Complete Idiots Guide To Writing A Novel: Amazon.ca: Tom Monteleone: Books

Product Description

Book Description

A completely updated guide for first-time novelists.

Completely revised to include new interviews with best-selling authors; more detailed information on writing genre fiction from paranormal romance to cozy mysteries; and everything a writer needs to know about self-publishing and eBooks to get started. The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Writing a Novel, Second Edition, is an indispensable reference on how to write and publish a first novel.

?Expert author with over thirty published novels

?Includes interviews with new best-selling novelists ?Features new material on writing genre fiction and self-publishing

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Tom Monteleone is the acclaimed author of over a dozen popular novels. He has also edited 14 science fiction and horror anthologies, including the successful Borderlands series. His novels have been translated into six languages.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Lots of people think it would be very cool to be a writer. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
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Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best how-to, April 24 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Idiots Guide To Writing A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

The author states that this is the best how-to write book out there. I strongly disagree. The information is too sparse; he never goes into detail on any subject. Most of the information is just your basic novel writing stuff you can find on the web or in any Writer's Digest book (which *are* the best). Another con to this book is the author's ego. He never lets you forget how "smart" he is and how he knows how to write a great novel--even though I've never heard of him until I got this book. Upon doing research on him, his M.A.F.I.A. column in Cemetery Dance is nothing more than egostistical ramblings. As another poster pointed out, almost all of his books are out of print. He publised Borderlands 5 this year. Borderlands is supposed to be one of the best horror/dark fantasy anthologies around. Unfortunatly, it contains missing lines and paragraphs. He should have made the printer redo the antho. (I got this information from his website www.borderlandspress.com)

I was greatly disappointed in this book and consider it a waste of money. Go to www.writersdigest.com and get a better how-to write book.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Your best introduction to novel writing, April 29 2004

By

David Wilbanks (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Complete Idiots Guide To Writing A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read a lot of beginners novel-writing books and this has to be the friendliest, most useful, introduction to the craft by far. As usual with this series of books, everything you need to know is broken down into sensible and easy to understand language, with additional little tips and hints scattered alongside the main text. This format helps keep the book interesting and easy to reference. Mr. Monteleone takes you gently by the hand, gives you the benefit of his years of precious knowledge (he's written many fine novels), and tells you everything you need to know about how to get started on that novel you've always been itching to write.

As I said, I've read dozens of novel-writing books, (including the sometimes confusing, sometimes useless Writers Digest books someone else mentioned), and take it from someone who's not afraid to put their name on a review: for the beginner, there's nothing finer out there.

Get this book, have fun reading it, and write that novel!

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enriching, April 23 2004

By

Eileen G. Lesser (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Idiots Guide To Writing A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved Monteleone's book on writing a novel, and I am making it required reading for a creative writing class which I teach. Mr. Monteleone has taken a difficult subject and made it simple, yet enriching. This is no easy task. I have also read several of Monteleone's novels and find his thriller "Blood of the Lamb" one of my favorite books.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on Writing a Novel Ever!
I was very happy with the way this book was organized and presented. Of course, much of the information is available elsewhere . . . . Read more

Published on Jun 14 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Rather disappointed
There is a considerable amount of good information in this book, such as types of genre, the importance of being well-read, as well as the usual information that every other... Read more

Published on Jun 13 2004