Features

Author Dan Poynter has written over 100 books. Think he knows something about publishing? Not only has he written three digits worth of books, but he also has a publishing company that publishes and distributes many quality articles, resources, and books about publishing.

Writing Nonfiction is an easy, educational, fast, and enjoyable read. Poynter goes through the authoring and publishing process from idea to marketing. The end of chapter one has a numbered list of the 18 steps to do this.

Poynter explains “The New Book Model,” which takes books from page-layout format to printing them on high-speed laser printers. You can read about it on Para Publishing’s site (http://www.self-publishing.com/sites/para/resources/newbook.cfm). While this sounds like something that’s going to age the book quickly, it won’t because the fundamentals of writing a book change little over time. These include selecting a topic, researching, building a binder and getting organized, creating a title and subtitle, and working through the writing process.

Useful quotes like literary agent Michael Larsen who said, “Books sell five times faster when displayed face out,” appear throughout the book. The binder and information about testimonials are worth the book’s price as few people know about these processes. This impressive book packs a lot of valuable advice in its short 150 pages. In sum, the book walks the talk and is a prime example of its lessons.

Title: Writing Nonfiction
Author: Dan Poynter
Publisher: Para Publishing
ISBN: 1568601107
Date: January 2005
Format: Paperback
Pages: 144
Cover Price: USD: $14.95 Amazon: $9.72