Free ebooks on the Craft of Writing

There are probably millions of books offering advice to writers. That's both a blessing and a curse. How do you sort the good from the bad, and find writing guides applicable to your needs? If you're looking for helpful free resources (outside of your local library), here are a few free e-books that are pre-screened (by me) and well-rated (on Amazon and or/Smashwords) with helpful information for writers.

These ebooks are brief and concise, and include descriptive examples, which are three of the main characteristics I look for in guidance documents. I'm not an expert writer, so I'm not looking for super-advanced or theoretical help, just guidance with fundamentals and basic concepts of writing and self-publishing.

I've read each of the books below and found each of them valuable:

Smashwords Titles
Smashwords Book Marketing Guide By Mark Coker
An easy-to-implement guide on how to market ebooks.  My rating; 5 stars.

The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success By Mark Coker
The 30 best practices of bestselling self-published ebook authors.  My rating; 4 stars.

How to Edit, Revise and Rewrite Your Novel--A Quick and Simple Guide By Gordon Kessler
A rule-of-thumb style guide for editing your writing.  My rating;  4 stars.

Put the Cat In the Oven Before You Describe the Kitchen By Jake Vander Ark
Twenty writing tips for novice (and intermediate) writers.  My rating;  4 stars.

Amazon Titles
How to Write More Words More Easily (Fiction Writing HELP) By Terrance Field
Guidelines for writing an interesting, page-turning story. My rating; 4stars.

I also picked up The New Author by R.A. Barnes for free, however, it's no longer free, but a still-reasonable $3.82.  However, if you're going to spend a few bucks, I would recommend paying an extra dollar for Martin Crosbie's How I sold 30,000 e-books, which is similar to The New Author, covers a lot of the same ground and is more comprehensive, in my opinion.  Either way, they are both good resources.

Author Update: I sent Mirrors & Mist back to my editor and received surprisingly good feedback, which is an excellent motivator.  So along with watching a lot of college hoops, I'm finalizing the 2nd edition of Crimson & Cream before I jump back into finishing the latest batch of edits on Mirrors & Mist.



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