Bird by Bird
Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Written by Anne Lamott

Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
On Sale: September 1, 1995
Price: $13.95
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 978-0-385-48001-7 (0-385-48001-6)

An honest and humorous step-by-step guide on how to write and how to manage the writer's life. From "Getting Started," with "Short Assignments," through "Shitty First Drafts," "Character," "Plot," "Dialogue."  All the way from "False Starts" to "How Do You Know When You're Done?" She discusses writer's Block, writing Groups, and the... Read more >

The Modern Library Writer's Workshop
A Guide to the Craft of Fiction
Written by Stephen Koch

Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
On Sale: April 1, 2003
Price: $14.95
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 978-0-375-75558-3 (0-375-75558-6)

Compiling wisdom and advice from such masters of the craft as Henry James, E. M. Forster, Eudora Welty, and Toni Morrison, this guide to fiction writing provides helpful observations and techniques for would-be fiction writers, covering such topics as: Beginnings; The Writing Life; Shaping the Story; Making Characters Live; Inventing Your... Read more >

The Pen Commandments

Written by Steven Frank

Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
On Sale: September 14, 2004
Price: $12.95
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 978-1-4000-3229-7 (1-4000-3229-6)

Thou Shalt Honor Thy Reader, Thou Shalt Not Waste Words, Thou Shalt Not Kill Thy Sentences—these are three of the “pen” commandments through which, with humor and an engaging sense of purpose, Steven Frank inspires his readers not just to write but to write well.

Thou Shalt Take Pleasure in Thy Pen... Read more >

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers
Pop Language in Your Life, the Media, and Like . . . Whatever
Written by Leslie Savan

Format: Trade Paperback, 352 pages
On Sale: October 10, 2006
Price: $14.00
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978-0-375-70242-6 (0-375-70242-3)

A marvelously original and informative book about the ever-changing American language that offers surprising insights into why we talk the way we talk.

With dazzling wit and acuity, three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Leslie Savan dissects contemporary language to discover what our most popular idioms reveal about America today. She traces the... Read more >

Spunk & Bite
A Writer's Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style
Written by Arthur Plotnik

Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
On Sale: May 8, 2007
Price: $12.95
Publisher: Random House Reference
ISBN: 978-0-375-72227-1 (0-375-72227-0)

When too tightly leashed, writing chokes and loses its vitality. Although the rules of composition popularized in William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White’s Elements of Style have been de rigueur for decades, they won’t exactly set your writing free.

To the rescue comes Spunk & Bite, a guide to bold and... Read more >

Thank You for Arguing
What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion
Written by Jay Heinrichs

Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
On Sale: February 27, 2007
Price: $13.95
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
ISBN: 978-0-307-34144-0 (0-307-34144-5)

Thank You for Arguing is your master class in the art of persuasion, taught by professors ranging from Bart Simpson to Winston Churchill. The time-tested secrets the book discloses include Cicero’s three-step strategy for moving an audience to action--as well as Honest Abe’s Shameless Trick of lowering an audience’s expectations by... Read more >

True Notebooks
A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall
Written by Mark Salzman

Format: Trade Paperback, 352 pages
On Sale: August 31, 2004
Price: $14.95
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978-0-375-72761-0 (0-375-72761-2)

When Mark Salzman is invited to visit a writing class at Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for Los Angeles’s most violent teenage offenders, he scrambles for a polite reason to decline. He goes—expecting the worst—and is so astonished by what he finds that he becomes a teacher there himself. True Notebooks... Read more >

The Virginia Woolf Writers' Workshop
Seven Lessons to Inspire Great Writing
Written by Danell Jones

Format: Hardcover, 176 pages
On Sale: September 25, 2007
Price: $24.00
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 978-0-553-80650-2 (0-553-80650-5)

In this brilliantly imagined book, author Danell Jones mines the diaries, essays, correspondence, and fiction of a literary legend to create an unforgettable master class in the art of writing. Using Virginia Woolf’s own words, this inspiring, instructive, and entertaining guide will delight fans, students, and teachers alike—and at last give... Read more >

A Writer's Coach
The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work
Written by Jack R. Hart

Format: Trade Paperback, 304 pages
On Sale: August 14, 2007
Price: $13.95
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 978-1-4000-7869-1 (1-4000-7869-5)

Mystified over misplaced modifiers? In a trance from intransitive verbs? Paralyzed from using the passive voice? To aid writers, from beginners to professionals, legendary writing coach Jack Hart presents a comprehensive, practical, step-by-step approach to the writing process. He shares his techniques for composing and sustaining powerful writing and demonstrates how... Read more >

Writing Begins with the Breath
Embodying Your Authentic Voice
Written by Laraine Herring

Format: Trade Paperback, 208 pages
On Sale: September 11, 2007
Price: $12.95
Publisher: Shambhala
ISBN: 978-1-59030-473-0 (1-59030-473-X)

Laraine Herring’s distinctive new approach to the writing craft provides a welcome jump-start for new writers—and will open up a whole world of creativity for people who may not have considered themselves writers before—while also providing keen insights into the craft for seasoned writers. Her secret is to move the focus... Read more >