How to Make a Living as a Writer (Bell on Writing) Paperback – October 31, 2014

I read this book in 3 days. If I didn't have a husband and 4 children who wanted food and clean clothes all the time, I would've finished it sooner. It's been a while since I've read a book on writing that has kept my attention as well as this one. I've read many books on the subject of writing and after a while it sometimes seems the same information is regurgitated in different ways by different authors.However, I learned new things in this book. Tips I haven't tried before such as using a site with the sounds of a coffee shop as background noise while I write (FANTASTIC!). Also, methods for brainstorming that I haven't used in a long time, and frankly, forgot about, but work so wonderfully that I'm happy to be reminded of it so I can attempt them again. I've never heard of the LOCK system, so I'm eager to give that one a try. Personally, I enjoyed reading the sections on traditional publishing, self-publishing, and how to write a novella and short story the best. The examples used were excellent and informative.Which brings me to the format of this book. The chapters are broken down in easy to locate sections, which I know will be essential when I re-read this (and I guarantee, I'll re-read this one). It's full of valuable information for both newbie writers and old pros. Perhaps the best piece of advice was given at the beginning of the book, how a writer should look at writing success as a game and not winning the lottery. That part lit a spark in my brain. Why hadn't I thought of it like that before?The author's voice is entertaining to make this an easy, quick read, slowed down only by the need to jot down notes in a notebook. I wrote several pages of information I hope to make use of shortly. I'm the kind of writer who likes to try new ideas or methods to improve my writing. I'll never be finished with studying the craft, but finding a book like this one adds that little valuable something that makes me remember why I love writing so much.

I bought this book on an impulse that attests more to the marketing skill of Amazon.com than the appeal of the topic or recognition of the author. Having published a dozen books myself without earning enough continuous income to pay my living expenses, I thought there might be a new wrinkle or two I should know about, and throwing away a couple of dollars and a couple of hours reading was not a great waste, especially as I was basking in the afterglow of a successful stock trade (where the real money is).This book is more motivational and promotional than instructive and the "How To" title is misleading. The author delights in dropping the names of financially successful writers who were early entries into the world of e-book publication—when e-reader devices outnumbered e-book titles—and the book content seems more like a Suggested Reading List and Book Services Directory, than explaining how to earn a living (it would seem designing book covers is more dependable and potentially more financially rewarding).Fluff is mentioned as a topic: "Fluff is the stuff that is not helpful and takes up too much space. It is the kind of material that has the reader thinking, Get [sic] to the point already!" an opinion Mr. Bell should take to heart, along with his suggestion to hire an editor to prevent grammatical errors, as in the quote above, because shortly thereafter he admonishes writers that "Yes, grammar matters," and "So learn to write." Ahem... perhaps a personal brushup would be wise Mr. Bell, ( especially for slang/jargon terms such as "alsobot").In addition, the technical formatting of the book would benefit from the talents of a skillful HTML/CSS coder (to remove the TOC numbering and underlining) rather than relying on the obviously limited capabilities of the Scrivener application, which causes another grammatical error on every leading paragraph (paragraphs should only be indented when following another paragraph, not after figures, headings, titles or chapter breaks).Mr. Bell does have a few interesting comments about writing book jacket descriptions and preparing an "elevator pitch," which I think are worth two dollars, so I feel the Kindle price is not excessive and I have received something for my money. The cost of the paperback version would leave me feeling cheated because any author contemplating making a living as a writer would already know just about everything in this book.The book contains a link to the author's website which under the guise of a free giveaway, harvests e-mail addresses for future promotional junk mail.As I have not read any of his novels or other material, I cannot comment on his storytelling ability, which may be very good, but you must risk your own money to find out.

How to Make a Living As a Writer by James Scott Bell caught my attention because of my intent to become a writer on the side. I have a right idea on the timeline that I would like to meet this goal, but I’m intuitively avoiding sharing this deadline I have set for myself due to the fact that it would defeat my purpose of publishing under an alias/penname that I’m still in the process of choosing a name for. Perseverance-page 12, the 8 essentials of your writing business starts on page 17, unlocking your creative genius (starts on page 58), a short course on self-publishing (starts on page 105), thinking like a publisher (starts on page 107), and the foundations of successful fiction (starts on page 158) are among the multiple topics covered in this informative guide that is How to Make a Living As a Writer by James Scott Bell. The positive takeaway that I got from How To make a Living as a Writer by James Scott Bell is how vital it is to be patient and persistent in financial profits, spiritual gains/growth, and/or other type of benevolent payoffs when a person wants to see the creations of their imaginations miraculously come to life through the avenue of publishing (whether the writings are fiction, based on a related writing career such as for public relations and other writing related careers, based on their or true life stories of others, for plays, for scripts, for cartoon stories etc.

'How to Make a Living as a Writer' is a readable examination of the different aspects of a self-published writer's life from a successful thriller writer. A lot of these books seem to be by authors who write 'how to' books but with no evidence they know 'how to' themselves. Like all in this genre it understates the competition - even more intense in 2022 - and presumes the reader is a pretty good writer. Perhaps you're just not. Probably, I'm not. If you are a good writer, you should succeed anyway.My favourite part was the last chapter where James sensibly points out that you can't let the writing game take over your life and should manage expectations, including a bit of old philosophy. That's exceptional in these sort of guides and the reason I give it four stars.

I have read a number of How to write books but this is my favourite so far. It is easy to read and understand and is full of helpful information on all different forms of writing, including Novels, Novellas, short stories, non-fiction etc. There is a helpful chapter on Nanowrimo as well as self-editing advice and goal setting tips. I have learned a lot from this book and will be reading it again with a notebook and pen in hand to take notes. It is nice to read a book that isn't full of repetition and that doesn't read like every other book on the market. This book should answer any questions you have concerning the writer's craft. Well worth the money.

A very good read and there were lots of hints and tips in it which i will be looking into. The only moan I would have was that there were a LOT of mentions of what I assume are great works of literature in the book but I have never heard of them and am left at a loss as to what the writer is referring to. Even so, that is probably not the case for everybody. Great book and recommended. Thank you James.

Inspirational and informative. I'm still reading it. I'm going through it slowly and making notes. There's a lot to think about and I love the advice on scheduling and making goals. It has helped to quash that negative voice that tells me I'm wasting my time. Thank you James Scott Bell for giving me the motivation to carry on.

This is a very useful, insightful book. I am trying to be a writer and it helped me a lot.