers want. Inside you’ll find concrete steps, evaluations, sample business plans, in-depth training activities, editor and agent commentaries, and much more – all designed to help you stand out, from the slush pile to the shelf.

COVER: I don't think the picture does the cover art justice. The background image of the head with different cogs is a clever design that is nicely set off by the red lettering and blue border.

FIRST CHAPTER: After a Foreword by James Scott Bell and the author's short introduction, the reader learns about "Author Attitude," the essential characteristics necessary if you seek publishing success. The next section, "How to Begin" discusses how you can evaluate yourself and your book for success, before moving into Step #1, which is "Develop an 'Author Attitude' and Plan Your Success."

KEEP READING: Definitely. This is more than a manual that encourages you to treat writing like a business. It is an approach that will help you evaluate your ideas, flesh them out, and turn them into publishable books. What could be worse than spending years writing a book then discovering publishers aren't interested? Or worse, your idea was so vague at the beginning, that you still don't know who your target audience is after you've self-published it.

A full review was scheduled for today, but I overbooked my week and didn't finish this book yet. The other reason for the delay is that this isn't a book you can just read and put back on the shelf to use for fly-by-night inspiration. The Author Training Manual is meant to help you see if you have the "Author Attitude" that will help you be successful. The book includes exercises, which I want to perform, to see what type of difference it make toward my current project. I'm not sure I'll get to all of them before I post my full review on Thursday, but I definitely want to try one or two to see how this impacts what I'm working on now.

The Author Training Manual is a fascinating book. I look forward to learning more of what Amir has to say about "Author Attitude."

Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 18, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599631458
ISBN-13: 978-1599631455

This review contains my honest opinions, which I was not compensated for in any way.